Judiciary Watch

Donald Trump names potential Supreme Court nominees

Presumptive Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump released a list of potential Supreme Court nominees, saying he would appoint someone in the mold of former Justice Antonin Scalia.  On Trump’s list are eight men and three women, all white, and all appellate judges at either the federal or state level.

Hon. William Pryor sits on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit.  Pryor has said that Roe v. Wade was “the worst abomination in the history of constitutional law.”  Hon. Steven Colloton, and Hon. Raymond Gruender sit on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit.  Both were described as very bright jurists by lawyers interviewed for the Almanac of the Federal Judiciary, with one lawyer also describing them as “stone-age conservatives.” Hon. Thomas Hardiman sits on the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals and Hon. Raymond Kethledge and Hon. Joan Larsen both sit on the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals.

The five state Supreme Court justices on Mr. Trump’s list are Allison Eid of Colorado, Joan Larsen of Michigan, Thomas Lee of Utah, David Stras of Minnesota and Don Willett of Texas.  Larsen is a former law clerk to Scalia and Lee is the brother of Republican Sen. Mike Lee of Utah. 

Senate confirms Xinis to Maryland court

The Senate yesterday confirmed Paula Xinis, by a 53-34 vote, to the district court in Maryland.  Xinis is a graduate of Yale Law School and clerked for Hon. Diana Gibbon Motz on the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals.  Xinis is a former federal public defender and was most recently a partner with the Baltimore law firm of Murphy, Falcon & Murphy, where she handed complex federal civil rights violations, class actions and mass actions in Maryland and across the U.S.