Trump unveils list of 11 potential Supreme Court justices

[don-o]

Trump unveils list of 11 potential Supreme Court justices

 JILL COLVIN
| May. 18, 2016 2:09 PM EDT

http://elections.ap.org/content/trump-unveils-list-11-potential-supreme-court-justicesJERSEY CITY, N.J. (AP) — Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has released a list of 11 potential Supreme Court justices he plans to vet to fill the seat of late Justice Antonin Scalia.

Trump's picks include Steven Colloton of Iowa, Allison Eid of Colorado and Raymond Gruender of Missouri.

Also on the list are: Thomas Hardiman of Pennsylvania, Raymond Kethledge of Michigan, Joan Larsen of Michigan, Thomas Lee of Utah, William Pryor of Alabama, David Stras of Minnesota, Diane Sykes of Wisconsin and Don Willett of Texas.

[don-o]

http://www.al.com/news/index.ssf/2016/02/who_is_bill_pryor_donald_trump.html

While AG, Pryor drew the ire of many conservatives when he backed the decision by the Alabama Court of Judiciary to oust Chief Justice Roy Moore from his position for Moore's refusal to follow a federal court order for the removal of a monument of the 10 Commandments from the front of the state's judicial building.

Pryor, who is Catholic, argued the Moore had "flagrantly disobeyed the law, incited the public to support his misconduct and undermined the integrity, independence, and impartiality of the judiciary."

"Because the chief justice intentionally and publicly engaged in misconduct, and because he remains unrepentant for his behavior," Pryor wrote in a pre-trial brief, "this court must remove the chief justice from office to protect the Alabama judiciary and the citizens who depend upon it for fair and impartial justice."

Moore was removed from office only to be reelected in 2012.

[sinkspur]

http://www.al.com/news/index.ssf/2016/02/who_is_bill_pryor_donald_trump.html

While AG, Pryor drew the ire of many conservatives when he backed the decision by the Alabama Court of Judiciary to oust Chief Justice Roy Moore from his position for Moore's refusal to follow a federal court order for the removal of a monument of the 10 Commandments from the front of the state's judicial building.

Pryor, who is Catholic, argued the Moore had "flagrantly disobeyed the law, incited the public to support his misconduct and undermined the integrity, independence, and impartiality of the judiciary."

"Because the chief justice intentionally and publicly engaged in misconduct, and because he remains unrepentant for his behavior," Pryor wrote in a pre-trial brief, "this court must remove the chief justice from office to protect the Alabama judiciary and the citizens who depend upon it for fair and impartial justice."

Moore was removed from office only to be reelected in 2012.

Pryor was right about Roy Moore.

[geronl]

If he wins he will have a whole new list.

[geronl]

These are suggestions and we know that his words don't mean anything

[ABX]

Kind of a mixed bag, some moderate, some Conservative. Most, with the exception of about 4, seem to be blank slates like Harriet Miers. At that, at any other time, with any other candidate, people would be screaming they are Harriet Miers type candidates. 

[sinkspur]

So Pryor does not believe in God given rights, just court given rights?

I saw that "scary" monument in person.  It had a bunch of historical quotes from past Presidents and from the Declaration of Independence.  Then it also had the Ten Commandments.  The Supreme Court building has I thru X on its doors, representing the Ten Commandments.  They have a depiction of Moses on their wall.  They begin with prayer and they take oaths on the Bible.  So the entire thing was hypocritical.  Roy Moore was right.  I would not trust Pryor because he has demonstrated great weakness in the face of political and media pressure.  That monument nonsense was just a bunch of drama by the left, butting into an issue about a piece of art in the lobby of an Alabama Court House.   It changed no law by being there or not being there.  But the court order robbed Alabama of a degree of its God given rights.

It is amazing what is and is not deemed offensive in this country.

Moore was defying a federal court order.  He simply could not do that.   Moore was impeached by his peers for his actions.

[IsailedawayfromFR]

Kind of a mixed bag, some moderate, some Conservative. Most, with the exception of about 4, seem to be blank slates like Harriet Miers. At that, at any other time, with any other candidate, people would be screaming they are Harriet Miers type candidates.

Wonder how deep the pockets are for some of these?

I believe DT believes in handing out favors to his friends, so watch out for big spenders when it comes to a lot of positions he can select.

[SirLinksALot]

Ed Morrissey of HotAir.com comments:

Pryor’s appearance on the list will be notable to anyone who recalls the judicial-appointments battle of 2004-5. George W. Bush appointed Pryor to the Eleventh Circuit, but had his nomination filibustered by some of the same people now lecturing Republicans about Merrick Garland — especially Harry Reid, then as now Senate Minority Leader. With Pryor’s status as a young conservative jurist, Democrats clearly worried that a confirmation would lead to a later Supreme Court nomination. Bush used a recess appointment to get him on the federal bench at the district court level, and then Senate Republicans finally got Pryor a floor vote for confirmation as part of the Gang of Fifteen deal in 2005.

Pryor’s not alone in notability, either. Diane Sykes is the former spouse of popular Wisconsin conservative radio host Charlie Sykes, who interviewed Trump while declaring his #NeverTrump status. Don Willett serves on the Texas Supreme Court, but may be better known for his engagement on Twitter, offering humorous asides and conservative commentary as well as glimpses of his family life. Willett has had quite a bit of fun at Trump’s expense on Twitter over the past year, so perhaps he might end up ranked toward the end of this list if President Trump holds grudges.

Thus far, the list has received high marks from conservative observers.

[bob434]

Mr Trumple-Orangeskin has already flip flopped on several issues even before he's actually been nominated as GOP candidate- to think he would keep his word on these as his nominee picks for SC is naive at best, and just plain ignorant at worst- He is simply saying this now in order to keep the masses conned and in line until he gets elected- because remember, everything he says now is 'just a suggestion' and subject ot change once he has the nomination for GOP candidate sewn up- Thanks America- thanks for nominating another bald-faced con man- Just what this country needed after 7/12 long years of mass destruction under our country’s worst president EVER- ! Well maybe trump will be i n the running for second worse? Third maybe?

[bob434]

Ted Cruz needs to come out right now and critique the potential picks and sound the alarm to any that are not conservative enough to hold the conservative line in every case-

[sitetest]

One notices the name of Sen. Cruz is missing from this list.  Despite having been told by many stumpy worshippers that Sen. Cruz would obviously be better on the Court, and of course, stumpy would see that obvious piece of wisdom.

And of course, as others rightfully note, these are merely suggestions.  Even suggestions of siggestions, and we know his words are meaningless., we've been told by his campaign not to take his words seriously.  Lying liberal liar stumpy comes out with a list.  Big deal.  He's just trying to steal conservatives' votes, as a new poll out show as that 55% of the American people want  a third choice other than these two pieces of garbage.

55%.  That's a majority.  Something stumpy didn't achieve even among REPUBLICANS.

[geronl]

Moore was defying a federal court order.  He simply could not do that.   Moore was impeached by his peers for his actions.

liberal judges issue edicts all the time that violate the Constitution. Violating a court that is wrong is patriotic.

Judges should be ignored when they do things like that.

[geronl]

Ted Cruz needs to come out right now and critique the potential picks and sound the alarm to any that are not conservative enough to hold the conservative line in every case-

Ted should completely dismiss the list as "talking points and misleading suggestions". Trump could nominate Hillary on day one, this list means nothing.