Posted on 03/01/2017 4:11:12 PM PST by NKP_Vet
February 23, 2017 (LifeSiteNews) Neil Gorsuch has been received by most conservative leaders as an outstanding nominee to fill the vacant position of Antonin Scalia on the Supreme Court. His bona fides is attested to by such authorities as the Federalist Society and the Heritage Foundation, as well as numerous luminaries of originalist jurisprudential thought.
However, conservative endorsements do not automatically imply a pro-life and pro-family worldview, and questions have been raised about Gorsuchs views on sexual morality as well as the binding nature of bad judicial precedents. The question therefore remains for defenders of the right to life and family: what are we to expect of Gorsuch with regard to these crucial questions? Would Gorsuchs tenure on the court be a beneficial one for life and family, and if so, how much?
Gorsuchs ideological background and legal career
Neil McGill Gorsuch, 49, is the son of two career attorneys, and spent much of his teen years in Washington, D.C. while his mother served under Ronald Reagan as the first woman to head the Environmental Protection Agency. Gorsuchs family was staunchly Republican and militantly conservative, at least on issues regarding fiscal restraint and economic freedom. The perspective held by Gorsuchs parents on social issues is unclear.
After graduating from the elite Jesuit Georgetown Preparatory School in Washington, D.C., Gorsuch went on to major in political science at Columbia, where he graduated cum laude in only three years and was elected to the elite Phi Beta Kappa honor society. Both at Georgetown Prep and Columbia, which were dominated by liberal students and faculty, Gorsuch established himself as a cautious academic with conservative tendencies who enjoyed entering into the fray of discussion without offending his opponents or taking positions that might be perceived as extreme.
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The mere fact that he felt obliged to speak out at all at a time when he was being vetted and heading for confirmation hearings is troublesome.
I'm afraid we're going to see another Conservative Dream turn into a liberal leaning Nightmare.
It has already happened too many times in the past.
I’m a bit concerned about him myself.
However, when it comes to social issues, very few of those belong in the federal court system. Certainly not in the Supreme Court. Most of the social issue cases that make it to SCOTUS have no business being there. They involve matters that the Constitution gave to the states.
Marriage laws are a good example. The individual states regulate marriage which is why you have a lack of uniformity in age of consent, blood tests, waiting periods, etc. Fine. All proper. People of the state can pressure their legislature to change it whenever they want.
If the issue becomes of national interest, a Constitutional amendment will be required.
So if Gorsuch is a true Constitutionalist, he’ll be voting to kick social issue cases back down to the state trial courts.
What, according to Richard Blumenthal?
FWIW, Donald Trump never ever ran as conservative, but as centrist.
He’s going to nominate people who are a sight superior to anything Obama would, but if we expect arch conservative we will be disappointed. Trump wants judges who will play ball with him and his mixed agenda.
Trump should let him know if the first bad ruling he makes, he meets with an unfortunate accident. He should have picked Mike Lee.
I just don’t see how a person can live in the republic of Boulder Colorado and attend the church he and his wife attends and still be a staunch conservative. I have my doubts!
“He should keep on looking.”
First, if he even said what they said..he had no other answer...the fault, if there is any to lay, goes on Trump for putting him in that position. I’m not saying that Trump did it on purpose, just the way things worked out.
Second, there is no way that Trump can or would drop him. The guy checked all the boxes and has the backing of Senators Cruz and Lee. You would be asking Trump to commit political suicide!
It’s also looking like some of those on the left are due to fade into that good night soon, as well. If their replacements were all Gorsuches, we could do worse. Donald wants someone who will play ball with his agenda. That might include a paleoconservative tendency to do just what you suggested, to let lower issues be lower issues. No grandstanding like what brought us national “gay marriage.” Which if we want it to be gone, like Dred Scott, will need the gumption to muster up a full constitutional amendment now.
They are always a gamble, especially as far as conservative judges go. This guy is no different, though he does sound like he has a lot of Souter in him, which is troubling. On the flip side, however, there is obviously reasons for liberals not wanting to confirm him. One thing I am certain about is that he is not likely to be another Scalia. That man will be hard, if not outright impossible, to replace.
People can find God in some pretty odd places. But why not try to get the actual question to Gorsuch. Something on the order of: “what do you believe that God wants, and how is that reflected in the congregation where you go?”
Scalia below Alito & Thomas. Not sure I agree with that one totally. How do they justify that ranking?
Agreed.
But what about Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch? He belongs to a far-left church that embraces marriage redefinition, gun control, and the theory of man-caused global warming.
He belongs to St. John’s Episcopal Church in Boulder, Colo., the Episcopal diocese of Colorado confirmed on Wednesday. Church bulletins show that the judge has been an usher three times in recent months. His wife Louise frequently leads the intercessory prayer and reads the weekly Scripture at Sunday services, and his daughters assist in ceremonial duties during church services as acolytes.
The first word that St. John’s uses to describe itself on its website and Facebook page is “inclusive,” and the church is led by a female rector. On its website, the church encourages members to write letters to Congress asking for actions addressing climate change.
That’s not all. Its website also calls for members to lobby their congressmen for more gun control.
And more:
Rev. Susan Springer has said she is pro-gay marriage and offers blessings to same-sex couples
The church’s Rev. Ted Howard also signed a letter slamming the ‘disrespectful rhetoric’ directed at Islam as Trump floated a ban on Muslim immigrants[.] ...
Church authorities also appear to be strongly in favor of environmental initiatives and added solar panels to the roof because of ‘climate crisis[.]’
As an Episcopalian, it’s not as though Gorsuch didn’t have other choices:
A 2004 article in the journal Anglican and Episcopal History examined the two Episcopal churches in Boulder. At the time, the writer described St. John’s as the older and more traditional church building, but the more theologically and politically liberal of the two. The churches diverged on the subject of homosexuality, the article said: the other church, St. Aidan’s, underlined the word “traditional” on its website while St. John’s added the words “AIDS-aware” to indicate its welcome to LGBT people.
“I just dont see how a person can live in the republic of Boulder Colorado”
Up until 2008, Colorado was a red state, going GOP 6 out of 7 elections. The guy can’t move his life every time the winds change around him! Would you???
Hmmm... interesting. Is it possible they would hound him out if he plays ball with Trump?
Hopefully you were saying that tongue in check.
It’s a gamble that has to be made.
There’s no place to get jurists subscribing to originalist legal theory. Law schools relegate it to history and philosophy, not current practice. Any originalist is self-taught and had better have been pretty quiet about it.
I’d prefer no one with an Ivy League background be considered, but I don’t get to decide.
Like the bible itself says... going from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.
Gorsuch might be relatively inexperienced as to how vicious church intrigue can get. But he’d be forced into a choice, I think. Even being nominated by Trump already would put a stink on him to them, before he’s decided a single case. Interesting to know there are two Episcopalian churches in the Denver area. Maybe St. Aidan’s is in his future, only because St. John’s would make his life intolerable.
... and Ben Sasse, and Kelly Ayotte, and his own press agent ...
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