Eighth IssueEagle Forum Report successor to The Phyllis Schlafly Report

August 2017 Volume 1/Number 8 The Ball is in Our Court 133 Opportunities to Influence the Federal Courts, and That’s Just the Beginning by Chelsey Youman, legal counsel for First Liberty Institute, a non-profit law firm dedicated to defending religious freedom for all. he brilliance of the Founding make-up of our jurisprudence was Americans, including over their re- T Fathers’ system of checks-and- at stake with this appointment for a ligious freedoms. Each appointment balances is best illustrated when each lifetime term. will be a lifetime term on the bench. of the co-equal branches asserts its Justice Gorsuch’s confirmation When Americans voted on Election influence upon the other two. A prime was a step in the right direction for Day, their choice impacted our consti- example is currently under way as American jurisprudence due to his tutional rights for a generation. President Trump nominates men and adherence to originalism in applying By the Numbers: The Power of women to fill vacancies on federal the Constitution. This philosophy is Federal Courts benches throughout the country. more likely to yield rulings favorable As Texas Supreme Court Justice to religious liberty consistent with Don Willett noted, “The 13 federal the First Amendment. Based on his courts of appeals handle about 35,000 tenure so far, Gorsuch is already [cases].” Meanwhile, the Supreme demonstrating fidelity and apt analysis Court takes approximately 70 cases a in regards to the original intent and year. text of the U.S. Constitution. Then-Judge Gorsuch noted in Another Supreme Court nomina- his opening statement before the tion, perhaps multiple nominations, Senate Judiciary Committee that may come at any time. Since the only five percent of federal lawsuits Supreme Court hears less than one are decided at the Federal Court of percent of cases appealed to it each Appeals level. That means 95 percent year, the lower federal courts, often of federal lawsuits will never receive overlooked, provide an even greater a written opinion by an appellate While his Supreme Court appointee, opportunity to influence the judiciary. court, let alone the Supreme Court. Neil Gorsuch, is showing early President Trump can have a huge in- These lower court judges, including signs of great promise, the Trump fluence on the entire judicial branch, the often-overlooked district court administration has much more work not just the Supreme Court. judges, are essential for protecting ahead to reshape the federal courts — There are currently 133 federal people’s constitutional freedoms. court vacancies to be filled by Presi- and the impact will last a lifetime. “Unoriginal”: Eight Years of Impact A compelling issue in the 2016 dent Trump — judges who will be- presidential election was the vacancy come part of the federal judiciary that The last eight years are a prime on the Supreme Court. Americans hear 99 percent of all federal cases and example of the influence one president intuitively understood that the very hold immense power over the lives of (Continued on page 2) 2 Eagle Forum Report August 2017 can have on the judicial branch of the entire judicial branch. At the close of Left unchecked, these lifetime ap- federal government. the Bush administration, judges con- pointments will influence American President Barack Obama inherit- sidered to be “progressive” in ideolo- jurisprudence away from originalism. ed 54 vacancies when he took office. gy controlled only one of the thirteen These courts have already had a detri- Unlike the Bush and Clinton admin- circuit courts. As a result of President mental impact to longstanding religious istrations before him, the Obama Obama’s appointments, progressive liberty rights just in the last few years. administration did not place a high judges now control nine of the thir- Reshaping the Judicial Branch for priority on filling these vacancies teen circuit courts. Freedom The Fourth Circuit, for example, his first year in office. Nonetheless, The Trump administration has was once considered a bastion President Obama nominated a total of much work to do: there are 133 of judicial conservatism and was 329 Article III judgeships during his judgeships to fill, more than twice previously populated with famous eight-year tenure. as many judicial vacancies than textualists such as Judge John Michael At the district court level, President Obama had when he Luttig. Over the course of past Congress confirmed 268 Obama came into office in 2009. Since the administrations, presidents favoring nominees or nearly 40 percent of Republican-controlled Senate is authorized district court judgeships. progressive judges appointed nine eager to fill these vacancies, President President Obama also successfully of the fifteen judges on this court. Trump has an opportunity to swing appointed 55 judges to the U.S. As reported in the pages of The the pendulum of our judiciary back Court of Appeals, which constitutes Washington Post, into balance for a generation and shift approximately 30 percent of federal “The U.S. Court of Appeals the courts so that they protect the vital circuit court judges. for the 4th Circuit, a Rich- rights of Americans. Additionally, the Obama admin- mond-based venue the admin- As with the first Supreme istration successfully placed three istration might once have found Court nomination of the Trump judges on the Federal Circuit Court reliably hospitable, now has administration, First Liberty Institute of Appeals in Washington, D.C. Sev- a higher proportion of judges attorneys will keep a watchful eye on en out of the eleven active judges on tapped by Democrats than most these influential positions. It is vital that court were appointed by liberal of the nation’s 13 circuit courts. to ensure that those nominated to administrations. That includes the pan-Western serve as judges are dedicated to the In only eight years, President 9th Circuit with its long-standing principle of religious freedom in the reputation among conservatives First Amendment, the foundation of Obama’s judicial nominations sig- nificantly shifted the make-up of the as the “nutty 9th.” all other rights we hold so dear. Obergefell: Silencing Religious Dissenters By Keisha T. Russell, a 2017 graduate of Emory University School of Law came the target of a relentless n one of the most politically group praised the Obergefell decision media onslaught I polarizing decisions since Roe and said that we were witnessing with severe re- v. Wade, the Supreme Court in a historic moment. Although I was percussions: Obergefell v. Hodges decided that generally unconcerned about the (1) colleges ex- the Fourteenth Amendment requires practical consequences of the case, pelled Chick- states to license and recognize same- I was concerned about how the fil-A food from campus; (2) -Alder sex marriage. When the case was decision would heighten the hostility man Joe Moreno threatened to block decided, I was finishing my first towards Christians who are as vocal the construction of a second Chicago year at Emory University School of as I am about their faith. store; (3) city council members tried Law. I was also working in a policy In 2012, Dan Cathy, the CEO of to block a proposed franchise at Den- internship to reform education in Atlanta-based Chick-fil-A, the fami- ver International Airport. Most strik- Atlanta. At my workplace, there were ly-owned fast-food chain known for ingly, the outspokenly Christian CEO very few Bible-believing Christians operating according to Christian prin- was being punished for simply stating — which is increasingly the norm in ciples, made statements regarding the civil rights work. The leader of the biblical view of marriage. Cathy be- (Continued on page 3)