Scribble

Live blog of confirmation hearing | March 21, 2017

June 2018

3rd & 7 37yd

Gorsuch: Respectfully, it is not.

by Amy Howe 3/21/2017 7:12:43 PM

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Gorsuch talking about United States v. Jones, about GPS tracking device on car. This is at least his second reference to Jones and originalism today.

by Amy Howe 3/21/2017 7:13:17 PM

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Klobuchar: So when the Constitution refers to "his" or "he" in terms of president, the founders thought a woman could be president?

by Amy Howe 3/21/2017 7:13:49 PM

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Gorsuch: Of course. [Raises his voice]. I have two daughters.

by Amy Howe 3/21/2017 7:14:04 PM

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Klobuchar is citing other examples of things left out of the Constituion, like the Air Force.

by Amy Howe 3/21/2017 7:14:22 PM

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Klobuchar refers to US v. VA, re exclusion of women from VMI. Scalia stuck to originalism in dissent, saying decision is creation of Constitution.

by Amy Howe 3/21/2017 7:14:57 PM

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Klobuchar: Would you be willing to apply same approach to minorities, LGBT, etc.?

by Amy Howe 3/21/2017 7:15:40 PM

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Gorsuch: A good judge applies a law without respect to persons.

by Amy Howe 3/21/2017 7:15:49 PM

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Klobuchar: [Summary: What does that mean?]

by Amy Howe 3/21/2017 7:16:01 PM

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Gorsuch: I don't take account of the person before me. Everyone is equal in the eyes of the law.

by Amy Howe 3/21/2017 7:16:15 PM

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Gorsuch, responding to Klobuchar's discussion of "selective originalism" -- refers her to various Supreme Court decision that relied on originalism to reach pro-defendant result.

by Amy Howe 3/21/2017 7:17:06 PM

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Klobuchar promises to do it on the second round.

by Amy Howe 3/21/2017 7:17:18 PM

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Klobuchar brings up "courtesy fifth": is it a good thing?

by Amy Howe 3/21/2017 7:17:31 PM

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Gorsuch: I haven't studied that. Would be presumptuous to offer an opinion.

by Amy Howe 3/21/2017 7:17:46 PM

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Klobuchar: Could be relevant to travel ban, so maybe we will ask in next round.

by Amy Howe 3/21/2017 7:18:01 PM

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Klobuchar has now moved on to freedom of the press.

by Amy Howe 3/21/2017 7:18:40 PM

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Under NYT v. Sullivan, would First Amendment permit government officials to sue the press under any lower standard?

by Amy Howe 3/21/2017 7:19:11 PM

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Gorsuch: NYT v. Sullivan was a landmark decision. Proof of actual malice is required to state a claim. Can point you to cases that have applied this principle.

by Amy Howe 3/21/2017 7:19:58 PM

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Last question from Klobuchar: are there instances in which a court should recognize a reporter's privilege?

by Amy Howe 3/21/2017 7:20:53 PM

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Gorsuch: those questions come up, so I must be careful. Your description of the case is entirely accurate.

by Amy Howe 3/21/2017 7:21:16 PM

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Gorsuch is returning to the room.

by Amy Howe 3/21/2017 7:33:11 PM

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Senator Grassley is gaveling the hearing to reopen it.

by Amy Howe 3/21/2017 7:34:38 PM

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Senator Cruz is up now. Congratulates Gorsuch on making it through the first half of questioning with flying colors.

by Amy Howe 3/21/2017 7:35:04 PM

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Cruz: What is the answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe, and everything?

by Amy Howe 3/21/2017 7:35:29 PM

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Gorsuch: 42.

by Amy Howe 3/21/2017 7:35:34 PM

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This is an anecdote about swearing in new lawyers at the Tenth Circuit. Gorsuch apparently asks them that question, and the answer is from Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, which he says is one of his daughter's favorite books.

by Amy Howe 3/21/2017 7:36:55 PM

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Cruz: You started as a law clerk for Byron White.

by Amy Howe 3/21/2017 7:37:08 PM

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Talking about White's record in NFL. Cruz -- can you talk about your experience?

by Amy Howe 3/21/2017 7:37:39 PM

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Gorsuch: He really was my childhood hero. To get picked out of the pile to clerk for him was the privilege of a lifetime.

by Amy Howe 3/21/2017 7:38:10 PM

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Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) asks first about Justice Byron White.

by Andrew Hamm edited by Molly Runkle 3/21/2017 7:39:00 PM

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We have another Gorsuch Byron White impression. [Don't know him, so can't weigh in on how accurate it is.]

by Amy Howe 3/21/2017 7:39:06 PM

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[Or should say didn't know him, very sorry.]

by Amy Howe 3/21/2017 7:39:18 PM

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[But Gorsuch very much enjoyed the impression.]

by Amy Howe 3/21/2017 7:39:38 PM

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White said his judicial philosophy was to decide cases. [Pretty sure we have heard this anecdote already today too.]

by Amy Howe 3/21/2017 7:40:03 PM

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Before a short break, Grassley entered into the record an op-ed with the Chicago Tribune, "Crying wolf over Neil Gorsuch." Here it is. www.chicagotribune.com

by Andrew Hamm 3/21/2017 7:40:29 PM

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Now Cruz, who also clerked at the Court, is talking about the basketball court at the court. Describes White as playing with a bunch of "pencil-necked law clerks." [Cruz's words, not mine.]

by Amy Howe 3/21/2017 7:41:22 PM

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Now we are talking about Byron White's jump shot and eye-hand coordination. [I do not make this up.]

by Amy Howe 3/21/2017 7:41:44 PM

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White told him, "The truth is, we will all be forgotten."

by Amy Howe 3/21/2017 7:42:43 PM

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Cruz: "There is wisdom in that humility."

by Amy Howe 3/21/2017 7:42:52 PM

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Cruz: Some Democratic senators who have challenged originalism, painted it as some quaint and outdated mode of interpreting the Constitution.

by Amy Howe 3/21/2017 7:43:17 PM

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Cruz (who is speaking very slowly): Do you agree that originalism is a quaint and outdated notion?

by Amy Howe 3/21/2017 7:44:09 PM

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Gorsuch: We sometimes use labels as a way to not engage with other people. As a judge, that's not fair or useful.

by Amy Howe 3/21/2017 7:44:33 PM

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Gorsuch: I don't think there is a judge alive who doesn't want to know something about original meaning of text he or she is interpreting. I don't think this is an ideological thing. Refers to Fourth Amendment cases that ruled for the defendant. Also Crawford v. Washington and the right to confront witnesses.

by Amy Howe 3/21/2017 7:45:40 PM

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Gorsuch: Crawford based on original meaning of Sixth Amendment. Justice Stevens examined original history of Fifth Amendment in Apprendi.

by Amy Howe 3/21/2017 7:46:09 PM

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Gorsuch: Or Heller, in which both majority and dissent wrote opinions that examined original history of the Constitution.

by Amy Howe 3/21/2017 7:46:55 PM

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