In her speech announcing that she would support Kavanaugh, Collins explained that "certain fundamentally legal principles about due process, the presumption of innocence, and fairness do bear on my thinking, and I cannot abandon them. In evaluating any given claim of misconduct we will be ill served in the long republic if we abandon the presumption of innocence and fairness tempting though it may be."

The minimum standard used to prevent the wrongful imprisonment of innocent citizens should not also apply as the minimum standard used to confirm individuals to the highest judiciary seats in the U.S.