On September 5 , 2018 , during the Senate Judiciary Committee 's confirmation hearings for Brett Kavanaugh , nominated by Trump to replace retiring Associate Justice Anthony Kennedy on the Supreme Court , Booker questioned Kavanaugh on a series of E-mails marked " committee confidential " , dating back to Kavanaugh 's time in the office of the White House Counsel during the presidency of George W. Bush . The E-mails , which were released to the public by Booker 's office the following day , show Kavanaugh and others in the Counsel 's office discussing racial profiling as a means to combat terrorism , particularly after 9/11 . Booker said that he was violating Senate rules in releasing the documents , with the penalty including possible expulsion from the Senate ; he nonetheless defended his decision , referring to the process of producing documents for the hearing as a " sham " and challenging those who warned him about the consequences to " bring it on " . Booker also described the release as " probably the closest I 'll ever have in my life to an ' I am Spartacus ' moment " , referring to a line in the 1960 film , '' Spartacus '' . But committee chairman Chuck Grassley said the documents had already been cleared for public release the night before , and that Booker was not violating any rules , leading some Republicans to accuse Booker of engaging in " theatrics " and " histrionics " . Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas mocked Booker in comments the following week , saying , " Honorable – if we could use that word about more people who are in public life , people who actually ask the questions at confirmation hearings , instead of ' Spartacus . ' " Booker played a leading role in the push to pass the First Step Act , a bipartisan criminal justice reform bill . Booker has introduced a bill entitled the " Marijuana Justice Act " , which would legalize cannabis in the United States on the federal level , defund some law enforcement in jurisdictions that have shown racial bias in marijuana arrests , and increase funding to communities affected by the war on drugs
9/11
September 11 attacks
Cory Booker