Liberals should welcome Gorsuch. Like Kagan, he puts law before politics.

[DonViejo]

By Jason Murray February 8 at 9:56 AM

Jason Murray is a partner at the law firm Bartlit Beck Herman Palenchar & Scott in Denver.

Many liberals will be tempted to instinctively oppose Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch’s confirmation — because he is a self-proclaimed conservative, or because he was nominated by a divisive (even dangerous) president, or because of the shameful way that President Barack Obama’s nominee for the same vacancy was denied fair consideration.

Succumbing to this impulse, though understandable, would be a mistake. Gorsuch will make an exceptional Supreme Court justice. He possesses a rare combination of intelligence, humility and integrity, not to mention a fierce commitment to the rule of law. In fact, he is remarkably similar on these metrics to Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan.

I had the pleasure of serving year-long stints as a law clerk for both Gorsuch (at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit Court) and Kagan (at the Supreme Court). Putting the two of them in a room together would be a recipe for vigorous — though congenial — political disagreement. But despite these differences of politics, both my former bosses share a profound commitment to the rule of law. That commitment means that all litigants before them are treated evenhandedly, and that the cases they hear are judged only on the strength of the legal arguments, without regard to partisan politics.

It is not hard to find examples of Gorsuch reaching politically liberal results, including upholding environmental regulations (Energy and Environment Legal Institute v. EPEL), protecting the autonomy of tribal governments (Ute Indian Tribe v. Utah) and upholding the Fourth Amendment protection against unreasonable searches (United States v. Carloss). In his commitment to law over politics, he is similar to Kagan, who famously sided with conservatives to invalidate portions of the Affordable Care Act.

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https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/liberals-should-welcome-gorsuch-like-kagan-he-puts-law-before-politics/2017/02/08/a80b1a6a-ed79-11e6-9973-c5efb7ccfb0d_story.html?utm_term=.8bc2ad08b319&wpisrc=nl_popns&wpmm=1

[guillaumeb]

1. We heard the same things said about John Roberts.

And Roberts also claimed to not be an adherent of legislating from the Bench.

[charlyvi]

2. And Alito

God help us!

[50 Shades Of Blue]

3. Trump nominated him. 'Nuff said.

[UCmeNdc]

4. Funny, I heard the conservatives claiming Gorsuch was the perfect Scalia

Replacement.

[Skittles]

5. THE HOBBY LOBBY NUTCASE?

NO FUCKING THANKS

[arithia]

6. Bullsh*t.

This is a man who doesn't understand contraception, but feels comfortable limiting women's access to it based on his misconceptions.

This is a man who time and again, has stated that an individual or corporation's so called religious rights are impeded unless they have the right to discriminate against women and their health care choices.

This is a man who time and again, has shown his bias against the LGTBQ community. He questions the constitutional necessity of same-sex marriage protections and makes findings based on bathroom predator bullsh*t myths with regards to trans people.

This is a man who is perfectly fine with a majority suppressing the rights of a minority group and has said as such.

Innuendo, rumor, "religious belief" and argumentum ad populum- all of these things are reasonable basis upon which to discriminate against vulnerable people to Neil Gorsuch. No liberal should support such bullshit.

[elehhhhna]

7. So was Obama's nominee.

[dalton99a]

8. Nice whitewashing job. What a load of RW garbage.