At the end of the third day of hearings on Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch, People For the American Way Executive Vice President Marge Baker issued the following statement.
“Once again, Judge Gorsuch demonstrated his remarkable ability to testify before Congress for hours at a stretch without saying anything of any substance. His comments on precedent in particular were eerily similar to those offered by Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Alito at their own confirmation hearings—vague assurances of the importance of precedent followed by a long string of decisions showing no hesitation to overturn decades of decisions in order to push their own political agendas—and in many ways, Judge Gorsuch’s evasions were more flagrant.
“In addition to the tough questioning from Democrats, one of the sharpest rebukes to Judge Gorsuch today came from outside the hearing room, when the Supreme Court unanimously overturned Gorsuch’s cramped opinion denying adequate educational support for students with disabilities. That decision only underscored how extreme Judge Gorsuch’s jurisprudence is and highlighted his long pattern of twisting the law at the expense of everyday Americans trying to vindicate their rights.
“Over the last two days, Judge Gorsuch said nothing that should put to rest the deep concerns raised by his long record on the 10th circuit. Every indication is that Judge Gorsuch is a nominee that far-right legal groups and wealthy individuals spending millions on his behalf will be very happy with.”
People For the American Way is a progressive advocacy organization founded to fight right-wing extremism and defend constitutional values including free expression, religious liberty, equal justice under the law, and the right to meaningfully participate in our democracy.
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