SCOTUS Shows the Gorsuch Effect

Washington, D.C., June 26, 2017 – Following today’s conclusion of the final day of the 2016-17 United States Supreme Court term, Alliance for Justice President Nan Aron released the following statement:

“The rulings handed down today confirm that Justice Neil Gorsuch is staking out a position on the Court’s extreme right flank. Justice Gorsuch made it clear that he would have lifted the injunctions on President Trump’s discriminatory travel ban, allowing it to take full and immediate effect. With Justice Thomas, he dissented from the Court’s decision not to hear a challenge to gun-safety measures in California. In the Court’s ruling overturning an Arkansas state court decision that let the state refuse to list same-sex spouses on birth certificates, Gorsuch joined Justices Alito and Thomas in a dissent – a significant step since even Chief Justice Roberts, who wrote a dissent in the Obergefell decision, agreed that the Arkansas decision had to be reversed. And Justice Gorsuch joined a ruling permitting state government resources to be used for a church playground project, which could pave the way for the elimination of critical safeguards against diverting taxpayer money to private and religious schools; he even wrote a concurrence, joined only by Justice Thomas, claiming the Court should have gone further. This is a critical reminder that Supreme Court appointments have far-reaching consequences for our democracy.”