By: Kathleen McLean
Trump has nominated Judge Gorsuch, a federal appeals court judge from Denver, to take over for the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. Conservatives urged Trump to choose someone that would closely model the conservative constitutional laws of the late Justice Scalia. Judge Gorsuch was mentored by Scalia before his passing last year. They shared the same beliefs that a Supreme Court Justice shouldn’t progress with the changes in society, personal beliefs, and general social welfare. Gorsuch firmly believes in following the Constitution, that was written 230 years ago, to resolve legal disputes. He uses originalism, which is an approach that seeks to resolve constitutional disputes by focusing on the document’s text, its historical context, and the framers’ intentions.
Late Justice Scalia was quoted as saying:
“I am one of a small number of judges, small number of anybody — judges, professors, lawyers — who are known as originalists. Our manner of interpreting the Constitution is, to begin with, the text, and to give that text the meaning that it bore when it was adopted by the people. I’m not a “strict constructionist,” despite the introduction. I don’t like the term “strict construction.” I do not think the Constitution or any text should be interpreted either strictly or sloppily; it should be interpreted reasonably. Many of my interpretations do not deserve the description “strict.”
Nominee, Judge Gorsuch, will be expected to follow in the footsteps of Scalia, being a reliable conservative, who will uphold restrictions on abortion, limit gay rights, and invalidate affirmative action programs. Judge Gorsuch, hasn’t commented on where he stands with marijuana, recreational or medicinal. However, his last three rulings involving marijuana have been very much against the plant. In 2013, Judge Gorsuch ruled for a Colorado police officer fatally tasing a man resisting arrest on a marijuana charge, stating he acted appropriately. Judge Gorsuch, is not looking like the representative the cannabis community so desperately needs.
