The primary job of a judge in our republic is to interpret and apply the U.S. Constitution and other laws in specific cases—period . Due to the separation of powers, the role of the judge is not to create law or mold and shape the law according to their personal feelings or whims, acting more like an activist legislator seeking specific outcomes. Unfortunately, too many people donning black robes today behave more like elitist oracles or Star Chamber members rather than judges, pompously pronouncing and imposing allegedly enlightened progressive “wisdom” on us from their lofty perches. By straying from the text and the original intent, they usurp the legislative branch’s role, acting as if they are superior to the Constitution and citizens, rather than servants.
Yet judicial activism, as we have seen, has led to the purported fabrication of new and inappropriate constitutional “rights” like the right to kill babies (Roe v. Wade) and the redefinition of marriage (Obergefell v. Hodges). It has also resulted in the diminution of religious freedom (Employment Division v. Smith) and many other social ills.
Judge Neil Gorsuch was raised as a Catholic, but now worships with his family at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Boulder Colorado. He is a lifelong Republican and member of the Federalist Society, a conservative legal organization. Neil Gorsuch is brilliant and capable. Even the liberal American Bar Association had deemed that he is “well qualified to serve on the Supreme Court.” Gorsuch has written a book critiquing assisted suicide and admires Justice Scalia, the man he would replace.
Judge Gorsuch is a champion of “equal justice under the law” in the context of the First Amendment and religious freedom. He has written opinions protecting the right of a Native American prisoner to have access to a sweat-lodge, a Muslim prisoner’s access to halal meals, the right of nuns (Little Sisters of the Poor) not to be coerced to pay for abortifacient drugs, and closely held religious corporations not to violate their consciences by paying for contraception in their insurance plans. He wrote in Hobby Lobby v. Sebelius, “The [Religious Freedom Restoration] Act doesn’t just apply to protect popular religious beliefs: it does perhaps its most important work in protecting unpopular… religious beliefs, vindicating this nation’s long held aspirations to serve as a refuge of religious tolerance.”
Based on Gorsuch’s history and responses in the confirmation hearings thus far, I submit that he will prove to serve as a humble servant of the Constitution, the law, and the people. President Donald Trump should be thanked and congratulated for his excellent choice. As such, Gorsuch will act as a true judge, not a legislator, and will defend and protect religious freedom. Neil Gorsuch is the perfect replacement for Justice Antonin Scalia.
— by Dean R. Broyles, Esq.
Broyles is a constitutional attorney serving as the President of The National Center For Law & Policy (NCLP), an organization fighting to promote and defend religious freedom. Copyright© The National Center For Law & Policy. Reprinted with permission.