‘Originalist’ court nominee belongs on original court

Published 1:30 am Thursday, April 6, 2017

I used to think that Judge Neil Gorsuch should be confirmed. He appeared to qualified jurist, which is the standard by which he should be judged. I disagree with many of his decisions. Then I began to study his judicial philosophy. It turns out he is not just a conservative, but he is also, by his own words, an “originalist.”

When the Constitution was written, America was significantly different than today.

Americans lived in a 3-mph world: the speed of a horse over a distance. No cars, no interstates, no trucks to haul goods, no railroads, no airplanes, no steam boats.

Electricity consisted of Ben Franklin’s kite.

No electric lights to work before sunrise or after sunset.

No telephones, much less cell phones.

No mass communications, radio or television.

No computers, no internet and no video games.

Corporations were chartered for the life of a project and did not have any legal rights beyond contracts for a specific project.

Multinational corporations consisted of trading leagues, not conglomerates with incomes exceeding that of all but the largest nations.

Especially in the Midwest our biggest enemy were “savage redskins.” Europeans were the immigrant minority.

The literacy rate for women was at about 30 percent and they could not vote.

Slaves only counted as three-fifths of a person and almost half of the Europeans came over as indentured servants.

Judge Neil Gorsuch does appear to have the judicial credentials to serve on the Supreme Court. However, I think this country needs a judge that lives at least in the 20th century, if not the 21st century.

Gary McCaig

Lynnwood