Page 5 - ARUBA TODAY

A5
U.S. NEWS Thursday 23 March 2017
Trucker: ‘Surreal’ to be topic of Supreme Court nomination

JEFF KAROUB dural hurdles that require stead to unhook the trailer
Associated Press 60 votes. and drive his truck to a gas
DETROIT (AP) — During Su- Earlier this month in Wash- station. In response, his em-
preme Court nominee Neil ington, Maddin joined Sen- ployer, TransAm, fired him
Gorsuch’s Senate confir- ate Minority Leader Chuck for disobeying orders and
mation hearings, one case Schumer and others to abandoning its trailer and
came up repeatedly: A share their concerns. Being goods.”
truck driver was fired for an activist certainly wasn’t The passage from Gorsuch
leaving his trailer of meat Maddin’s plan after endur- struck a nerve with Mad-
on the side of an Illinois road ing what he described as a din, who said it understat-
after breaking down on a “seven-year battle.” ed the extreme cold of
frigid night in 2009, fearing He declined to return to the night and the “survival
he’d freeze to death. TransAm Trucking Co., mode” he adopted. He
The federal appeals court worked several jobs that said his torso went numb,
judge last year dissented “didn’t pay much,” and he couldn’t feel his feet
from a ruling ordering a earned bachelor’s and and felt himself “fading.”
trucking company to rehire master’s degrees — the “It seemed like an at-
Alphonse Maddin. Gorsuch latter focusing on aeronau- tempt to avoid the human
argued he had to deter- tics. element,” Maddin said.
mine whether the truck- Last August, he happily “When you think some-
ing company’s decision to read the majority deci- thing that’s a legal matter,
fire Maddin was legal, not sion of the appeals panel, Alphonse Maddin, a former truck driver whose case once was that nature and magni-
“wise or kind.” which held that federal law heard by Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch, speaks during tude, I would think that he
an interview with The Associated Press, Wednesday, March 22,
In Detroit, where Maddin protects drivers from dis- 2017, in Detroit. Madden told the AP it is “surreal” that his per- would have referred to me
lives and 400 miles away missal when they refuse to sonal story has been the focus of national debate. ... by name. He refers to
from that Capitol Hill hear- operate an unsafe vehicle. (AP Photo/Mike Householder) me simply as a trucker.”q
ing room, he finds it “sur- He paid little attention to
real” his personal story has the dissent, until he learned
been the focus of national President Donald Trump
debate — and is now part had nominated Gorsuch to
of the discussion on wheth- the Supreme Court.
er someone ascends to the Gorsuch wrote the Surface
nation’s highest court. Transportation Assistance
Assured of support from Act, which bars companies
majority Republicans, Gor- from firing a driver who “re-
such appears primed to fuses to operate” an unsafe
join the bench. But Maddin, truck, didn’t apply to Mad-
48, is using his unexpected din. Gorsuch reasoned that
platform to render an opin- the truck driver was operat-
ion on a jurist he believes ing the truck by driving off,
put ideology above hu- not refusing to operate it.
man interest in his case. Writing for the major-
“It makes me consider what ity, Judge Michael Murphy
would the consequences said the law could easily be
be if my case had gone seen as applying to drivers,
to the Supreme Court level such as Maddin, who are at
and had been adversely risk by staying put. Murphy
impacted by his ideolo- also directly challenged
gy?” Maddin said Wednes- Gorsuch’s narrow, literal
day from the conference meaning of “operate.” “A
room of the lawyer who trucker was stranded on
successfully argued on the the side of the road, late
former truck driver’s behalf. at night, in cold weather,
Maddin’s case has been and his trailer brakes were
cited by many Democrats stuck,” Gorsuch, a federal
and other critics, who have judge in Denver, wrote in
argued Gorsuch tends to his dissent. “
favor business interests over He called his company for
ordinary Americans. help and someone there
The confirmation hearing gave him two options. He
will end with outside wit- could drag the trailer car-
nesses talking about Gor- rying the company’s goods
such. A committee vote to its destination (an illegal
then is expected April 3, and maybe sarcastical-
with a Senate floor vote ly offered option). Or he
later that same week. Re- could sit and wait for help
publicans control the Sen- to arrive (a legal if unpleas-
ate 52-48, so it would re- ant option).
quire eight Democrats to The trucker chose None of
move Gorsuch past proce- the Above, deciding in-