A parent of a disabled child who was affected by a ruling made by Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch urged senators Thursday not to confirm the federal appeals court judge.
“As an individual severely affected by autism, [my son’s] access to an appropriate education and thus to a meaningful and dignified life were threatened by the views of Judge Neil Gorsuch, as expressed in the opinion that he authored as a judge on the U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals,” Jeffrey Perkins said in his testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee. “On behalf of all children – disabled, typical and gifted – I urge you to deny confirmation of Judge Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court of the United States.”
Perkins brought a small-scale model made by his autistic son, Luke, earlier this year to display on the witness stand. The fourth and last day of the nomination hearing featured outside witnesses such as Perkins testifying for and against Gorsuch’s nomination.
A unanimous Supreme Court decision on Wednesday overturned a 10th Circuit decision that allowed a school district to refuse residential educational benefits to a student with autism. The case involved a legal standard that Gorsuch used in a previous opinion of the court, which Gorsuch told the Senate Judiciary Committee he felt bound to do by precedent.
Gorsuch’s defender say the judge was looking to precedent in his decision that affected the Perkins family. Gorsuch supporters point to other cases he has adjudicated as showing his desire to protect the rights of disabled students. In one such case, Jefferson County School District v. Elizabeth E., Gorsuch wrote a concurring opinion supporting a ruling that required a school district to fund a disabled child’s treatment at a facility chosen by the parents.
Former Judge Deanell Reece Tacha rushed to Gorsuch’s defense Thursday. Tacha told the committee she sympathized with the family affected by Gorsuch’s decision, but “Judge Gorsuch was following very long-standing precedent.” Tacha pointed to a 1982 Supreme Court decision as the basis for Gorsuch’s ruling.
Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley has set the committee vote on Gorsuch’s nomination for April 3.
