As the next President of the United States, Donald Trump will have the ability to set the direction of the Supreme Court by appointing a ninth justice to fill the current vacancy. SCOTUS has operated with only eight Justices since conservative jurist Antonin Scalia passed away in February, leading a replacement deadlock between President Barack Obama and a Republican Senate.
Now, the Republicans control the White House and the Senate, and Trump will have significant leeway to select the candidate of his choice. Before he was elected, the GOP candidate released a list of 21 potential picks that he would consider nominating should he win the presidency. Most notably, Trump’s list included Alabama Judge William H. Pryor, who currently serves on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.
Trump praised Scalia throughout the campaign, and expressed desire for his pick to mimic the jurisprudence of the conservative lion. “The freedoms we cherish and the constitutional values and principles our country was founded on are in jeopardy,” Trump said upon releasing his list in February. “The responsibility is greater than ever to protect and uphold these freedoms and I will appoint justices, who like Justice Scalia, will protect our liberty with the highest regard for the Constitution.”
Scalia proved critical in his time on the court in protecting the rights of Americans enumerated in the constitution and limiting the scope of the federal government. In perhaps his most seminal decision, District of Columbia vs. Heller determined that the Second Amendment right to bear arms is an individual right unconnected to service in a “militia.”
To test the “Scalia-ness” of the judges on the president-elect’s list, law professors at the University of California, Berkeley and Mercer University analyzed the legal opinions and compared them to the tendencies of the Reagan appointee. By looking at the use of originialism, citation to Scalia’s work, and the willingness of a judge to dissent or concur, the researchers created a “Scalia Index” to compare each of the 21 members of Trump’s list.
Pryor had one of the highest scores on the index and was only one of three judges to be in the “positive” range.
As a judge, Pryor has upheld state voter-ID laws, written anti-Obamacare opinions, and called Roe v. Wade the “worst abomination in the history of constitutional law.”
RELATED: Meet the pro-life, anti-Obamacare Alabama judge in line to join the Supreme Court
It is likely that Scalia’s seat will not be the only one that Trump will fill during his presidency. Two justices – Anthony Kennedy and Ruth Bader Ginsberg – are at least 80 years old, and another – Stephen Bryer – is 78.
Don’t miss out! Subscribe today to have Alabama’s leading headlines delivered to your inbox.