Liberals have no case against Neil Gorsuch

Liberals have at their disposal three kinds of arguments against confirming Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court.

They can say that the mainstream judicial conservatism that he undoubtedly represents is dangerously wrong. A lot of liberals probably believe this. But most people find that argument unreasonable, so few liberals make it.

They can say that Gorsuch should not be confirmed to keep Republicans from being rewarded for their refusal even to consider President Obama’s nomination of Merrick Garland for the same seat on the Supreme Court. But voters didn’t much care about Garland’s plight last year, when his nomination was live, and are unlikely to care more about it now.

This leaves door No. 3: Liberals can pretend that Gorsuch is a far-right extremist. Many liberals are rushing right in.

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., cites Gorsuch’s ruling that the Hobby Lobby craft-store chain should be able to refuse to offer employee health coverage for contraceptives that its evangelical Christian owners oppose. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, also claims that Gorsuch proved he was “far outside of the judicial mainstream” in treating corporations as people.

Yet only two of the nine justices on the Supreme Court sided with these senators in denying that corporations could qualify for protection under religious-liberty statutes. Justices Stephen Breyer and Elena Kagan, both Democratic appointees, voted against Hobby Lobby, but refused to endorse that argument.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., claims that Gorsuch ruled that the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act doesn’t apply to children with autism.

Gorsuch never ruled that way. He did rule that the law did not entitle the parents of a child with autism to the specific assistance they sought. It was a unanimous decision of three judges, and it expressed sympathy for the family.

I don’t mean to paint all liberals with the same brush. Some of them are noting that he is exactly the reasonable and judicious pick he appears to be. But others are working hard to distort his record – and in the process discrediting only themselves.

This story was originally published February 5, 2017 at 5:01 AM with the headline "Liberals have no case against Neil Gorsuch."