With reporting from Arutz Sheva
As you have probably heard, President Donald Trump
nominated to the Supreme Court Neil Gorsuch - a federal judge known to favor
protections of religious belief and for business owners.
The nomination, likely to trigger
a vigorous confirmation battle, is as expected, already splitting the organized Jewish
community, with the Reform movement expressing concerns about the nomination
and an Orthodox Union official describing his record as “encouraging.”
Trump introduced Gorsuch on
Tuesday evening at a White House event. “Judge Gorsuch has a superb intellect,
an unparalleled legal education, and a commitment to interpreting the
Constitution according to its text,” Trump said in introducing him.
Gorsuch, 49, is on the U.S. Court
of Appeals for the Tenth District, which is based in Denver and which covers
six western states. He would replace one of the court’s most stalwart
conservatives, Antonin Scalia, who died last year.
Among his opinions most
attracting Jewish interest was Burwell vs. Hobby Lobby in 2013, when the
appeals court upheld the right of a private business to reject the government
mandate to provide contraceptive care under employee health plans. The Obama
administration had offered leeway on such coverage to faith-based non-profits,
but would not extend them to private businesses.
Gorsuch joined the majority in
the Appeals Court ruling, which was upheld the next year by the Supreme Court.
Left-wing Jewish groups backed the government in the case. Orthodox Jewish
groups favored Hobby Lobby, arguing for expansive allowances for consideration
of religious beliefs by business owners.
Gorsuch has also favored displays
of crosses on public lands, and has tended in his rulings toward the rights of
gun owners, in favor of the death penalty and against abortion rights.
In a statement issued on behalf of a number of the Reform movement’s umbrella bodies the following was stated:
“We are greatly troubled by Judge
Gorsuch’s record, which suggests that he may not have the attributes and values
a nominee to the Supreme Court ought to have in order to mete out justice and
interpret the laws that affect us all, We look forward to engaging
in the confirmation process to further evaluate Judge Gorsuch’s views on issues
of core importance to the Reform Movement, including civil rights, separation
of church and state, religious freedom, women’s rights, LGBTQ equality, and
many more.”
Bend the Arc, a liberal social
action group, also said it was “deeply concerned” by Gorsuch’s record.
Honestly, all these reactions were rather expected - the reform movement is but another proxy of the progressive liberal golbalist agenda...
O the orthodox front, Nathan Diament, the Orthodox
Union’s executive director of public policy, said Gorsuch’s rulings
“show a jurisprudential approach that venerates religious conscience and
pluralism in American society.”
The nomination is likely to face
a fight, with Democrats suggesting they may filibuster his nomination. Democrats
are still stung by the refusal of Senate Majority Leader Sen. Mitch McConnell,
R-Ky., to allow a hearing for President Barack Obama’s nominee to replace
Scalia, Merrick Garland, a left-leaning judge.
But thanks to the democrats there is always the nuclear option so I am not worried that much - Judge Gorsuch will get through...
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