Gavel Grab: Concern Grows Over Gorsuch Nomination
GORSUCH TAKES FIRE OVER “FROZEN TRUCKER” CASE: “The reality is that throughout his career, Judge Gorsuch has shown a pattern of siding in favor of employers, wealthy corporations and Wall Street — against working families in Colorado and around the country,” wrote Ken Grossinger, chairman of the board of our sister organization Alliance for Justice, in an op-ed in The Daily Camera.
“In a disturbing case that has gotten some press, Alphonse Maddin was fired for leaving the cargo-laden trailer of his truck after its brakes froze from subzero temperatures. With no heat in his cab, Maddin had awaited a repair truck for several hours and he got numb, had trouble breathing and lost feeling in his feet,” Grossing continued. “A Tenth Circuit majority in TransAm Trucking v. Administrative Review Board said Maddin deserved reinstatement. An earlier Department of Labor proceeding also favored Maddin. Judge Gorsuch disagreed, saying ‘there’s simply no law anyone has pointed us to giving employees the right to operate their vehicles in ways their employers forbid.’”
Gorsuch’s commitment to textualism – the “belief in the principle that the actual words of a law should be strictly applied by the court” likely goes beyond even that of Justice Scalia, wrote CNN Legal Analyst Paul Callan: “Gorsuch would be wise to remember the oft oft-quoted words of Scalia, ‘I’m an originalist and a textualist, not a nut.’ Even Scalia probably would have let the truck driver thaw out at the gas station.”
NO DEAL ON GORSUCH: Nan Aron, president of Alliance for Justice, was quoted in The Washington Times saying any deal to undermine a filibuster on Judge Gorsuch “would be a grave disservice to the process and to the Constitution.”
“Neil Gorsuch has shown how oblivious he is to the realities faced by working people and families in this country,” said Aron in The Washington Examiner. “As usual, Gorsuch’s ruling reflected a bias in favor of big corporations at the expense of working Americans, and that is exactly the bias he will bring to the Supreme Court unless senators step up and reject this nomination.”
“I’ve heard a lot in recent days about how nice and charming he is, and how he’s a true Westerner,” said Alliance for Justice Legal Director in a The Philadelphia Sunday Sun article. “I’ve heard about his dogs and all of his personal attributes. But his record is getting lost. His record in the Court of Appeals shows how he would rule. His record shows that he favors the wealthy and powerful at the expense of regular Americans.”
NEWS COVERAGE ZEROES IN ON GORSUCH’S PERSONALITY, RATHER THAN HIS RECORD: In an interview with FAIR’s CounterSpin, Goldberg discussed the media’s focus on persona over his record. “This isn’t about his intellect or whether he’s a good man or not…the question is if he gets to the Supreme Court, whose side is he gonna be on?” Goldberg continued, “He went out of his way to hide his record but I think if you look at the cases he’s decided and what he has said, this is an extreme nominee. It’s hard to overstate the damage he will do to our country and, more importantly, to everyday Americans.”
