Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has released a list of 11 potential Supreme Court justices he plans to vet to fill the seat of late Justice Antonin Scalia.
CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin called the list a "conservative dream team." He said it would be very similar to what conservative Sen. Ted Cruz would have released.
Six of them are judges who were appointed to federal appeals courts around the country by Republican former President George W. Bush. The other five serve on various state supreme courts.
Scalia's replacement could tip the ideological balance of the court, which now is evenly divided with four conservative justices and four liberals. Scalia, who died in February, was one of the court's most conservative justices.
All of Trump's 11 judges are listed as affiliated with the Federalist Society on the influential conservative legal group's website. The organization is known as a breeding ground for conservative legal thinkers.
It is unusual for a presidential candidate to release names of potential Supreme Court or Cabinet nominees before winning an election.
But Trump is working to assure conservatives in his own party that, if elected president on Nov. 8, he would not appoint a liberal or moderate judge to the court. Trump allies had encouraged him to announce the names of potential court nominees in order to allay fears among conservatives wary of a Trump presidency.
Steven Colloton of Iowa
Allison Eid of Colorado
Raymond Gruender of Missouri
Thomas Hardiman of Pennsylvania
Raymond Kethledge of Michigan
Joan Larsen of Michigan
Thomas Lee of Utah
William Pryor of Alabama
David Stras of Minnesota
Diane Sykes of Wisconsin
Don Willett of Texas
More:
http://www.newsmax.com/Headline/trump-list-supreme-court/2016/05/18/id/729461/
