Conservative Texas Justice on Trump’s short list for Supreme Court
Conservative Texas Supreme Court Justice Don Willett is on a list Donald Trump has released of 11 potential Supreme Court justices he plans to vet to fill the seat of late Justice Antonin Scalia.
Willett is an outspoken conservative with a robust social media presence, perhaps the most robust in American jurisprudence. His Twitter feed features more than 21,000 tweets, targeting a wide range of topics – including Trump.
One tweet he posted – an said, “We’ll rebuild the Death Star. It’ll be amazing, believe me. And the rebels will pay for it. -Darth Trump.”
Another Willett tweet said, “Can’t wait till Trump rips off his face Mission Impossible-style & reveals a laughing Ruth Bader Ginsburg.” Willett’s Twitter handle is @JusticeWillett.
He is a graduate of Baylor University and Duke Law School. He was appointed to the Texas Supreme Court by Gov. Rick Perry in 2015. He’s since been reelected twice.
He wrote the 100 page decision released last week that upheld the Texas public education funding system. That decision was criticized by educators on both the wealthy and poor sides of the Robin Hood divide as abandoning Texas schoolchildren.
Willett cast the decision as a separation of powers issue, saying that the Texas Constitution requires the legislature to address whatever deficiencies are in the funding formula. “We decline to usurp legislative authority,” he wrote, “by issuing reform diktats from on high, supplanting lawmakers’ policy wisdom with our own,”
Trump’s other picks include Steven Colloton of Iowa, Allison Eid of Colorado and Raymond Gruender of Missouri.
Also on the list are: Thomas Hardiman of Pennsylvania, Raymond Kethledge of Michigan, Joan Larsen of Michigan, Thomas Lee of Utah (brother of tea party U.S. Senator Mike Lee), William Pryor of Alabama, David Stras of Minnesota, and Diane Sykes of Wisconsin.
Trump said in March he planned to release the list of potential nominees to ease concerns about his conservative credentials in the Republican primary.
He said then the list would include judges “that everybody respects, likes and totally admires” and “great conservative judges, great intellects, the people that you want
– The Associated Press’s Jill Colvin contributed to this report.
