A confident Justice Neil M. Gorsuch took his seat on the Supreme Court for the first time Monday and quickly joined colleagues in firing questions at lawyers in three highly procedural disputes. “Wouldn't it be a lot easier if we just followed the plain text of the statute?” Gorsuch asked a government lawyer. “What am I missing?” He repeated the reference to the “plain words” or “plain text” of the law during all three arguments. His opening day performance matched that of other new justices who were veterans of a federal appeals court. “Before we commence the business of the court this morning,” Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. said, “it gives me great pleasure on behalf of myself and my colleagues to welcome Justice Gorsuch as the 101st associate justice of this court.

Source: Los Angeles Times April 17, 2017 22:18 UTC