President Donald Trump is narrowing down his list of potential candidates for the vacant Supreme Court seat. Former President Barack Obama nominated Chief Judge Merrick Garland from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, but the Senate refused to consider him.
Here are four of the candidates Trump is considering:
1. William Pryor
William Pryor sits on 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, and he is a Republican’s wet dream. He has called Roe v. Wade an “abomination.” He was the Alabama Attorney General in the 1990s. In 1997, he wrote:
“I am a conservative, and I believe in the strict separation of governmental powers. Courts should not resolve political problems.”
He has ruled in many cases involving the death penalty; many of those denied stays of execution to prisoners. As far as immigration goes, he once denied asylum to people who were afraid of being persecuted for their sexual orientation; however, he granted asylum to immigrants who feared religious persecution.
He has ruled in favor of religious liberty. He has ruled in favor of prayer before county meetings and against teaching evolution in school. He once ruled against prison inmates who needed kosher meals. He also once ruled against a group that was feeding homeless people.
2. Neil Gorsuch
Neil Gorsuch, who sits on 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, based in Colorado, has never been involved in a case dealing with Roe v. Wade. Conservatives are concerned about that since they want abortion banned. He did rule in favor of corporations who wanted to get rid of the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) birth-control mandate. He has ruled in favor of Christians before, especially on cases involving displaying the Ten Commandments. He rules like Scalia used to do, so conservatives ought to love him.
3. Diane Sykes
Judge Sykes is even more conservative than Pryor. She backed a voter ID law. One of the biggest cases she was in on was Christian Legal Society vs. Walker, she argued that anti-gay groups have the constitutional right to still receive government funding even if they are discriminating. Sykes even allowed the group to continue discriminating with the exception for gay people who abstain from sex.
4. Thomas Hardiman
Hardiman is currently on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit. He is a solid conservative. He once concurred on some cases involving two men who carried pistols without licenses.
Hardiman said:
“… The threshold question in a Second Amendment challenge is one of scope: whether the Second Amendment protects the person, the weapon, or the activity in the first place. This requires an inquiry into ‘text and history.’”
Also, he doesn’t rule in favor of the inmate on death penalty cases. He does not often rule in favor of free speech. He dissented on a case that allowed high school students to wear bracelets that read “I [heart] Boobies” for breast cancer awareness. He thought that the bracelets were “lewd.”
Basically, all of Trump’s candidates are scary in their own ways. We’ll see which one he picks.
Featured image via Twitter.
