Colo. Supreme Court Justice Eid On Trump’s Short List To Replace Scalia

May 18, 2016

Photo: Allison Eidis sworn in as chief justice of the Colorado Supreme Court in Denver, Monday, March 13, 2006 — Allison Eid, being sworn in as chief justice of the Colorado Supreme Court in 2006, is one of the possibilities for Trump's U.S. Supreme Court.

Trump's picks include Allison Eid of Colorado.

Eid is a former law clerk to Justice Clarence Thomas. She was an assistant and speechwriter to Education Secretary William J. Bennet under President Ronald Reagan. In 2002, President George W. Bush appointed her to a panel preparing a history of the U.S. Supreme Court.

Eid was Colorado's solicitor general and a University of Colorado law professor before Republican Gov. Bill Owens appointed her to the state Supreme Court in 2006.

In 2012, Eid sharply dissented from a court opinion that upheld a congressional redistricting process that made several Colorado seats more competitive.

She argued the process should be as minimally disruptive as possible and called the latest round "astonishing," especially since Colorado didn't gain or lose any seats after the 2010 U.S. Census.

Eid is married to Troy Eid, appointed by Bush as U.S. attorney for Colorado in 2006. Through a spokesman, Eid declined to comment Wednesday.

Also on Trump's list: Steven Colloton of Iowa, Raymond Gruender of Missouri, Thomas Hardiman of Pennsylvania, Raymond Kethledge of Michigan, Joan Larsen of Michigan, Thomas Lee of Utah, William Pryor of Alabama, David Stras of Minnesota, Diane Sykes of Wisconsin and Don Willett of Texas.

Trump said in March he planned to release the list of potential nominees to ease concerns about his conservative credentials in the Republican primary.

He said then the list would include judges "that everybody respects, likes and totally admires" and "great conservative judges, great intellects, the people that you want."