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Page 10A NATION/WORLD East Oregonian Saturday, July 7, 2018 Youth, conservative cred not only factors in high court pick Associated Press WASHINGTON — They’re all younger than 55 and conservative enough to make a first cut. But the four judges who are apparently the finalists for President Donald Trump’s sec- ond Supreme Court nomination are being measured against a set of questions that go well beyond age and ideology. Presidents weigh all sorts of consider- ations in deciding on a Supreme Court nom- inee, often beginning with the big question: Will the choice be con- firmed by the Senate? Academic credentials, professional experi- ence and sometimes even gender, race and geographical diversity all can be part of the equation. The stakes are sky high for filling the opening created by Jus- tice Anthony Kennedy’s imminent retirement. The new justice has the potential to entrench conservative control of the Supreme Court for years to come. Here are some of the pluses and minuses for each of the presumed leading candidates, in alphabetical order: AMY CONEY BARRETT, 46, judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit If Trump is looking to make history, Bar- rett could have some appeal. If she’s cho- sen and confirmed, it would be the first time four women would serve together on the nine-member Supreme Court. In addition, she is the youngest of the leading candidates, and Trump has said he wants his nominee to serve for decades. Bar- rett, a longtime law pro- fessor at the University of Notre Dame, also served as a law clerk to the late Justice Antonin Scalia, who is beloved by conservatives. And she recently made it through the confirma- tion process, with the Senate approving her nomination to be an appeals court judge in October. Three Demo- crats voted for her then. But Barrett’s recent ascension to the appeals court means she does not have the long, con- servative record that lawmakers on the right find reassuring. Barrett is also seen as a poten- tially divisive nomi- nee because of state- ments she’s made about her Catholic faith and about abortion. In her 20s she co-authored a paper that said Catho- lic judges, if they are faithful to church teach- ings, are “morally pre- cluded” from enforc- ing the death penalty. At her recent confirmation hearing, however, she said it was never per- missible for judges to Coney Barrett Hardiman “follow their personal convictions in deciding a case.” More recently, she’s written that abid- ing by precedent is “not a hard-and-fast rule” in the Supreme Court’s constitutional cases. Although the statement is undoubtedly accu- rate, it is likely to be seized on by support- ers of abortion rights as they try to convince moderate Republican senators that Barrett might vote to overturn the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision declaring a woman’s constitutional right to abortion. THOMAS HARDI- MAN, 52, judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit Hardiman was a run- ner-up when Trump nominated Neil Gor- such to the high court in 2017. He might appeal to Trump if the president is looking for some- one from a blue-collar background. Hardiman was the first in his fam- ily to attend college, at the University of Notre Dame, then helped pay for his law school edu- cation at Georgetown by driving a taxi. Hardi- Kethledge man has some notable opinions in his 11 years on the appeals court that could appeal to Trump, including upholding strip searches of jail inmates, even those arrested on minor charges, backing collec- tion of genetic evidence from people at the time of their arrest, and dis- senting from a ruling that upheld gun regula- tions in New Jersey. Hardiman’s judicial chambers are in Pitts- burgh, where his wife comes from a fam- ily of prominent Dem- ocrats. He also was a colleague of Trump’s sister, Judge Mary- anne Trump Barry, who stopped hearing cases last year. Some con- servative groups don’t trust Barry because she wrote an opinion strik- ing down a New Jersey abortion regulation in 2000, and they hope she has no influence over her brother’s choice. BRETT KAVANA- UGH, 53, judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit Roughly 300 opin- ions in 12 years as a Kavanaugh judge and a raft of legal articles and speak- ing engagements make Kavanaugh the most prolific of the pro- spective nominees. He is widely viewed as a skilled, conserva- tive judge on what is often called the second most powerful court in America. His opin- ions include several dissents that were later vindicated by Supreme Court majority opin- ions. Kavanaugh, who worked on the investi- gation that led to Pres- ident Bill Clinton’s impeachment, later wrote that he thinks presidents shouldn’t have to deal with crim- inal investigations or civil lawsuits while in office — a view that Trump might find attractive. He attended Yale both as an under- graduate and law stu- dent, and served as a law clerk to Kennedy. He is active in his local Catholic church and as a coach for his daugh- ters’ basketball teams. Some social con- servatives fear Kava- naugh isn’t commit- ted to issues that matter to them, like abortion. They cite a recent case involving a pregnant teenaged immigrant in federal custody. Kava- naugh would have delayed the teen’s abor- tion, in line with the Trump administration’s position, but another judge would have gone farther and declared that, as someone who is in the U.S. illegally, the teen had no right at all to an abortion. Kava- naugh’s close ties to the Bush family, stemming from his five years in the White House under President George W. Bush, might not be a positive to Trump, who has sparred with the Bushes. Kavana- ugh also was a clerk for Judge Alex Kozinski, who retired abruptly last year as allegations of sexual misconduct grew. R A Y M O N D KETHLEDGE, 51, judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit Kethledge’s 10 years as a federal appeals court judge give him a long record of con- servative opinions that may make Trump and Republican senators feel secure about the kind of Supreme Court justice he’d be. He’s written opinions siding against unions in a dues collection case, admon- ishing the IRS in a case about its targeting of conservative groups and okaying broad access by the government to cell- phone location data, an opinion overturned last month by the Supreme Court. He’s also seen as a strong supporter of the Second Amendment. Like Kavanaugh, Kethledge is a for- mer Kennedy clerk and would no doubt cite that experience in attempt- ing to appeal to mod- erates. Kethledge also has first-hand experi- ence with Congress. For about a year and a half in the 1990s, Keth- ledge was counsel to Republican Sen. Spen- cer Abraham of Michi- gan. If Kethledge is the nominee, that experi- ence working for Con- gress could help in the customary courtesy vis- its to senators before a confirmation hearing. At the same time, Kethledge left Washing- ton to return to Mich- igan two decades ago. He probably has fewer friends in the nation’s capital than Kavana- ugh, but Trump may put value on the fact he’s an outsider and less well known in Washing- ton. In addition, Trump is thought to be look- ing for a nominee with superior academic cre- dentials. That could be a problem for Kethledge if what Trump really meant was that he wants an Ivy Leaguer, like the rest of the high court. Kethledge attended the University of Michigan for both undergraduate and law school. Judge rejects bid to reopen activist rancher case Immigrant PhD By KEN RITTER Associated Press LAS VEGAS (AP) — A judge’s decision not to let federal prosecutors reopen the criminal case against Cliven Bundy, his sons and supporters in a 2014 armed standoff with government agents could amount to the final act in the case, a law- yer for the Nevada rancher and states’ rights activist said Friday. “It’s the final nail in the coffin, and completely expected,” attorney Bret Whipple said of the ruling in the criminal case that was filed in 2016 against 19 defendants and collapsed last December in a mistrial due to “flagrant miscon- duct” by prosecutors. Chief U.S. District Judge Gloria Navarro said again in a filing Tuesday that prosecutors “willfully” failed to disclose to defense lawyers evidence that gov- ernment agents provoked the Bundy family into call- ing supporters to their defense by acts “such as the insertion and positioning of K.M. Cannon/Las Vegas Review-Journal via AP, File In this Jan. 8 file photo, Cliven Bundy walks out of federal court with his wife Carol in Las Vegas. snipers and cameras sur- veilling the Bundy home.” Navarro said she found no reason to reconsider her dismissal of charges in Jan- uary against Bundy, sons Ryan and Ammon Bundy and Montana militia leader Ryan Payne. Whipple characterized Bundy, now 72, as relieved that the judge rejected Act- ing U.S. Attorney Dayle Elieson’s argument that individual counts could have been dismissed rather than the entire case, and that scuttling the case set a dangerous precedent by encouraging the public to disrespect public lands law enforcement officers. “On the contrary,” the judge wrote, “a universal sense of justice was vio- lated by the government’s failure to provide evi- dence that is potentially exculpatory.” It was not immediately clear if Elieson would appeal Navarro’s deci- sion to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco. Trisha Young, spokeswoman for the pros- ecutor’s office, declined Friday to comment. Whipple called Navar- ro’s 11-page order, issued Tuesday, “a direct rebuke to the federal government, the Bureau of Land Man- agement and the different prosecuting agencies.” “I see a message and irony that it was released near Independence Day about freedom from fed- eral overreach,” the attor- ney said. The criminal case stemmed from a standoff in April 2014 involving hundreds of protesters and armed Bundy family sup- porters facing off against federal Bureau of Land Management agents and contract cowboys enforc- ing court orders to round up Bundy cattle. candidate suddenly discharged by U.S .Army SAN FRAN- CISCO (AP) — Growing up in eastern China, Panshu Zhao fell in love with America. He read the Bible his parents gave him, watched Zhao Hollywood mov- ies and studied the ideals of democracy. He jumped at the chance to attend graduate school at Texas A&M University. In 2016, Zhao enlisted in the U.S. Army as part of a special recruitment pro- gram offering immigrants in the country legally a path to citizenship. The future, he said, was bright. Now, he is one of the dozens of immigrant recruits and reservists struggling with abrupt, often unexplained military discharges and canceled contracts. They traded being willing to risk their lives for the pros- pect of U.S. citi- zenship, a time- worn exchange that’s drawn lin- guists, medi- cal specialists and thousands of other immigrants to the military since the Revo- lutionary War. “It’s just like you’re dropped from heaven to hell,” Zhao said Friday. It is unclear how many men and women who enlisted through the spe- cial recruitment program have been ousted from the Army, but immigration attorneys told the AP that they know of more than 40 recruits who recently have been discharged or whose status has become questionable. Some said the Army informed them they’d been labeled as security risks because they have relatives abroad. Do you drive along Interstate 84 or I-82 in eastern Oregon? IS PROUD TO BE THE TITLE SPONSORS GOLF TOURNAMENT GOLFING FOR A CAUSE SATURDAY, JULY 14, 2018 BIG RIVER GOLF COURSE What do you think about travel safety along these routes in wintertime and throughout the year? Would you like to know what safety enhancements the Oregon Department of Transportation has planned for these freeway sections? If so, please visit our… I-84 SAFETY IMPROVEMENTS ON-LINE OPEN HOUSE at http://openhouse.oregondot.org/i-84-safety-improvements The site will be active through July 13 We hope you will take a few minutes to learn what we are planning and to get involved by providing your feedback and comments. SCRAMBLE FOR FOOD $60.00 ENTRY FEE: PRIZES ON EVERY HOLE! Includes greens fee for 18 holes, pastries before & lunch after the tournament At this on-line Open House site you’ll find information about… 1. Past Improvement Projects: Earlier enhancements constructed to help improve safety and operations along the I-84 corridor. 2. Corridor Management Plan: This planning study identifies and prioritizes the next strategies that will improve safety and operations along the interstate system. OPEN TO MEN & WOMEN OF ALL SKILL LEVELS 3. Snow Zone Safety Improvement Project: A variety of devices along I-84 between Pendleton and La Grande will be installed in 2019-2020 to improve safety and operations during adverse winter weather conditions. Four person Scramble • Limited to fi rst 120 golfers 4. Ladd Canyon Freight and Culvert Improvement Project: A third eastbound climbing lane and other upgrades are being added in 2019-2020 through the Ladd Canyon area. 8:00am: Check-in opens. Teams & hole assignments announced. 9:00am: Shot gun start Conclusion of tournament: Lunch, awards ceremony Please contact Big River Golf Course to reserve a cart at 541-922-3006. (carts are not included in the entry fee) For more information, contact Dave Hughes at 541-571-7293. 5. Meacham Maintenance Station: This outdated facility is being replaced. The new compound will improve response times, efficiency, and save equipment and energy costs. 6. Comments and more information: Take a short survey and provide feedback. This is your highways system and we greatly appreciate your input. Questions about the site can be directed to ODOT Project Leader Sean Maloney 541-823-4025, or by email at sean.maloney@odot.state.or.us.
