Judicial Crisis Network Happy With Donald Trump's SCOTUS Shortlist
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - The Chief Counsel and Policy Director for the Judicial Crisis Network, Carrie Severino, addressed the list of potential Supreme Court candidates released by Donald Trump and expressed optimism that, if he wins the Presidency in November, he would make a good choice to fill the vacancy left by the death of Antonin Scalia.
Severino, during an interview with Chris Stigall on Talk Radio 1210 WPHT, said that, while she likes the names on Trump's list, Democrats would probably not confirm any of them if they re-take the Senate.
"These are the kind of people they would block until the cows come home but I think it's a great list. If we could get the White House and keep the Senate, I think this would be an amazing opportunity to actually appoint someone who would be worthy to fill Justice Scalia's shoes."
She believes the next Presidential election will play a crucial role in determining the direction of the Supreme Court for a generation.
"Depending on who is appointing the next Justice, we could have someone who is going to think they are the grand poobah and be able to run the country from an un-elected, life tenured position. I think that's really a problem. That's not how our Constitution was designed. So, what we need are people on the Court who are going to recognize their limited role and then do that role faithfully, because there are times when you do need the Court to step in."
Severino also lamented the growing presence of the court in American society, a role she does not believe the Court was ever designed to fill.
"The court has, over the years, the activist judges have taken on a lot of things that the court was never supposed to be doing. They're supposed to be, simply look at the law, see if it comports to the Constitution. But when you have a court that is taking it upon itself to read new things into the Constitution, to say we think it's evolving and we're going to put our fingers to the wind and tell you which way we think society is going. That's not what the Court was designed for. That's what our elected branches were designed to do, to figure out how is society changing? How do we reflect that? The Court is simply there to make sure that those laws that the elected branches pass actually are being faithfully executed and make sure the Constitution is being stuck to."