UPDATING: Trump Releases List of (All White, Mostly Male) Potential SCOTUS Nominees – Who Are They?

GOP Presumptive Nominee Says There Are 11 People He’d Consider for the Nation’s Highest Court

Donald Trump has released his highly-anticipated list of potential Supreme Court nominees. None of them are household names. All of them are white. Most are male. Most are federal appeals court judges appointed by President George W. Bush. Several are state supreme court judges appointed by current or former Republican governors. Three are women. One is the brother of a sitting conservative Tea Party Republican Senator. All are young enough to serve decades on the nation’s highest court.

Overall, many on the list are judges who have ruled to oppose abortion and a woman’s right to choose and to support efforts to curtail or interfere with abortion.

A quick review of the list by NCRM shows who appointed them and their current role in the judiciary. They include:

8th Circuit Court Judge Steven Colloton of Iowa (Bush 43, clerked for Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, worked for anti-Clinton investigator Kenneth Starr)

8th Circuit Court Judge Raymond Gruender of Missouri (Bush 43) 
Authored an opinion that states female employees do not have a right to contraception, authored an opinion that laws mandating doctors to explain to patients what abortion does (an effort to reduce abortions) is constitutional and does not violate the First Amendment, authored an opinion freeing Little Rock, Arkansas from federal desegregation rules

3rd Circuit Court Judge Thomas Hardiman of Pennsylvania (Bush 43),

6th Circuit Court Judge Raymond Kethledge of Michigan (Bush 43),

Michigan Supreme Court Judge Joan Larsen (Rick Snyder, and clerked for Scalia),

Colorado Supreme Court Judge Allison Eid (appointed by Gov. Bill Owens, tied to Bush 43, clerked for Clarence Thomas),

Thomas Lee, Associate Chief Justice of the Utah Supreme Court and brother of U.S. Sen. Mike Lee (appointed by Gov. Gary Herbert, clerked for Clarence Thomas)
Authored an opinion stating a fetus is a “minor child”

11th Circuit Court of Appeals Judge William Pryor of Alabama (Bush 43)
Wrote an opinion upholding a Georgia voter ID law

Minnesota Supreme Court David Stras (Appointed by Gov. Tim Pawlenty, clerked for Clarence Thomas),

7th Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Diane Sykes of Wisconsin (Bush 43),

Texas Supreme Court Judge Don Willett (appointed by Gov. Rick Perry)

The Associated Press, releasing the list, notes in March Trump “said then the list would include judges ‘that everybody respects, likes and totally admires’ and ‘great conservative judges, great intellects, the people that you want.'”

Trump said the list “is representative of the kind of constitutional principles I value” and said that, as president, he would use it “as a guide to nominate our next United States Supreme Court Justices.”

His campaign stressed the list was compiled “first and foremost, based on constitutional principles, with input from highly respected conservatives and Republican Party leadership.”

UPDATE I: 3:05 PM EDT –
The Daily Beast notes, “None of the choices are minorities.”

UPDATE II 4:07 PM EDT – 
Trump SCOTUS Nominee Was Named ‘Most Demonstrably Anti-Gay Judicial Nominee in Recent Memory’ 

 

This is a breaking news and developing story. Details may change. This story will be updated, and NCRM will likely publish follow-up stories on this news. Stay tuned and refresh for updates.

 

Image by Gage Skidmore via Flickr and a CC license