May 21, 2016 - May 27, 2016, The Afro-American
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Donald Trump Unveils List of His All White Top Picks for Supreme Court By Jill Colvin and Mark Sherman, Associated Press Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee for president, released on May 18 a list of 11 potential Supreme Court justices he plans to vet to fill the seat of late Justice Antonin Scalia if he’s elected to the White House. The list of conservative federal and state judges includes 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. Trump had previously named Pryor and Sykes as examples of kind of justices he would choose. The news comes as Trump is working to bring together a fractured Republican Party and earn the trust of still-skeptical establishment Republicans who question his electability in the general election, as well as conservatives in his party still wary of his commitment to their cause. In a statement, 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.” Larsen, who serves on the Michigan Supreme Court and is a former law clerk to Scalia, delivered one of the tributes to the late justice at his memorial service in March. She served in the Justice Department office that produced the legal justifications for the enhanced interrogation techniques, including waterboarding, that critics have called torture. Willett, a justice on the Texas Supreme Court, is perhaps best known for his heavy use of social media. His Twitter handle, @justicewillett, has more than 35,000 followers. Pryor was initially given a recess appointment to the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
by President George W. Bush. Senate Democrats had tried to block Pryor’s appointments over his strong criticism of the Roe v. Wade decision that established a woman’s right to an abortion. Apart from Sykes, who is 58, the others all are younger than 55 and David Stras is just 41. The eight men and three women on the list are all White. Trump’s list is also notable for the names that don’t appear. It omits two of the biggest stars in the conservative legal world, Judge Brett Kavanaugh of the federal appeals court (AP Photos) in Washington, and former (Top left clockwise) - Allison Eid, William Pryor, David Stras , Joan Larsen, Don Willett Bush administration and the presumptive Republican nominee for president, Donald Trump. Solicitor General Paul Clement. Trump first said in March that he planned marked a rare moment of acknowledgment by Trump to release the list of five that he could be doing more to appease those in his party to 10 judges in an effort to ease concerns about his conservative credentials, which had come under attack in opposed his candidacy. Trump had said he would like to appoint judges in the heated Republican primary. the mold of deeply conservative as Scalia, who died “I am going to give a list of either five or 10 judges in February. In the statement, he described Scalia as that I will pick, 100 percent pick, that I will put in for “a remarkable person and a brilliant Supreme Court nomination. Because some of the people that are against Justice.” “His career was defined by his reverence for me say: ‘We don’t know if he’s going to pick the right the Constitution and his legacy of protecting Americans’ judge. Supposing he picks a liberal judge or supposing most cherished freedoms,” he added. “He was a justice he picks a pro-choice judge,’” Trump said at an event in who did not believe in legislating from the bench and he Palm Beach, Florida. is a person whom I held in the highest regard and will He said then the list would include judges “that always greatly respect his intelligence and conviction to everybody respects, likes and totally admires” — “great uphold the Constitution of our country.” conservative judges, great intellects, the people that you want.” The vow
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