Between debunking wiretap claims and untangling President Donald Trump’s ties to Russia, something else important is happening this week: the confirmation hearings of Judge Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court. The Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee swore that they wouldn’t make things easy for Gorsuch, and boy have the kept their promise. Just take yesterday’s grilling from Minnesota Senator Al Franken.
He specifically wanted to ask Gorsuch about his dissent in a case involving a trucker, a broken trailer, and a freezing night. A truck driver realizes his trailer’s brakes are frozen, and repairs are not coming quickly. Because of the freezing temperatures, the trucker becomes concerned for his own safety and leaves the trailer. He returns just minutes later, but is fired by the company he works for.
The trucker sues the company and wins. The only justice on the 10th circuit that ruled against him? Neil Gorsuch.
It is absurd to say this company is in its rights to fire him because he made the choice of possibly dying from freezing to death, or causing other people to die possibly by driving an unsafe vehicle. That’s absurd. Now I had a career in identifying absurdity. And I know it when I see it. And it makes me—you know, it makes me question your judgment.
Legally and legislatively, Gorsuch’s ruling had to come from somewhere. And it did. But the legalese isn’t what Franken is focused on, it’s his judgment as a human being. Gorsuch’s disconnect with the trucker’s plight alarms Franken, and it should alarm us as well. The law doesn’t exist in a vacuum, and it isn’t an academic exercise. It affects real people and everyday situations, and empathy is something we would want in a Supreme Court justice.
Just how much of that Gorsuch possesses seems to be up for debate.
Watch the entirety of Franken’s time with Judge Gorsuch here:
Featured Image: Screenshot Via YouTube Video.
