Prof. Anderson: Supreme Court Nominees Must Go Beyond Ideology
February 7, 2017
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In an op-ed in the Afro, University of Baltimore School of Law Prof. José F. Anderson writes that nominees to the Supreme Court should show a capacity for deciding cases that goes beyond the ideology of the president who nominated him or her.
Current nominee Judge Neil Gorsuch "seems to have qualifying academic credentials. For many however, that is not enough," Anderson says. "Some believe, as I do, that the court should not simply reflect the political disposition of the president who appointed the particular justice. This point of debate was exacerbated during last year's failed nomination of Judge Merrick Garland, who did not even get a hearing after President Obama nominated him to the court shortly after Justice Scalia's unexpected death in February 2016. That action, on behalf of Senate Republicans, angered Democrats who believed that it was a slap in the face to both Judge Garland and President Obama. Republicans now might have to suffer a long battle over Gorsuch's confirmation because the same rationale that prevented a vote on Garland might slow his confirmation process."
Read the op-ed.
Learn more about Prof. Anderson.