Some Democrats are saying they plan to hold up the appointment of Neil Gorusch to the Supreme Court but a new development is going to make that a little tricky.
Two Native American advocacy groups apparently like Gorsuch and want to see him seated on the bench.
Ryan Lovelace reports at the Washington Examiner:
Support for Gorsuch from Native American groups could put pressure on Western DemocratsTwo leading Native American organizations have penned a letter of support for Judge Neil Gorsuch’s Supreme Court nomination to the leadership of the Senate Judiciary Committee.In a letter obtained by the Washington Examiner, the National Congress of American Indians and the Native American Rights Fund write they “have confidence that Judge Gorsuch will be open-minded to all perspectives,” citing their experiences with the judge and his judicial record.”As noted repeatedly during the hearing, Judge Gorsuch has significant experience with cases involving the interests of Indian tribes and Indian people,” wrote NCAI president Brian Cladoosby and NARF executive director John Echohawk in the letter. “His opinions recognize tribes as sovereign governments, and address issues of significance to tribes, including state police incursion onto tribal lands, sovereign immunity, religious freedom, accounting for trust funds, exhaustion of tribal remedies, and Indian country criminal jurisdiction. Judge Gorsuch appears to be both attentive to the details and respectful to the fundamental principles of tribal sovereignty and the federal trust responsibility.”
Lovelace points out that this is going to put pressure on Democrats in states like Colorado, Montana, and North Dakota.
You can read the letter below:
NCAI NARF Gorsuch Letter by Ryan Lovelace on Scribd
Let’s check in with America’s highest profile, ahem, alleged Native American:
It doesn’t look like she’s on board yet. In fact, she recently wrote this column for the Boston Globe:
Neil Gorsuch does not belong on the Supreme CourtWHEN JUSTICE Antonin Scalia died last year, giant corporations and their right-wing buddies spent millions of dollars to keep the Supreme Court seat open so that Donald Trump could fill the vacancy. It was only the latest step in their campaign to tilt our courts in favor of big corporations and the wealthy. Now, the nomination of Judge Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court is their reward. Anyone who believes in a neutral Supreme Court guided by equal justice for all should oppose this nomination.Over the past three decades — as the rich have gotten richer and middle-class families have been left behind — the scales of justice have been weighted further and further in favor of the wealthy and the powerful. That tilt is not an accident. It’s the result of a deliberate strategy by powerful interests to turn our courts over to the highest bidder.
Maybe she’ll change her mind now that her people have voiced approval for Gorsuch.
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