Editorials

President Trump to make nomination to Supreme Court

President Trump to make nomination to Supreme Court. Many expect a culture war over conservative judges appointed by President Trump. Women's march is considered a push back against Trump's conservative worldview.

President Trump says he will name his pick to fill the late Antonin Scalia's seat on the Supreme Court as early as next week. Two contenders for the seat have emerged: Judge Neil Gorsuch and Judge William Pryor Jr. The Supreme Court has had a vacancy since the death of Justice Antonin Scalia on February, 2016.

Judge Neil Gorsuch is on the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. He is 49 years old and has been compared to Scalia for his originalist interpretation of the Constitution and his elegant writing skills. He has a BA from Columbia, a J.D. from Harvard, and a PhD in legal philosophy from Oxford.

Judge William Pryor is on the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. He is 54 years of age and received a BA from Northeast Louisiana University and a J.D. from Tulane University Law School. He has served as a law professor at Cumberland School of Law and University of Alabama School of Law. Pryor is a fierce opponent of Roe v Wade. Many believe President Trump will select Gorsuch over Pryor because he is considered less controversial.

To win confirmation by Senate, and avoid a filibuster, a supreme court nomination will need 60 votes, meaning eight Democrats would have to vote in support. With 33 senate seats up for elections in 2018, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, of N.Y., is not expected to stop all democrats from voting to affirm President Trump's nomination to replace conservative Justice Scalia.

However, there are several justices in the twilight of their careers: Liberal Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, has survived pancreatic cancer, is 83, fellow liberal Justice Stephen G. Breyer is 78, Justice Anthony Kennedy, a swing vote, is 80 and Justice Clarence Thomas, a conservative, is 68 but has talked of retiring. If President Trump is elected for two terms many expect him to nominate four or five judges to the Supreme Court.

If liberal Justice Ruth Ginsburg retires, President Trump is purportedly considering replacing her with Diane Sykes, a Judge on the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals. Sykes is 60, and is a conservative judge who describes herself as an originalist and a textualist. She is pro-life and married to Charlie Sykes, who was a conservative radio talk show host in Wisconsin for 23 years.

President Trump has established a list of 21 candidates as a pool to draw from to replace Supreme Court Judges who retire during his term. He has stated his list will include pro-life, strict constructionist, conservative judges recommended by the Heritage Foundation, the Federalist Society, and conservative legal scholars advising him. Approximately half of Mr. Trump's candidates sit on state Supreme Courts, and almost all those who sit on federal appeals courts do so in the heartland. Mr. Trump's list, like his campaign, is a revolt against the elites. The Ivy League is out and the Heartland is in.

If President Trump attempts to replace liberal judges Ginsburg, Kennedy, or Beyer with conservative originalist judges, the Democrats are expected to filibuster. Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn has stated Republicans will use the nuclear option if necessary, and change senate rules to require only a simple majority of 51 votes to confirm President Trump's Supreme Court nominations. If President Trump nominates five justices, judges Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan, appointed by President Obama, will be in the minority. This would eliminate any Obama legacy on the Supreme Court.

George Soros, MoveOn.org, ACLU, Planned Parenthood, and many other liberal organization pushed back against President Trump with a woman's march on January 21. Conservative Super PACs are planning on spending millions of dollars on T.V. adds supporting President Trumps nominations to the Supreme Court. This appears to be more of a culture war of worldviews than a legal debate.

 

 

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