President Trump Nominates a Champion of Traditional Marriage to the Federal Bench

Doug Mainwaring : Jan 8, 2018
Lifesitenews.com

"President Trump promised to make judicial nominations a priority for his administration, and today, he continued delivering on that promise. I applaud the White House for selecting such an exceptional nominee and look forward to working with my Senate colleagues to see Howard confirmed." -Senator Orrin Hatch

(Washington, DC)—[Lifesitenews.com] The Trump Administration has already established a sterling record of solid judicial nominees, and his nomination of Howard C. Nielson, Jr. to the federal bench continues that trajectory. (Photo: President Trump/AP file photo/via Kansas City Star)

The Washington, DC attorney, who has yet to be confirmed by the Senate, has come under fire for saying that gay judges shouldn't hear cases involving issues that affect the LGBT community.

Nielson first came to national attention when he served as one of the attorneys for the plaintiffs in Hollingsworth v. Perry, better known as the "Proposition 8" case. In 2008, California voters approved a constitutional amendment temporarily banning same-sex "marriage" in the state. Nielson was on the team that sought to defend the measure in court.

When the chief judge of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California ruled that Prop. 8 violated the United States Constitution, Nielson filed a motion to nullify the ruling, arguing that the judge, Vaughn Walker, should have recused himself because he was in a long-term gay relationship. Walker had waited until after issuing his decision to make his sexual orientation public. Nielson asserted that Judge Walker "had a duty to disclose not only the facts concerning his relationship, but also his marriage intentions."

Nielson went further, saying only if Walker "unequivocally disavowed any interest in marrying his partner could the parties and the public be confident that he did not have a direct personal interest in the outcome."

Nielson's motion was denied by another district court judge and the Prop. 8 case eventually made its way to the United States Supreme Court, where the Justices ruled in support of Judge Walker's decision.

That case paved the way for the Obergefell ruling by the Supreme Court two years later, legalizing same-sex "marriage" across the country.

Perhaps the greatest measure of Nielson's qualification for the federal bench comes from the magnitude of the alarm his nomination has raised among progressives.

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