Assemblyman Urges N.J. Senators To Vote For Supreme Court Nominee

WYCKOFF, N.J. — A local assemblyman is urging New Jersey Senators Robert Menendez and Cory Booker to confirm President Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch.

Assemblyman Kevin Rooney (District 40) wants Menendez and Booker, both democrats, "put partisanship aside" and confirm Gorsuch to the Supreme Court bench "as quickly as possible."

President Trump Tuesday night nominated Gorsuch, a judge from the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals from Colorado, to fill former Justice Antonin Scalia's seat on the bench. Scalia, the court's former senior associate justice, died in his sleep last February.

"Judge Gorsuch is a man of tremendous intellect and legal scholarship who, if appointed to the court, will interpret the Constitution, not legislate from the bench," Rooney said. "He is committed to the legal principles that made former Justice Antonin Scalia such an outstanding and respected judge and legal scholar."

Many Senate Democrats, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, promised an exhaustive confirmation process for Gorsuch. Some, such as Elizabeth Warren, have already vowed to vote no.

"Make no mistake, Senate Democrats will not simply allow but require an exhaustive, robust, and comprehensive debate on Judge Gorsuch's fitness to be a Supreme Court Justice," Schumer said in a statement after the pick.

Rooney said that Gorsuch deserves a "respectful review," that, when honestly carried out, can lead to only one conclusion -- his confirmation to the Supreme Court of the United States."

Gorsuch attended Columbia University and Harvard Law School, where he was classmates with President Barack Obama. He earned a doctorate at Oxford University.

He clerked for Supreme Court Justices Byron White and Anthony Kennedy and has worked in the U.S. Department of Justice.

Gorsuch is a strong defender of religious liberty, siding with Hobby Lobby in its objection to the Affordable Care Act's mandate that employers provide contraceptives to employees.

Gorsuch also ruled in favor of a town that displayed a donated model of the Ten Commandments in a public park, saying it did not have an obligation to display other religious relics there, too.

Gorsuch wrote an entire book about euthanasia and assisted suicide, arguing against the legalization of both practices. Some pro-lifers think those views mean he will fight against abortion from the bench.

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Neil Gorsuch — Image via 10th Circuit Court of Appeals