Trump judge nominee joked about ‘faggots’ and mocked same-sex parents
Donald Trump’s nominee for the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals has a history of homophobia.
Preisdent Trump has nominated John K Bush of Kentucky for a lifetime appointment on the federal appeals court.
The nomination has come under scrutiny this week after questioned emerged about Mr Bush’s conduct.
The blogger and judicial nominee was a strong supporter of the anti-Obama ‘birther’ conspiracy movement, and also has a chequered history on LGBT issues.
Liberal group People for the American Way penned a letter highlighting his concerning record.
PFAW exec Marge Baker wrote: “[He] made comments about LGBTQ people and reproductive choice that suggest an inability to be a truly disinterested and fair judge who would follow precedent rather than his own beliefs. He:
“* Ridiculed the State Department’s acknowledgement that not all parents are opposite-sex couples;
“* Criticized the Kentucky Supreme Court for “immunizing consensual sodomy from criminal prosecution;”
“* Gave a speech quoting someone making comments about “faggots” with seemingly no discomfort;
“* Wrote that “the two greatest tragedies in our country — slavery and abortion — relied on similar reasoning and activist justices at the U.S. Supreme Court, first in the Dred Scott decision, and later in Roe.”
The Alliance for Justice also released a report questioning Bush’s record.
They note: “Bush criticised the State Department for modifying passport application forms to account for the possibility of same-sex parents.”
Writing during the Obama administration, Bush had claimed: “Henceforth, the application will ask for ‘Mother or Parent 1’ and ‘Father or Parent 2.’ I suppose that’s better than ‘Thing One’ or ‘Thing Two’, but Hillary’s hybrid hardly eliminates my confusion.
“It’s just like the government to decide it needs to decide something like which parent is number one or number two.
“When that happens, both parents are subservient to the nanny state— more precisely, a nanny Secretary of State.”
The group added: “John K. Bush, President Trump’s nominee for the Sixth Circuit, is unsuited for the federal bench. In hundreds of blog posts
as well as speeches and other writing, he has denigrated the rights of others and has used hostile and crass language to make personal attacks on people with whom he disagrees.
“He has a long history of firm adherence to an ultraconservative political ideology. He has demonstrated that he lacks appropriate judicial temperament, raising serious concerns about his ability to approach cases neutrally, setting aside his own personal views.
“Moreover, Bush has shown a willingness to accept an extremely expansive view of executive power and has said that seminal First Amendment jurisprudence protecting the free press was wrongly decided.
“At a time when President Trump’s administration is testing the limits of legal and constitutional authority and the President himself has called for a crackdown on the free press, it is more important than ever that the judicial branch acts as a check on executive overreach and upholds
critical constitutional rights including First Amendment rights.
“For the foregoing reasons, Alliance for Justice strongly opposes John K. Bush’s nomination to the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.”
The nomination is currently before the Senate Justice Committee.
Related: Trump’s Army Secretary nominee quits over extreme homophobia allegations
