Cameron among Trump’s potential nominees for U.S. Supreme Court

Published 6:49 am Thursday, September 10, 2020

Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron is one of President Donald Trump’s 20 potential nominees to the United States Supreme Court, should he be re-elected in November.

Cameron, 34, became the first Black man to become an attorney general in Kentucky last November.

He has been in the national spotlight over the past few months for being the person in charge of deciding whether to criminally charge the Louisville Metro Police officers involved in the fatal shooting of Breonna Taylor, who was killed inside her own apartment on March 13.

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“It is an honor to be mentioned by President Trump today,” Cameron said in a statement. “I remain focused on serving the people of Kentucky and delivering on my promise to tackle child abuse, human trafficking, the drug epidemic, and other public safety challenges throughout the commonwealth.”

Trump unveiled the list of potential nominees on Wednesday, saying, “The 20 additions I am announcing today would be jurists in the mold of Justices Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito,” Trump said, before revealing Daniel Cameron as the second name on the list, which includes Republican Senators Ted Cruz of Texas and Tom Cotton of Arkansas, Christropher Landau, the current ambassador to Mexico, and Gregory Katsas, a Trump nominee to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, among others.

“Every one of these individuals will ensure equal justice, equal treatment and equl rights for citizens of every race, color, religion and creed,” Trump said at the White House.

The high court is currently divided 5-4 between conservatives and liberals. While there is no current vacancy on the court, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, 87, has been undergoing cancer treatment, and three others members of the court are in their 70s and 80s.

With questions swirling about the health of Justice Ginsburg, and sporadic Beltway rumors about other possible retirements, Trump has leaned hard into the idea of more Supreme Court picks.

“Look, we have a big thing with the court,” Trump said last month in Minnesota. “The next President has a chance to do three, four, could even be five (picks). You will change this country around. It will be irreversible.”

Presidential candidate Joe Biden has promised to nominate a Black woman to the high court if given the chance. Biden, too, has said he’s working on a list of potential nominees, but the campaign has given no indication that it will release names before the November election.

Any future choice on the court depends on having a majority in the Senate, which confirms nominees. Republicans currently hold 53 seats in the chamber to Democrats’ 45, with two independents who caucus with the Democrats.

The court’s oldest members are Justice Ginsburg and Justice Stephen Breyer, 82, both liberals, and Justice Clarence Thomas, 72, and Justice Samuel Alito, 70, two conservatives. Ginsburg made news this summer when she announced she is being treated for a recurrence of cancer but has no plans to step down.