Delaney built a legal practice defending institutions embroiled in sexual misconduct scandals. He represented the elite St. Paul’s School in a 2016 civil lawsuit alleging the school fostered a culture of sexual harassment that led to the statutory rape of then-15-year-old Chessy Prout. In the course of the proceedings, Delaney opposed the Prout family’s request to preserve their daughter’s anonymity.

Now, with Prout and her parents begging Democrats to withdraw Delaney’s nomination, Delaney is an awkward nominee for a party that claims to champion the interests of women and victims. …

But we’re pleased some Democrats may be coming around to our long-held view that lawyers for the scum of the earth should be held accountable for the scummy clients they choose to represent. That seemed to be the thrust of the lengthy list of written questions Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D., Calif.) had for Delaney.

[I disagree with this in principle, while acknowledging that Democrats picked this particular fight first and used it for years. The right to a fair trial has to include the right to adequate legal representation, and we undermine that principle by punishing attorneys who take on unpopular clients. We can criticize them for *how* they represent those clients, but we shouldn’t stigmatize them for doing a necessary job in the first place, if for nothing else out of sheer self-interest. As the last few years have proven, you never know what will become unpopular and socially offensive … like, say, choosing not to bake cakes for events that violate your religious beliefs. — Ed]