WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Tuesday nominated Judge Neil Gorsuch of the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to fill a Supreme Court seat that has remained vacant for a year.
The vacancy was made after the death of Justice Antonin Scalia.
A conservative Republican, Gorsuch is said to convey his ideas fluently and courteously and is well-liked by colleagues on the left and right.
He will now go through the confirmation process that is likely to be contentious, given that Republicans previously snubbed former President Barack Obama's previous pick, Merrick Garland, and because the nation now appears divided over Trump's executive recent orders.
If the Harvard Law School-educated Gorsuch is confirmed, the U.S. Supreme Court would bring the bench to a Republican majority and likely break a recent spate of 4-4 ties.
The adult industry’s legal community weighed in Trump’s pick on Tuesday, offering their pearls of wisdom about Gorsuch.
For industry attorney Marc Randazza, Gorsuch doesn’t seem like a bad pick.
“I think in the end a Justice Gorsuch is better than a Justice Garland,” Randazza told XBIZ. “In fact, I think he might be on par with [Justice John] Roberts as far as intellectual quality. I think he’s a damn good choice, and I have no objection that I can come up with at this time.
“I will be spending some significant time poring over his First Amendment jurisprudence, but a perfunctory review has revealed no deep concerns.”
Industry attorney Corey D. Silverstein noted that President Trump’s nomination of Neil Gorsuch to the U.S. Supreme Court should come as no surprise.
“Frankly, this is exactly what President Trump said he would do when he was running for president,” Silverstein told XBIZ. “Judge Gorsuch is highly educated and is a very well-respected judge.
“Similar to the late Justice Antonin Scalia, Judge Gorsuch is a proponent of adhering to the words of the U.S. Constitution. It is very important to keep in mind that at 49 years old this is going to be one of the youngest individuals nominated to the U.S. Supreme Court; presuming that Judge Gorsuch is ultimately appointed to the court, he will be a justice for decades to come.
“In terms of the adult industry I do not believe that Neil Gorsuch will immediately cause any change,” he said. “The balance of the U.S. Supreme Court (presuming that Judge Gorsuch is ultimately appointed) will be practically identical to the same Supreme Court prior to Justice Scalia’s untimely death.
“I believe that the bigger concern is who the next U.S. Supreme Court nominee will be because that individual could ultimately shift the balance of the court.
Gorsuch is solidly in the conservative camp, which is predictable, said Lawrence G. Walters, another industry attorney
“However, he seems to understand the problem with over-criminalization of society and the dangers posed to personal privacy by invasive digital technology,” Walters told XBIZ. “His record on First Amendment issues is not very well-established, so we'll have to wait until he takes the bench before gaining substantial insight into his views on those important issues.”
Industry attorney J.D. Obenberger said that in the few First Amendment cases bearing his name, Gorsuch has come down on the side of protecting freedom of expression.
“He's had little use for bogus defamation claims and for attempts to punish TV stations for disclosure of information that the police have wanted to keep secret,” Obenberger told XBIZ. “I have no reason to think that he bears any hostility to the charter of freedom that gives life to this industry, the First Amendment.
“Maybe I'll have to change my thinking after the rabid left performs proctology on every aspect of his life and spends tens of millions of dollars to attack him for the protecting religious freedom of a bunch of kindly nuns. But I doubt it.”
Pictured: Judge Neil Gorsuch
