Justice Neil Gorsuch Sworn In

Tennessee Star

  A little more than a year after the sudden death of beloved Justice Anotin Scalia, President Donald Trump introduced Judge Neil Gorsuch to take the Oath of office to be the next Associate Justice on the Supreme Court Monday. Following a private swearing to the Oath of Office all federal officials must take by Chief Justice John Roberts, Justice Anthony Kennedy officiated a public swearing to the Oath of Office of Supreme Court Justices, making Gorsuch the 113th Justice to sit on the court. Right Side Broadcasting covered the event, held outdoors in the White House Rose Garden: The Oath of the Supreme Court Justice is: I, Neil M. Gorsuch, do solemnly swear that I will administer justice without respect to persons, and do equal right to the poor and to the rich, and that I will faithfully and impartially discharge and perform all the duties incumbent upon me as Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States under the Constitution and laws of the United States. So help me God. Justice Gorsuch’s elevation to the Supreme Court restores the full bench of nine jurists. Reuters reported: Donald Trump reveled in the biggest political victory of his presidency at a…

Read the full story

Commentary: Chuck Schumer Lied and the Filibuster for Supreme Court Nominees Died

SCOTUS

  by Jeffrey A. Rendall One could almost sense an audible rumbling sound as the roll was called in the Senate at about half past noon (EDT) on Thursday, with the fate of the filibuster for Supreme Court nominees precariously hanging in the balance. When the votes were tallied the infamous “nuclear option” had been triggered; but those expecting a rhetorical mushroom cloud or a lot of fireworks were sorely disappointed. In fact, the moment passed without any kind of Chuck Schumerfanfare or special notation whatsoever. If one didn’t know better you’d think nothing consequential had just happened. Many pundits have suggested through the years that there isn’t much that would unify all Republicans – especially those in the Senate — but as America watched the senators vote on the nomination of Judge Neil Gorsuch for the Supreme Court, it was evident there is at least one issue that brings the GOP together. First every single Republican voted to end debate on Gorsuch. Then when the Democrats filibustered every Republican voted for the “nuclear option” to bury the practice for future Supreme Court nominees. From here on out it’s a straight up or down vote for Court appointments. Yesterday was…

Read the full story

BREAKING: Senate Confirms Judge Neil Gorsuch to Supreme Court

Tennessee Star

  Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell fulfilled his promise to President Trump and the American people this morning, by successfully ending the partisan Democrats’ filibuster and leading the Senate confirmation of Judge Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court. CNN reports: The vote was 54-45, mostly along party lines. Only three Democrats: Sens. Joe Manchin, Heidi Heitkamp and Joe Donnelly, sided with the GOP majority. Vice President Mike Pence presided over the vote, but was not needed to break a tie. The court has been operating with eight justices since the sudden death in February 2016 of Justice Antonin Scalia and a protracted fight over President Barack Obama’s nominee, Judge Merrick Garland. The confirmation does not alter the so-called “balance of the Court,” however, the precedent-setting move to require only a simple majority vote – first made by then-Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid – could return the highest court in the land sharply toward the Constitution, should Justice Ginsberg or Justice Breyer retire. Watch the video: Reaction to the restoration of a full Court has been overwhelmingly positive. Hannah Smith, Senior Counsel with Becket and a former law clerk to Supreme Court Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito said: Congratulations to Judge Gorsuch and his…

Read the full story

Senator Lamar Alexander Responds to Threatened Democrat Filibuster of SCOTUS Nominee Gorsuch: ‘One Way Or the Other I’ll Vote for Him’

  “The Democrats have once again gone into a room and convinced themselves to do something that’s never been done before in the 230 year history of the Senate and that is to require more than 51 votes to confirm a Supreme Court nominee,” Senator Lamar Alexander (R-TN) tells The Tennessee Star in an emailed statement received late Wednesday. “I have spoken on the Senate floor twice in recent weeks to try to convince Democrats not to filibuster Judge Gorsuch’s nomination because it will be damaging to the Senate and to the country,” Alexander adds. “When I was in the minority, I opposed President Obama’s Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan, but I did not support a filibuster of her nomination – I believed she was entitled to a majority vote – and Judge Gorsuch is also entitled to a majority vote,” the Volunteer State’s senior senator notes. “I also wanted to point to a statement that the senator told a reporter this week,” a spokesperson for Alexander adds in that same email to The Star: “One way or the other I’ll vote for him.” “Finally, here is the senator’s floor speech, from where he talked about how filibustering to death the Gorsuch…

Read the full story

Commentary: The Gorsuch Confirmation ‘Nuclear Option’ Deal Not Even the ‘Stupid Party’ is Dumb Enough to Take

by Jeffrey A. Rendall March 25, 2017 Now that the confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch are mercifully in the past attention turns to the inevitable upcoming votes on his nomination (Judiciary committee vote set for Monday, April 3 and full Senate on Friday, April 7). Naturally there’s a lot of speculation on which Democrats, if any, will reject a filibuster of Gorsuch and which might be convinced to support him in a final up or down vote. Whatever strategy the Democrats ultimately Trump Gorsuchadopt will determine the Republicans’ countermoves, since they’ll know if the so-called “nuclear option” needs to be used to eliminate a potential filibuster for current and future Court nominations. Or, as some suggested, there could be some sort of backroom “deal” in the works. Burgess Everett of Politico reports, “The deal Democrats would be most likely to pursue, the sources said, would be to allow confirmation of Gorsuch in exchange for a commitment from Republicans not to kill the filibuster for a subsequent vacancy during President Donald Trump’s term. The next high court opening could alter the balance of the court, and some Democrats privately argue that fight will be far more consequential than…

Read the full story

The Judicial Coup Against President Trump Proceeding As Planned

by CHQ Staff February 10, 2017 Reprinted with permission from ConservativeHQ.com As we predicted in our column “The Judicial Coup Against President Trump [29]” the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has left in place Federal Judge James’ Robart’s anti-constitutional order suspending President Donald Trump’s Executive Order No. 13,769 pausing immigration from seven terrorist hotspots. The Executive Order is now headed to the Supreme Court where a 4 – 4 tie is expected to leave the order in place, much as a tie left in place Judge Andrew S. Hanen’s preliminary injunction shutting down President Obama’s Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents program while the legal case filed by Texas and other states proceeded. The Obama administration appealed, and a divided three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in New Orleans affirmed the injunction. When the Supreme Court split, Judge Hanen’s order remained in place while the case went forward. The Left was very strategic in filing the challenge to President Trump’s Executive Order and its strategy is unfolding precisely as planned as Far-Left progressive judges in the Ninth Circuit substitute their liberal policies for the plain language of the Constitution and the laws passed by Congress. Legal scholars, including some liberals, have suggested an alternative, however. Harvard Law School professor emeritus…

Read the full story

Fifteen Federal Judges Have Been Impeached by the House of Representatives

Fifteen federal judges have been impeached since the Constitution was ratified in 1789, according to the Federal Judicial Center. Eight have been convicted, three have resigned prior to trial in the Senate, and four have been acquitted. The list includes one associate justice of the Supreme Court, thirteen federal district judges, and one commerce court judge. Here’s the full list, courtesy of the Federal Justice Center: Impeachments of Federal Judges John Pickering, U.S. District Court for the District of New Hampshire. Impeached by the U.S. House of Representatives on March 2, 1803, on charges of mental instability and intoxication on the bench; Convicted by the U.S. Senate and removed from office on March 12, 1804. Samuel Chase, Associate Justice, Supreme Court of the United States. Impeached by the U.S. House of Representatives on March 12, 1804, on charges of arbitrary and oppressive conduct of trials; Acquitted by the U.S. Senate on March 1, 1805. James H. Peck, U.S. District Court for the District of Missouri. Impeached by the U.S. House of Representatives on April 24, 1830, on charges of abuse of the contempt power; Acquitted by the U.S. Senate on January 31, 1831. West H. Humphreys, U.S. District Court for…

Read the full story

Critics: Whacky 9th District Court of Appeals Ignore Basic Legal Principals, Side with Open Borders Zealots

Thursday evening, America’s dinner hour was interrupted by an unsavory display of jurist malpractice as the 9th District Court of Appeals once again lived up to its reputation as the Most Incompetent Court in the nation. The Court ruled 3-0 to DENY the Trump Administration’s pleading to stay the lower Court’s decision to disallow a pause in the admittance of (un)vetted refugees from 7 countries plagued by out-of-control terrorist activity and utterly failed central governments. Upon a quick review of the rambling, 29-page ruling, Legal Insurrection founder and attorney William Jacobson let loose a withering hot take on Twitter: When do confirmation hearings start to appoint 9th Circuit panel co-Directors of Homeland Security? https://t.co/1opVnWwfCA — Legal Insurrection (@LegInsurrection) February 9, 2017 1/ Here's how insane 9th Circuit Order on Trump Immigration EO is: Because Court refused to draw distinction among permanent residents, — Legal Insurrection (@LegInsurrection) February 10, 2017 2/ lawful visa holders in U.S., visa holders traveling abroad temporarily, and people abroad who never even have applied — Legal Insurrection (@LegInsurrection) February 10, 2017 3/ some guy sitting on mountain in Yemen who has no connection to U.S. and hasn't even applied for visa yet has U.S. constitutional —…

Read the full story