Trump adds state judge to SCOTUS list
Oklahoma’s newest and youngest state Supreme Court justice will be considered for the U.S. Supreme Court if an opening emerges during President Donald Trump’s term.
Justice Patrick Wyrick, 36, was one of five people added Friday to Trump’s running list of 25 potential choices.
“The president remains deeply committed to identifying and selecting outstanding jurists in the mold of Justice (Neil) Gorsuch,” the White House said in a news release, referring to Trump’s last choice.
Trump may have an opportunity to appoint multiple justices. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is 84 years old and Justice Anthony Kennedy, who has hinted at a 2018 retirement, is 81 years old. Each of the past three presidents have appointed multiple justices to the high court.
“Justice Wyrick possesses a keen understanding of constitutional issues the rest of us can only aspire to,” said A.J. Ferate, president of the Oklahoma City chapter of the Federalist Society, a conservative legal group. “If selected by the president, I look forward to seeing my friend continue to regard the separation of powers and stating what the law is, not what it should be.”
Wyrick was hired by then-Attorney General Scott Pruitt to the post of solicitor general in 2011. He argued the state’s position in the 2015 lethal injection case Glossip v. Gross before the U.S. Supreme Court, winning by a narrow 5-4 majority.
Anative of Atoka, he was appointed to the Oklahoma Supreme Court in February. Two southeastern Oklahoma residents sued to stop the appointment, claiming Wyrick was not a resident on the southeastern Oklahoma judicial district he was appointed to represent.
The residents, backed by the American Civil Liberties Union, noted Wyrick was registered to vote in Cleveland County as recently as March 2016. Wyrick’s attorney said he had spent most of his life in Atoka, owned a house there and maintained ties to the community.
The Oklahoma Supreme Court dismissed the lawsuit, find- ing the residents lacked standing. Only the attorney general, district attorney or candidates can challenge a Supreme Court appointment, the high court ruled.
Wyrick’s young age and rapid ascension up conservative law ladders could make him a tempting choice for a Republican president looking to ensure his nominee stays on the bench for decades. Wyrick would not be the youngest justice, however. Joseph Story was just 32 when appointed in 1811.