I want to join the many Americans who are applauding President Donald Trump’s pick of Neil Gorsuch for the United States Supreme Court.
The court has been vacant one member for almost a year now since the sudden death of Antonin Scalia.
The court has also been set back by the heated partisan debate over whether to confirm a new justice nominated by President Obama during the last year of his presidency.
Antonin Scalia is a hard justice to follow up. As a person who does not have the legal expertise it takes to understand and analyze Supreme Court decisions, I found his opinions relieving and containing authenticity and humor every American could understand.
Gorsuch, currently a federal appellate court judge with a circuit that covers several Western states, will bring many positive aspects to our nation’s highest court.
Most justices on the Supreme Court served as federal judges or in other legal professions in and around the Northeast or Washington, D.C., before they were appointed to the court (with the exception of Justice Anthony Kennedy, who served in California). Gorsuch is a native Coloradan, and served there as a federal judge. He will bring a needed geographic balance to the court.
His experience, however, might be the reason he is most qualified to fill the role. He grew up around government and public office (his mother was the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency during part of the Reagan presidency). He served as a clerk for Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy and former Justice Byron White, which gives him an intricate understanding of the court and its functions, and he has served as a deputy associate attorney general, an attorney in private practice and a federal appeals court judge.
Conservatives can take solace in his nomination. Gorsuch was a member of the majority that ruled in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc., that found that the closely held corporations need not comply with the Affordable Care Act’s contraception mandate (when it was ruled on in the lower court he currently serves on). The case eventually went to the Supreme Court, which issued a similar ruling, a major victory for conservatives.
His other judicial opinions include elements of originalism when interpreting law and the Constitution, another quality that appeals to conservatives.
Those on the left, however, should also take heart in Gorsuch’s nomination. In his book, “The Future of Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia,” he asserts his firm belief opposing the practice, but instead of writing about only the reasons his argument is correct, he took the time and effort to present the other side’s case as well, and he is respectful of its viewpoint.
It is a trend with his opinions, as well. While strong in his core beliefs, he maintains a basic decency and respect of other views – something Washington, D.C., could use in our hyper-partisan world. There were many potential nominees that had more radical views than Gorsuch does.
Trump has displayed a solemn respect for the court by nominating someone like Gorsuch.
While he still must answer questions at confirmation hearings and survive a potential Democratic filibuster, Gorsuch seems to be an ideal nominee for the Supreme Court.
Patrick Waters is a sophomore accounting major from St. Louis.
