Supreme Court Nominee Neil Gorsuch Is a Donald Trump-Style Authoritarian

DONALD TRUMP’S ANNOUNCEMENT of 10th Circuit Judge Neil Gorsuch as his nominee for Supreme Court was greeted with lavish praise from Republicans who commended his constitutional literalism.

The mainstream press, meanwhile, fixated on comparing him to the man he would succeed, the late Justice Antonin Scalia, rather than digging into his record.

Gorsuch was said to be the least controversial pick on Trump’s shortlist, having sailed through his early confirmation hearings in 2006 with only a few questions on assisted suicide from Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore. But now Gorsuch has a 10-year record of legal opinions, some of which disturbingly echo Trump’s aversion to limits on law enforcement power.

Trump campaigned as the “law and order candidate,” and was extremely reluctant to hold police accountable for violence. Gorsuch, from his first year on the federal bench, expressed a similar devotion to police impunity.

In a 2006 case, police had caught 22-year-old Ryan Wilson growing marijuana in Lafayette, Colorado. Wilson tried to flee, but an officer tased him in the back of the head and he died of cardiac arrhythmia. Despite the marketing claims of taser manufacturers that their products are a safe way to incapacitate criminals, they frequently cause permanent damage or kill victims.

Wilson’s parents sued for damages, claiming that police had used excessive force. When the case found its way to the 10th Circuit, Gorsuch ruled in favor of the police. “Mr. Wilson was resisting arrest by fleeing from officers after they identified themselves — even if the crime of which he was suspected was not itself a violent one,” Gorsuch wrote for the majority.