Justice Neil Gorsuch
Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court
Neil McGill Gorsuch was born in August 1967 in Denver, Colorado. He earned an undergraduate degree in political science from Columbia University and received his Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School. He was awarded a Doctor of Philosophy in Law from the University of Oxford, where he completed research on assisted suicide and euthanasia. He was a judicial clerk at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and then for Supreme Court Justices Byron White and Anthony Kennedy. He entered the private practice of law.
He served briefly as Principal Deputy to the Associate Attorney General at the U.S. Department of Justice. He managed the Department’s Civil Division. President George W. Bush nominated Gorsuch to a seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. He was confirmed by a unanimous voice vote in the Senate and assumed his position in July 2006.
After the death of Justice Antonin Scalia, President Donald Trump announced the nomination of Gorsuch to the United States Supreme Court. Hearings on his confirmation were tension-filled, and he was forwarded to the floor of the Senate on a party-line 11-9 vote of the Judiciary Committee. His nomination was debated on the floor of the Senate, and, in early April, he was confirmed in a 54-45 vote. He received his commission on April 8, 2017.
Gorsuch is married to Marie Louise, a British citizen he met at Oxford. They have two daughters. Raised Catholic, he is a member of a mainline Protestant denomination.
In the News…
In an unusual 6-3 decision, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of an illegal immigrant who was facing deportation, stating that he is entitled to discretionary relief because the government did not follow the rules.
Federal law says that an illegal immigrant can avoid deportation at the attorney general’s discretion if they have been in the U.S. for at least 10 years. The clock officially stops when the individual receives “a notice to appear” with information about their hearing. But in Agusto Niz-Chavez’s case, the government sent two documents, the first stating he would have to appear before the court and, a month later, the second with the date and location to appear. The court’s majority ruled that because the law says “a” notice, that means it must be a single document.
“At one level, today’s dispute may seem semantic, focused on a single word, a small one at that,” Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote in the court’s opinion. “But words are how the law constrains power. In this case, the law’s terms ensure that, when the federal government seeks a procedural advantage against an individual, it will at least supply him with a single and reasonably comprehensive statement of the nature of the proceedings against him.”
Justice Kavanaugh was joined in his dissent by Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Alito.
Contact this Leader…
Did you pray for Justice Gorsuch today? You can let him know at:
The Honorable Justice Neil Gorsuch
Supreme Court of the United States
1 First Street NE
Washington, DC 20543
