Confirm Judge Gorsuch

Confirm Judge Gorsuch: Distinctly Catholic:

MGB: What troubles me about this nomination is that the Federalist Society endorses it. Their cramped view of equal protection and privacy under the 14th Amendment is a novelty and it is wrong. What heartens me is that Gorsuch clerked for Justice Kennedy and may vote with him, Chief Roberts and Alito on privacy issues, especially abortion. It would truly make my day if he pronounced Roe as settled law and that the approach that the states should have this issue died with Scalia. If it did not, then like Scalia, Gorsuch would be alone in this opinion so it can't do too much damage.

On the end of life, state interference with suicide is generally meant to help people who suicide out of the despair of mental illness or addiction. The concern about doctors as executioners is newer (and they do it anyway by putting palliative care above life preservation). Whether legislative majorities, driven by the Catholic Church, deserve a say is not only doubtful, it is wrong.

The truth is that the nominee is an appellate court judge out of central casting. Where it counts, he will join the rest of the Court in its normal business, where it is often unanimous. The reality is that dealing with the Court docket is largely routine in matters where the solution is clear. This nominee fits easily into that role.