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A 'Fair Judge': Abortion Dominates as Gorsuch Deflects

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CAPITOL HILL -- The Republican chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee tried to immediately give Neil Gorsuch some cover as the Supreme Court nominee faced his first day of tough questioning before the senators.
                
It's been said liberals would try to box Gorsuch in by proving during these hearings he'll be in lockstep with conservatives and Republicans as a justice.   

Watch CBN's Analysis of Tuesday morning's hearings with David Brody, John Jessup, and Abigail Robertson.

 

Chairman Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, asked him right off the top if he could rise above politics and be an independent judge.
 
"I have no difficulty ruling against or for any party other than based on what the law and the facts of a particular case require," Gorsuch said.

"And I'm heartened by the support I have received from people who recognize that there's no such thing as a Republican judge or a Democratic judge. We just have judges in this country," he said.

Judge Neil Gorsuch found himself on the hot seat for day 2 of his Senate confirmation hearings for the Supreme Court. Watch the video below for some of the most noteworthy comments from his first hour of testimony.

Grassley pointed out candidate Donald Trump had promised a justice nominee who'd be a strict constitutionalist and pro-life. And Democrat senators would try to pin Gorsuch down by making him say how he'd judge on issues of vital concern to them, like abortion. Grassley wondered if he'd pass these litmus tests.

"If I were to start telling you which are my favorite precedents or which are my least favorite precedents or if I viewed precedent in that fashion… I would be tipping my hand and suggesting to litigants that I have already made up my mind about their cases," Gorsuch replied. "That's not a fair judge. I didn't want that kind of judge when I was a lawyer and I don't want to be that kind of judge now."

Another Democrat trap reportedly coming is to show Gorsuch rules by what he believes the Constitution says, and so would be happy to throw out precedents where justices had made law from the bench, like in declaring abortion as a right.

"Precedent is kind of like our shared family history as judges. It deserves our respect because it represents our collective wisdom. And to come in and think just because I'm new or the latest thing, and know better than everyone who comes before me would be an act of hubris inappropriate to the judicial role," Gorsuch stated.

Grassley then asked Gorsuch point-blank, "I think the case that most people are thinking about right now and the case that every nominee gets asked about, Roe v Wade. Can you tell me if Roe was decided correctly?"

Gorsuch didn't reply directly, but said, "I would tell you that Roe versus Wade decided in 1973 is a precedent of the United States Supreme Court. It has been reaffirmed. The reliance interest considerations are important there. And all the other factors that go into analyzing precedent have to be considered."

"It is a precedent of the United States Supreme Court. It was reaffirmed in Casey in 1992 and in several other cases. So a good judge will consider it as precedent of the United States Supreme Court worthy of treatment as precedent like any other," he continued.
                
As the questioning then turned to the first Democrat, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, R-Cal., she did indeed ask whether he viewed Roe v Wade as untouchable precedent.

"The president said that he would appoint someone who would overturn Roe. And you pointed out to me that you view precedent in a serious way in that it added stability to the law. Could you elaborate on the point you made in my office," she said.
                
Gorsuch tried to carefully thread the needle of showing respect for precedent but not giving any guarantees.

"Once a case is settled, that adds to the determinancy of the law," he said. "What was once a hotly contested issue is no longer a hotly-contested issue."       

Feinstein tried again to nail him down, asking, "Do you view Roe as having super-precedent?"

He simply replied, "It has been reaffirmed many times."

This first day of questioning by senators lasted roughly 10 hours. The senators will question Gorsuch for a second day before judicial experts testify on Thursday. 

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