Just days before Judge Neil Gorsuch’s Supreme Court confirmation hearing was set to begin, a former student of his sent a letter to the Senate Judiciary committee alleging Gorsuch raised a troubling question about women during a class at the University of Colorado Law School last year.
Gorsuch, the student claimed, implied during a class discussion about women in the workforce that “women intentionally manipulate companies” for maternity benefits.
During the second day of his hearing, Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., broached the topic by first asking broad questions about employment law.
“I think you know why I’m asking these questions,” Durbin said after a brief exchange, segueing into a direct question on the letter. “Did you ask your students in class that day if they knew of a woman who had taken maternity benefits from a company and then left the company after having a baby?” Durbin asked.
“No, senator and I’d be delighted to actually clear this up,” replied Gorsuch.
The judge proceeded to spend the next three minutes providing a detailed explanation of the class discussion in question, even offering to provide Durbin with the textbook and the teacher’s manual from which it came, clarifying the allegations. Gorsuch recalled the scenario in great specificity, calmly describing the situation posed by the textbook and the discussion he facilitated on the “pros and cons” of various answers to it.
In his answer, Gorsuch went out of his way to express deep empathy for women facing undue obstacles from employers, citing his own mother’s experiences and Justice Sandra Day O’Connor as examples. He noted it is “disturbing” for him to see how many young women in his classes every year reported being asked inappropriate questions about family planning by employers.
Gorsuch’s explanation corroborated the claims of another student in the class last year who spoke out in his defense. It also reaffirmed the consensus advanced by 11 former female clerks who wrote a letter asserting that Gorusch “treats and values women fairly and without preference or prejudice based on their gender.”
By eagerly taking the bait released to undermine Gorsuch’s confirmation (the letter, by the way, was written by a former Democratic staffer), Durbin provided the judge with an opportunity to make his hyper-partisan opponents look silly. Democrats are eager for ammunition to derail the hearings — their decision to make an issue of the letter smacks of desperation.
In concluding his remarks on the issue, Gorsuch said to Durbin, “Thank you for the opportunity to clarify that, Senator.” And he should be grateful — Democrats just keep giving him opportunities to exhibit his ample strengths.
Emily Jashinsky is a commentary writer for the Washington Examiner.
