American Bar Association Committee Gives Top Rating to Gorsuch

An American Bar Association committee has given Judge Neil Gorsuch its top rating, the association announced in a letter Thursday.

The ABA's Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary rated Gorsuch "well qualified" to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court, its highest rating. The ABA announced the rating in a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee chairman, Iowa's Chuck Grassley, and ranking member Dianne Feinstein of California.

"The ABA Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary has completed its evaluation of the professional qualifications of Judge Neil M. Gorsuch, whom the president has nominated to the United States Supreme Court. As you know, the Committee confines its evaluation to the qualities of integrity, professional competence, and judicial demeanor," the letter said.

The vote of “well qualified” was unanimous, the ABA letter said.

Grassley sent a tweet Thursday to note Gorsuch's high rating.

The ABA just gave BIG BIG boost to SCOTUS nominee Gorsuch w HIGHEST rating-unanimous well qualified He's well on his way to Supreme Court

— ChuckGrassley (@ChuckGrassley) March 9, 2017

A press release from the bar association cited the amount of review that went into its rating.

"The review consisted of hundreds of interviews conducted around the country with persons who have personal knowledge of the nominee's qualifications. In addition, teams of distinguished law school professors examined the nominee’s legal writings (opinions, blogs, briefs, articles, etc.) for quality, clarity, knowledge of the law, and analytical ability.”

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