In an effort to smooth relations with wary conservatives, Donald Trump has released a list of 11 possible Supreme Court justices he’d nominate to fill Antonin Scalia’s vacant seat. They include a social media star (who hasn’t been a Trump fan), a former Attorney General from Alabama, and the ex-wife of his Wisconsin foe Charlie Sykes.
Trump was quick to note that these weren’t actually short-listed SCOTUS Justices, but rather “representative of the kind of constitutional principles” he looks for in judges, and that he’d “use the list as a guide” if and when he gets to nominate anyone.
The list is full of strong conservative justices, though some expected names —”Judicial Diva” Janice Rogers Brown of the DC Circuit, longtime SCOTUS short-lister Alex Kozinski and, given that this is Donald Trump’s list, Judge Judy and Ted Cruz—didn’t make the cut. And there are notable skeptics; after all, Trump isn’t known for keeping his campaign promises to conservatives.
The prevailing theory is that Donald Trump needs to woo conservatives with some form of outreach, and a list of solid conservative judicial nominees is just the ticket (after all, he piqued the interest of even staunch Trump detractors with it). But any real confirmation would be a more complicated scenario, and Donald Trump might not, at that point, have “making conservatives happy” as his priority.
That, of course, doesn’t make the list any less impressive. It includes a social media sensation, the Hon. Don Willett of the Texas Supreme Court, who is not just a solid jurist (he’s a legal scholar, he formerly worked in the office of the Texas Attorney General and as a conservative judicial commentator), but also a (hilarious) Trump critic.
Trump also suggested the Hon. Steven Colloton who once clerked for Chief Justice William Rhenquist, and Hon. Allison Eid of the Colorado Supreme Court who clerked for Justice Clarence Thomas. He included Hon. Raymond Gruender of the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals who doesn’t have the same kind of SCOTUS credentials, but also began working for his family at age 10 and survived a gunshot wound from a confrontation with his father to get his Bachelor’s, JD and MBA in six years.
Also on the list is Hon. Thomas Hardiman of the 3th Circuit Court of Appeals, a prestigious career achiever and Federalist Society expert; Hon. Joan Larsen from Michigan’s Supreme Court, a clerk for the late Justice Antonin Scalia, whom she described as a “role model”; Hon. David Stras, a practical judge from Missouri; and Hon. Raymond Kethledge from the 6th Circuit, a clerk for Justice Anthony Kennedy and seasoned “bench-slapper” (a judge who doesn’t let you off easy when your argument is ridiculous). The list also includes Hon. Thomas Lee of the Utah Supreme Court, whose middle name is “Rex,” which is badass—he’s also the brother of Sen. Mike Lee.
Most notably, Trump included Hon. William Pryor of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, a conservative powerhouse appointed by George W. Bush, who has angered liberal jurists with his “too extreme” views on abortion, voter ID laws and the Obama Administration’s controversial contraception mandate. And he made sure to add Hon. Diane Sykes of Wisconsin of the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, a crusader for conservative jurisprudence and defender of the First Amendment’s right to Free Exercise of Religion (she’s alsoTrump’s top Wisconsin foe Charlie Sykes’s ex-wife, which was probably a mark in her favor to Trump).
But a few things have to happen before they are sitting on the nation’s top bench.