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Americans ‘have been hit hard’ by too many laws, says Judge Gorsuch

Posted on by darion

Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch opined that too many laws and regulations in America can infringe on fundamental freedoms. It’s a rich statement coming from a man who voted to repeal Roe v. Wadethus allowing states to imprison women or their doctors for endangering the fetus or performing an abortion.

“Too little law and we are not safe and our liberties are not protected,” Gorsuch told The Associated Press in an interview about his upcoming book, Overruled: The Human Cost of Too Many Regulations“But too much law and you actually weaken the same things.”

In the wake of Roe, 14 states have outlawed abortion, and another 14 states and territories have become “hostile” to abortion, according to the Center for Reproductive Rights, meaning lawmakers are moving toward abortion bans. In Louisiana, lawmakers have made it illegal to even possess abortion pills without a valid prescription, so people found with mifepristone and misoprostol who can’t produce a prescription could face hefty fines and prison time. Earlier this year, a group representing Republicans in the House of Representatives backed a nationwide abortion ban — something that Donald Trump and vice presidential candidate Sen. J.D. Vance have previously supported.

But that’s clearly not the kind of law Gorsuch had in mind when he said, “There have been a number of cases where I’ve seen ordinary Americans, just ordinary people, trying to live their lives, not trying to hurt anybody or do anything wrong, and they just get hit unexpectedly by some law that they didn’t know about.”

Gorsuch also spoke on Fox News about the Biden administration’s proposed Supreme Court reforms. “I’m just saying, be careful,” Gorsuch warned.

He added that an independent judiciary “means that even if you are unpopular, you can count on a fair trial.”

President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris have proposed the judicial reforms in response to revelations that Justice Clarence Thomas received undisclosed gifts and vacations from right-wing billionaire Nazi-sympathetic Harlan Crowe, and a court ruling that Donald Trump and other former presidents have immunity from prosecution for official actions in office — a decision that shocked even Trump’s team.

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Biden and Harris called on Congress to impose an 18-year term limit on Supreme Court justices and to establish a binding code of ethics “that would require justices to disclose donations, refrain from public political activities and recuse themselves from cases in which they or their spouses have a financial or other conflict of interest.”

Gorsuch declined to comment specifically on the proposed reforms, citing a desire not to interfere in campaign matters during the election cycle.

“I’m not going to get into what is now a political issue in an election year,” he said. “I don’t think that would be helpful.”

Last month, Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan publicly supported the idea of ​​an enforceable code of ethics.

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“It’s hard to figure out who exactly should be doing this and what sanctions would be appropriate for violations, but I feel that we, as difficult as it is, could and should try to find some mechanism to make that happen,” Kagan said.