WEBVTT - New Justice Gorsuch Has His First Day on the Bench (Audio)

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<v Speaker 1>Neil Gorsitch's nomination to the Supreme Court change the United

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<v Speaker 1>States Senate with Republicans eliminating the filibuster for Supreme Court

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<v Speaker 1>nominations in order to put him on the court, and

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<v Speaker 1>following that Senate fight, Gorsitch was confirmed last week and

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<v Speaker 1>had very little time to prepare for his first day

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<v Speaker 1>on the bench, which was today. Today, he took the

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<v Speaker 1>seat as signed for the most junior justice and heard

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<v Speaker 1>and heard arguments in several cases. We're going to talk

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<v Speaker 1>about Gorsage's first day with Bloomberg Supreme Court reporter Greg Store,

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<v Speaker 1>who's also our co host on Bloomberg Law. Greg, how

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<v Speaker 1>did Gorsige do today? Did he dive right in? Oh,

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<v Speaker 1>he definitely dove right in, Michael. He was in the

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<v Speaker 1>first argument, probably the most active questionnaire. Uh he uh

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<v Speaker 1>waited about ten minutes and then he dove in, and

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<v Speaker 1>essentially what he said was and this is a question

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<v Speaker 1>involving the rights of federal employees. When he basically said was,

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<v Speaker 1>as I read the statute, actually both of you, you

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<v Speaker 1>lawyers are wrong, and and it suggested that maybe some

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<v Speaker 1>previous Supreme Court cases were wrong as well. Well, that's

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<v Speaker 1>a bowl way to start on your first day, Greg.

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<v Speaker 1>That prompted, according to your story, Justice Elena Kagan to

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<v Speaker 1>say he was proposing revolutionary changes in the federal law. Yes,

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<v Speaker 1>although she quickly filed it up by saying, in this

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<v Speaker 1>very obscure technical area of the law, Um, this was

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<v Speaker 1>the case. I'll try to explain it very explain it

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<v Speaker 1>very briefly. But Justice, as we're joking about how complicated

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<v Speaker 1>the statute was and how little seemed to be at stake.

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<v Speaker 1>It's basically a question of of if an employee, uh

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<v Speaker 1>federal employee has both a claim that he was fired

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<v Speaker 1>in violation of the federal civil service laws and in

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<v Speaker 1>violation of federal discrimination laws, where that claim can go

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<v Speaker 1>forward federal district court, federal appeals court. So highly technical,

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<v Speaker 1>but he did seem to be suggesting, and Justice Kagan

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<v Speaker 1>called him on it that he thought that some earlier

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<v Speaker 1>Supreme Court decisions might might be wrong. Is it unusual

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<v Speaker 1>for a justice on his or her first day to

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<v Speaker 1>jump in with the her He seems to have jumped

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<v Speaker 1>in with No. I looked back a little bit, and

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<v Speaker 1>both Justice Kagan and Justice so to Mayor, who are

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<v Speaker 1>the next most junior justices on the Court on their

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<v Speaker 1>first days, which were at the beginning of Supreme Court terms,

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<v Speaker 1>they were very active as well, so it's not that unusual.

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<v Speaker 1>But it was really striking that he was proposing a

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<v Speaker 1>way of reading the statute that seemed to go beyond

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<v Speaker 1>what either of the lawyers were advocating for. What was

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<v Speaker 1>the tone of his questioning When I read part of

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<v Speaker 1>your story that described his questioning, some of it sounded

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<v Speaker 1>a little bit sarcastic. There was a little bit of that, yes,

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<v Speaker 1>so it was um. There were a lot of questions

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<v Speaker 1>and there there were different tones. At one point he

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<v Speaker 1>apologized for taking up so much time, but there was

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<v Speaker 1>a point in the argument where the lawyer for the

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<v Speaker 1>the employee, Chris Landau, said, we're not trying to break

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<v Speaker 1>any new ground here, and Justice Course it's shot back

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<v Speaker 1>by saying, uh that, no, you're just you wanna quote

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<v Speaker 1>just continue to make it up again, suggesting that that

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<v Speaker 1>is following some of these earlier Supreme Court decisions that

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<v Speaker 1>Justice Course has thought might have been wrongly decided on

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<v Speaker 1>the statute. Well, Greg, now that we know that he's

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<v Speaker 1>not going to be a shy justice, it it appears

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<v Speaker 1>what what are the cases you know earlier on in

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<v Speaker 1>his tenure this week that um, he's going to get

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<v Speaker 1>a chance to weigh in on Well, the one that

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<v Speaker 1>is getting the most attention may actually go away. It's

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<v Speaker 1>a church state case involving UH Missouri. These things called

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<v Speaker 1>blame amendments that a number of states have in their

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<v Speaker 1>state constitutions, and Missouri UH interpreted its blame amendment as

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<v Speaker 1>as meaning that a funding program for school playgrounds, the

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<v Speaker 1>funding couldn't go to a church which had had a

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<v Speaker 1>school playground. And that case was supposed to come up

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<v Speaker 1>to the Supreme Court it's going to be argued on Wednesday,

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<v Speaker 1>But the governor there has just changed the way he's

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<v Speaker 1>implementing that funding program, so that case may actually go away.

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<v Speaker 1>So we may not see any of the or at

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<v Speaker 1>least not many of the big ideological classes this term.

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<v Speaker 1>But uh, the Court could agree soon to take up

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<v Speaker 1>a voter I D case, could agree to take up

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<v Speaker 1>a gun case. Uh. There are certainly many big issues

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<v Speaker 1>that are not for in Donald Trump's travel band could

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<v Speaker 1>come to the Supreme Court. Certainly some big issues that

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<v Speaker 1>are sort of on the threshold of being considered by

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<v Speaker 1>the court. Great he did not take part in Friday's

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<v Speaker 1>last Friday's conference, but he will be taking part in

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<v Speaker 1>this Friday's conference. And do we have any idea what's

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<v Speaker 1>going on at the conference. So a couple of those

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<v Speaker 1>cases I just mentioned, You're right, he didn't take part

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<v Speaker 1>in the conference. UH, and and the Spring Court spokeswoman

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<v Speaker 1>said he decided he was going to focus on preparing

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<v Speaker 1>for the arguments this the court issued an orders list

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<v Speaker 1>that sort of deferred consideration of a lot of those

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<v Speaker 1>cases that they were talking about at that conference. So

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<v Speaker 1>at the next conference at the end of this week,

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<v Speaker 1>there will be the voter id case I alluded to

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<v Speaker 1>coming out of North Carolina. Very good chance the Court

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<v Speaker 1>in the next couple of weeks could say we're going

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<v Speaker 1>to take that case up. There's also a gun case

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<v Speaker 1>out of California that UH concerns the right to carry

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<v Speaker 1>a weapon outside the home. UH. Some some California residents

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<v Speaker 1>say the state is being too strict in is limiting

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<v Speaker 1>too many is preventing people from having a realistic chance

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<v Speaker 1>to get a permit to carry a weapon outside the home.

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<v Speaker 1>Both of those are cases that court could take up,

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<v Speaker 1>and they would consider those UH next term starting in

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<v Speaker 1>October Greig, thank you. It's always great to talk with

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<v Speaker 1>you about what's going on in the Supreme Court. And uh,

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<v Speaker 1>I know you're gonna be busy following Justice Corsets as

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<v Speaker 1>he blazes his path as the ninth justice on the Court.