By Mars Thera Pope
The U.S. Senate confirmed Judge Neil Gorsuch to be the 113th U.S. Supreme Court justice on April 7. The final vote was 54-45 in approving the confirmation without an unneeded tiebreaking vote from Vice President Mike Pence.
Gorsuch’s confirmation ended the year and a half dispute over the ethics of waiting until the 45th president was in office to confirm a high-court justice. Now, important cases that have been sitting in the Supreme Court’s lap will find their way to resolution with Gorsuch’s vote being a possible tiebreaker.
Before Gorsuch was confirmed, Democrats waged a filibuster against his appointment, denying him the 60 votes required for him to advance to a final vote. The Democrats filibustered, some assume, in honor of Merrick Garland, Obama’s nominee in 2016. The filibuster was also brought on by Gorsuch’s record on workers’ rights and his relationship with conservative groups such as the Federalist Society. After the filibuster, however, Republicans conjured up the so-called nuclear option to change the threshold on Supreme Court justice nominations to a simple majority vote, therefore securing Gorsuch the confirmation.
Any claim that all of this is ethical is hard to listen to, let alone agree with. If anyone wanted evidence that democracy is dying, here it is. First, Garland doesn’t get a hearing, and then Gorsuch gets carried into the Supreme Court swaddled in a baby blanket. If parties can just evoke the nuclear option to get what they want, why aren’t they always doing it? If the majority party gets to make the decisions, why is the minority party there?
Whether it was right or wrong, Gorsuch is now sworn in as a Supreme Court justice. With this new position, he will be responsible for decisions that will alter the daily lives of Americans. One case involves a Colorado baker’s claim that he should be warranted a religion-based exemption on antidiscrimination laws after refusing to design a wedding cake for a gay couple. The appeal, introduced in December, has been considered, but no action has been taken.
Another case involves gun advocates challenging the Californian law that the state’s gun owners must have a “good cause” for carrying their concealed weapons in public. Permits from the sheriffs are rarely granted, especially in LA and San Diego, mainly because many sheriffs don’t believe one’s personal safety is a good enough cause for carrying a gun in public. Gun-rights lawyers sued, claiming the Second Amendment was violated. But in 2016, the U.S. 9th Circuit of Appeals upheld San Diego’s statute and decided that the 2nd Amendment does not include the right for general citizens to carry concealed weapons in public. The justices are set to consider that appeal on Thursday.
Gorsuch is 49-year-old white Republican from Denver and now a Supreme Court justice because apparently we need another conservative to help make decisions for everyone in the country. With the new Supreme Court now with a conservative majority, who knows what will be decided next.