(03-22-2017, 04:16 PM)X_4AD_84 Wrote:(03-22-2017, 01:19 PM)Eric the Green Wrote: Behind the rhetoric: the Gorsuch record
from Democracy Now
https://www.democracynow.org/2017/3/21/b...his_record
The thing to realize, is that the Gorsuch appointment, pushed through quickly, is intended to freeze in place gerrymandering and voter restrictions that keep Republicans in power. If the Democrats want any power in the future, it's up to them NOW to filibuster Gorsuch, and put the onus of installing the nuclear option upon the Republicans NOW.
excerpts:
IAN MILLHISER: ... I was really struck by the difference between Judge Gorsuch’s rhetoric at the hearing and what I see in his record as a judge. Judge Gorsuch comes out of a tradition that’s become particularly prominent on the right since Barack Obama was sworn in, that calls for judges to be more active, more aggressive in pushing a conservative agenda, more hostile to agency regulation, more hostile to laws like the Affordable Care Act. And everything I see in Judge Gorsuch’s record suggests that he very much believes in that agenda. Whether you look at his Hobby Lobby decision, you look at his efforts to dismantle many of the powers that agencies like the EPA has, this looks like he’s going to be a very aggressive judge. So I was surprised to hear him talk about judicial modesty and not behaving like a super-legislator, because when I look at his record, I mean, modesty does not seem to be what he is interested in.
IAN MILLHISER: ...we’re probably looking at a vote sometime in April. They want to get this done as quick as possible, so that something like, say, for example, an FBI investigation into the president of the United States doesn’t derail this confirmation. You know, Republicans know what’s at stake here. There’s a big gerrymandering case that’s going to be heard by the Supreme Court next term. There’s a bunch of cases involving the future of voter suppression laws in places like North Carolina. So these guys have done—
AMY GOODMAN: Travel ban.
IAN MILLHISER: Travel ban, right. I mean, these guys have done a great deal to manipulate the way that our elections are held, and make it easier for Republicans and harder for Democrats. And if the Supreme Court takes that away from them—and if Merrick Garland had been confirmed, it’s likely that the Supreme Court would say, "No more of that. You don’t get to manipulate elections anymore"— Republicans would be in a very difficult position. So they want this guy confirmed fast, because they want their conservative majority that’s going to protect these laws that allow them to manipulate how our elections are held.
Ian's report goes on in the next segment to mention the high number of Judge vacancies and impending retirements, which will allow the ultra-conservative Federalist Society to choose our judges over the next few years. A Trump Supreme Court with Gorsuch would likely uphold the repressive rulings of these judges.
On both the Right and the Left, the Stench from the Bench need to stop doing de facto legislation via judicial activism.
At the same time, blatant judicial activism (like Roe v. Wade) should not be confused with a judge exercising common sense. I was listening to a bit from the Gorsuch hearing about that case involving the trucker who got fired because he didn't want to freeze to death and how Gorsuch sided against the trucker because of his strict textualism, in the defiance of common sense (even Gorsuch said he would have done what the trucker did had he been in the position!).
#MakeTheDemocratsGreatAgain