Controversial German Judge Nominee Withdraws Over Plagiarism

After weeks of being at the center of Germany’s biggest political controversy, the social-democrat SPD’s main candidate for the German Constitutional Court, Frauke Brosius-Gersdorf—a progressive law professor advocating for late-term abortions and for banning the AfD—publicly announced her withdrawal from the race on Thursday, August 7th.

“After careful consideration, I am no longer available for election as a judge of the Federal Constitutional Court,” Brosius-Gersdorf wrote in a statement, shocking even the SPD itself.

For her withdrawal, the 54-year-old lawyer primarily blamed the center-right CDU, a faction of which “categorically rejects my election,” she wrote. However, she ultimately made the decision to prevent the possible breakdown of the CDU-SPD coalition over her candidacy, “whose effects on democracy cannot be foreseen.”

The news of Brosius-Gersdorf’s withdrawal sent shockwaves through Germany, with many celebrating and others furious with her for giving in to the “far-right” opposition. Understandably, AfD’s parliamentary group leader Stephan Brandner said the decision was long overdue but asked voters to pay attention to who the SPD will nominate in her stead.

Pro-family organizations were equally relieved. “If the legitimate concerns of a large number of citizens are taken seriously by the elected representatives, democratic control works,” commented Claudia Kaminski, the head of the pro-life association Alfa.

At the same time, the SPD’s parliamentary group leader, Matthias Miersch—who a few weeks ago accused Catholic bishops criticizing Brosius-Gersdorf of being “unchristian”—said the withdrawal sends an “alarming signal” about the CDU, which can be so easily swayed by a “right-wing extremist” campaign to violate its coalition agreements. Similarly, Green leader Andreas Audretsch slammed the CDU for selling out the coalition “to a right-wing extremist mob in less than 100 days.”

Indeed, according to the initial coalition agreement, both Brosius-Gersdorf and the CDU’s candidate should have been elected by the Bundestag plenary on July 11th. However, due to the immense backlash from citizens, pro-life advocacy groups, and even top clergy, around a third of the CDU MPs changed their minds at the last minute, forcing the government to postpone the confirmation vote indefinitely.

Throughout her career, Brosius-Gersdorf has made several outrageous statements, such as arguing for stripping fetuses of their constitutionally guaranteed right to human dignity, which would have allowed Germany to legalize abortion up to birth.

Furthermore, the progressive lawyer has been one of the biggest advocates of a federal ban on right-wing populist AfD, Germany’s second-largest party, and even stated that the only problem with such a ban would be that it wouldn’t automatically “eliminate” AfD’s voter base as well.

What seems to have been the final straw causing her withdrawal was the most recent addition to the saga: allegations made by Germany’s most prolific ‘plagiarism-hunter,’ Stefan Weber, that 86 pages of Brosius-Gersdorf’s doctoral thesis were actually written by her husband, which the lawyer denies. She sued Weber for libel, demanding €40,000 in damages, to which the expert replied, “I won’t even pay [her] four euros.”

Nonetheless, even though the SPD has not yet officially accepted her withdrawal, it’s safe to say that Brosius-Gersdorf is not going to become a Constitutional Court judge anytime soon.

However, that doesn’t mean that the AfD is safe. Ann-Katrin Kaufhold, the social democrats’ second option, who will likely take Brosius-Gersdorf’s place, is just as progressive as the SPD’s first pick and also supports banning the AfD. At the same time, she has not been at the center of as much public attention, which means the CDU can push her through before the public catches on.

That is why Brandner called on all the “sensible people in this country” to pay more attention to Kaufhold, whose election would be “completely intolerable” as well.

It is clear that the AfD ban is one of the main long-term goals of the German Left, particularly the SPD, which has already begun laying down the legislative groundwork for it. All they need is to have enough judges in the Constitutional Court who do not shy away from such a blatantly anti-democratic move.

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