SCOTUS Nominee Neil Gorsuch: On the Issues
This past Tuesday, President Donald Drumpf announced that he would be nominating Judge Neil Gorsuch to serve as the newest Justice on the U.S. Supreme Court. The new president selected Judge Gorsuch, age 49, from a list of 20 potential candidates for his impressive pedigree and typically conservative philosophy. Judge Gorsuch currently serves on the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, which covers Colorado, Utah, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Wyoming. He received his undergraduate degree from Columbia University. Then, he attended Harvard Law School. Lastly, he received a doctorate degree in legal philosophy from Oxford University.
Judge Gorsuch has been compared to the late Justice Antonin Scalia because of the mentorship that Gorsuch received from the late Justice and their similar legal philosophies. Much like Scalia, Judge Gorsuch is a renowned “textualist.” A textualist is one who heavily relies on the plain meaning of the Constitution and the important historical context that pertains to the case. They focus on the past to interpret laws in the present, whereas other more progressive judges often allow their moral philosophies of change to permeate their decisions.
In a tribute to the late Justice Scalia, Gorsuch pronounced: “Judges should instead strive (if humanly and so imperfectly) to apply the law as it is, focusing backward, not forward, and looking to text, structure, and history to decide what a reasonable reader at the time of the events in question would have understood the law to be — not to decide cases based on their own moral convictions or the policy consequences they believe might serve society best.” While this legal philosophy is important, where does Judge Gorsuch stand on the issues? Here are a few of his more important stances:
On immigration, Judge Gorsuch has not clearly demonstrated an opinion. However, he has traditionally ruled in favor of judges’ interpretations over federal agencies concerning ambiguous congressional laws.
On abortion, he has also never clearly established an opinion. Yet, due to his ruling on the Hobby Lobby contraception case, he has exhibited an inclination for rights to religious freedom. However, this lack of experience on abortion cases is making Democrats particularly nervous for this nomination.
On the environment, he has upheld Colorado’s new laws on renewable energy, and also is the son of a former Director of the Environmental Protection Agency, thus suggesting that he will rule in favor of government support of the environment.
On gun rights, his opinion is still not clear, as he has never ruled on prominent gun rights cases. This is another issue that makes Democrats uneasy about this nomination.
On assisted suicide, Judge Gorsuch stands firmly against euthanasia, as he believes that any killing of individuals from other private individuals is morally wrong.
So what is the reaction of the Democrats? In general, it seems that Judge Gorsuch does not stand firmly on several pivotal issues. This ambiguity is what makes liberals a little uneasy. Additionally, their opposition to Judge Gorsuch may also stem from the conservatives’ outright objection to Obama’s nomination of Judge Merrick Garland.
Considering the Republican-controlled legislative and executive branches, I believe that Judge Gorsuch is as good a candidate as the Democrats could expect. Judge Gorsuch restores the Court to the same balance that it was before Justice Scalia passed away: four conservatives, four liberals, and one swing vote with Justice Anthony Kennedy. With other justices growing older, the Democrats should save the fight for another day.
