I reject Sen. Susan Collins’ claim that Democrats had no reason to oppose Neil Gorsuch’s nomination to the Supreme Court.

In the Burwell v. Hobby Lobby, he sided with corporate “rights” (privileges) over women’s rights. He sided against consumers ruling for corporations that swindled them. He ruled in favor of corporations against the right of employees to oppose harassment or abuse. In the “Frozen Trucker” case, he sided with TransAM’s firing an employee who detached his trailer with locked brakes and drove the cab to a place to warm up so as not to die. He would weaken safety procedures to prevent air and water pollution and maintain food safety.

While there is a president with authoritarian tendencies, this nation needed an especially independent judiciary, not a rubber stamp of the worst decisions and a possible quashing of ones that might benefit most Americans.

Kevin Simpson, Auburn