iStock/Thinkstock(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump said he will announce Tuesday at 8 p.m. his choice to fill the U.S. Supreme Court seat left vacant last year by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia.
Judge Thomas Hardiman, 51, along with federal Judge Neil Gorsuch, are on Trump’s short list of potential Supreme Court nominees, according to officials with knowledge of the decision.
Here is what you need to know about Judge Hardiman:
Background
As a young man, Hardiman drove a taxi for his family’s business. Hardiman, who grew up in Massachusetts, attended Notre Dame on a scholarship and received his J.D. from Georgetown University. He practiced law in Washington, D.C., and Pittsburgh. He has served as a judge in Philadelphia on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit since 2007.
That’s the same court where Trump’s sister, Maryanne Trump Barry, is a senior judge.
He was nominated to the bench by President George W. Bush.
Opinions
Hardiman has weighed in on cases across the legal spectrum.
In one of his most well-known cases on the Third Circuit, Hardiman agreed with a New Jersey jail’s policy of strip-searching all detainees. He wrote that strip-searching detainees who have been arrested for any crime wasn’t a violation of the Fourth Amendment restriction on unreasonable searches and seizures. The Supreme Court in 2012 affirmed the decision.
Hardiman dissented from the majority ruling that upheld a New Jersey law requiring individuals to show a “demonstrable need” before receiving a permit to carry a handgun in public. In his dissent, Hardiman argued that the law violated the Second Amendment.
In another case, the Third Circuit held that a school district could not constitutionally ban an “I heart boobies” bracelet students wanted to wear for breast cancer awareness month. Hardiman dissented, arguing that the First Amendment did not protect the bracelets.
Hardiman has not weighed in on abortion issues.
What Others Are Saying
Compared to other potential Supreme Court contenders, Hardiman hasn’t weighed in on “high-profile” issues that have the potential to “inflame the base of either party,” said Carl W. Tobias of the University of Richmond School of Law.
He’s a “very solid judge” who brings the benefit of having been on the district court, said Tobias, adding that because of his experience, Hardiman understands “what it is like to be in the trenches.”
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