As many of you know, we currently have a vacancy in the Supreme Court due to the death of Justice Scalia in February. A question on the minds of many is, who will President-Elect Donald Trump nominate? The ultimate pick could have a vital influence on cases that the Court will hear in the upcoming months and years. Currently, 21 candidates have made the shortlist of potential replacements. According to the Trump camp, the candidates were chosen first and foremost based on constitutional principles.
One of those candidates includes Don Willett, a Justice on the Texas Supreme Court since 2005. Willett was initially appointed by Governor Rick Perry and has been reelected by the voters twice. Prior to his judicial service, Judge Willett worked as a senior fellow at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, as an advisor in George W. Bush’s gubernatorial and presidential administrations, as Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Policy, and as a Deputy Attorney General under then-Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott. Justice Willett received his law degree and a master’s degree from Duke.
In the coming months, we will find out who will be appointed to this highly coveted position. For those of you who would enjoy making predictions, you can do so in a new #FantasyJustice tournament by FantasySCOTUS and LexPredict, according to Josh Blackman‘s Blog. Professor Blackman is a constitutional law professor at South Texas College of Law Houston and is one of the creators of FantasySCOTUS. I personally had Professor Blackman when I was a student in South Texas and can attest to his wisdom in the area of constitutional law. The upcoming months will be telling, both for our country and our constitution.
