![handle is hein.journals/jregb35 and id is 1 raw text is:
Give Gorsuch a 21st Century Litmus Test
By Mark Grabowskit
In tro d u ctio n ................................................................................................. 1
I. B ig Sh oes to F ill ................................................................................ . . 3
II. G orsuch's M ixed R ecord .................................................................. 6
III. T ech L itm u s T est .................................................................................. 8
Introduction
The United States Senate began confirmation hearings on March 20 to vet
Neil Gorsuch, who was nominated to succeed the late Supreme Court Justice
Antonin Scalia. Lawmakers are expected to apply litmus tests, probing him on
issues such as abortion. They should also delve into his views on technology. As
Wired's political reporter Issie Lapowsky noted, [w]hile liberals [focus] on such
contentious issues as women's reproductive rights and environmental
protections, Gorsuch will also face cases that demand a solid command of the
complex issues digital technology raises, from copyright and privacy to
intellectual property rights and data storage.' Although Gorsuch has a decade
of experience serving as a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth
Circuit, he lacks an extensive record on tech-related cases and his decisions have
been mixed, which should raise concerns about how he might decide such cases
as a Supreme Court Justice. For example, Gorsuch is widely regarded as a strong
supporter of free speech, including online speech, but he has not been as reliable
an advocate for digital privacy. His support of network neutrality is far from
certain. If confirmed, Gorsuch will likely rule on cases involving all of these
issues and more. The Supreme Court already has a list of digital civil liberties
issues to consider in the near future, and that list is likely to grow, predicted
Kate Tummarello of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a digital rights advocacy
group. If confirmed . . . Gorsuch . . . will be in a position to make crucial
decisions affecting our basic rights to privacy, free expression, and innovation.,2
t Mark Grabowski is a lawyer and associate professor of communications at Adelphi
University in Long Island, where he teaches Internet law. He also is a nationally syndicated columnist for
the Washington Examiner. Grabowski won the 2015 James Madison Prize for Outstanding Research in
First Amendment Studies. For more information, visit markgrabowski.com.
1. Issie Lapowsky, Trump's SCOTUS Pick Needs to Get Tech These Cases Show
Why, WIRED (Jan. 31, 2017, 9:32 PM), http://www.wired.com/2017/01/trumps-scotus-pick-needs-get-
tech-cases-show.
2. Kate Tummarello, Digital Rights Issues on the Horizon at the Supreme Court, ELEC.
FRONTIER FOUND. (Feb. 6, 2017), http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2017/02/digital-rights-issues-horizon-
supreme-court.](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/jregb35&div=1&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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