Not A Dime’s Worth of Difference!
By 
Judge Neil M. Gorsuch, a highly regarded conservative jurist best known for upholding religious liberty rights in the legal battles over Obamacare, has emerged as a leading contender for President Trump’s first Supreme Court nomination.
Gorsuch, 49, was among 21 potential high court candidates circulated by Trump’s team during the campaign, but his stock has been rising lately as several admirers and supporters have been named to positions in the Trump administration.
He currently serves on the U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver. A former clerk for Justice Byron White, also a Colorado native, and Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, he served in the George W. Bush administration’s Justice Department.
In Gorsuch, supporters see a jurist who has strong academic credentials, a gift for clear writing and a devotion to deciding cases based on the original meaning of the Constitution and the text of statutes, as did the late Justice Antonin Scalia.
Since every story I’ve seen has mentioned Grosuch’s “textualism” and “originalism,” it’s worth noting that in context these terms are interchangeable with “strict constructionist” as defined by the late William Rehnquist:
A strict constructionist judge is one who favors criminal prosecutors over criminal defendants, and civil rights defendants over civil rights plaintiffs.
And businesses against consumers and whatever level of government is regulating them, but you get the idea.
Anyway, Hillary Clinton probably would have nominated a 49-year-old Scalia clone too, so really elections don’t matter.