With the third term of Neil Gorsuch on the Supreme Court now complete, one must say that Gorsuch is quite a surprise in his decisions on the Court, startling many conservatives, and pleasing progressives.
It is clear that Gorsuch is, and will continue to be, unpredictable on the Court, and already, he joins Chief Justice John Roberts in siding with liberals on some cases before the Court.
He has already made observers compare him to former Justice Byron White, and even by some to former Justice David Souter.
This means that the idea that are five rigid conservatives on the Court now looks more like four liberals, three conservatives, and some of the time two “swing” Justices, mostly conservative but totally unpredictable, and therefore, not reliable all of the time for the conservative camp.
It was wonderful to see Gorsuch side with native Americans in declaring that eastern Oklahoma is native American territory, although it is not clear what that means in reality to Oklahoma’s future.
His backing of gays and lesbians having employment rights guaranteed under the Civil Rights Act of 1964, joined by Chief Justice Roberts, may be one of the most important cases in many years.
The at times unpredictability of both Gorsuch and Roberts makes following the Supreme Court much more fascinating, for sure!