A professor at the SIU School of Law says he believes President Trump's nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court will fit in nicely with the other eight members on the nation's high court.
Assistant professor Ed Dawson says Neil Gorsuch has the sort of resume you'd expect for a nominee to the Supreme Court.
"He's been a judge on a lower court, the circuit court of appeals in Colorado for an extended period of time. He had a very successful private practice career before that. He has an Ivy League education resume and he himself clerked for the Supreme Court, for justices Byron White and Anthony Kennedy."
Dawson says Gorsuch fits the Antonin Scalia mold in that he is an originalist, meaning he interprets the constitution just as its framers did almost 230 years ago.
"From the perspective of filling the seat on the court, if the nominee is confirmed, you'd basically be replacing one originalist, Justice Scalia, with another."
Dawson says there is a debate between originalists and other justices who endorse a living, breathing interpretation of the document.
"Justice Breyer, for example, currently on the court, who will recognize that the constitution may need to evolve over time, or that in interpreting a statute, you might look further beyond just the words in the statute."
Dawson says he has heard Gorsuch may have a Libertarian view on some issues. Dawson says he took notice when Gorsuch said a judge who likes every result he reaches is probably not a good judge.
Dawson, who also clerked for Justice Kennedy, says if confirmed, Gorsuch will join the court at a time when he could be the swing vote on cases involving transgender students, and potentially challenges to President Trump's immigration order involving seven Muslim-majority nations.
