Liberty Counsel praises Neil Gorsuch vote, ‘statutes should be interpreted literally’
The U.S. Senate voted 54-45 to confirm President Trump’s nominee, Judge Neil Gorsuch, as the next Supreme Court Justice.
Neil Gorsuch
Republicans successfully used the so-called nuclear option to set up the vote today on Gorsuch. The vote to employ the nuclear option and change the number of votes needed to cut off debate and move to approve a Supreme Court nominee from 60 to a simple majority came after Democrats filibustered the nomination. This filibuster was the first in the history of America, but this attempt to block Gosuch failed.
The 49-year-old Judge Gorsuch will replace pro-life Justice Antonin Scalia who passed away in February 2016. As a federal appellate judge on the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals, Gorsuch sided with the state of Utah’s defunding of Planned Parenthood and supported the religious liberty arguments against forced abortion mandates under ObamaCare in Hobby Lobby and Little Sisters of the Poor.
Gorsuch wrote a book titled, The Future of Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia. One quoted portion of the book states: “Human life is fundamentally and inherently valuable, and that the intentional taking of human life by private persons is always wrong.”
After three days of testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Gorsuch made it clear that he adheres to originalism–the idea that the best way to interpret the Constitution is to determine how the framers intended it to be interpreted, and textualism–the idea that statutes should be interpreted literally, without considering the legislative history and the underlying purpose of the law.
“We are hopeful with Judge Gorsuch as the next Supreme Court Justice that the rule of law will be upheld. We need justices and judges who will bind themselves to the words and original intent of the Constitution and laws,” said Mat Staver, Founder and Chairman of Liberty Counsel. “It’s time to return this country back to the rule of law where judges interpret the original meaning of the Constitution and the laws before them instead of their opinions. The only power that courts have is the trust of the people that judges will act fairly and put aside personal bias,” said Staver.
|
About Liberty Counsel
|
|
Liberty Counsel is an international nonprofit, litigation, education, and policy organization dedicated to advancing religious freedom, the sanctity of life, and the family since 1989, by providing pro bono assistance and representation on these and related topics.
|
