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Article snippet: CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Justice Neil M. Gorsuch, in his first public remarks since joining the Supreme Court in April, spoke forcefully on Friday about letting judges have the last word in assessing the constitutionality of government actions. He did not mention particular cases, but he spoke the day after the Trump administration asked the Supreme Court to revive President Trump’s travel ban, which has been blocked by lower courts as a violation of the Constitution’s protection of religious freedom. Mr. Trump responded to some of those losses by attacking the courts that had ruled against him. In a properly functioning judicial system, Justice Gorsuch said at an event at Harvard University, “the government can lose in its own courts and accept the judgment of those courts.” “I know there is a lot of cynicism about government and the rule of law today,” he said, “but I don’t share it.” Justice Gorsuch was appointed to the Supreme Court by Mr. Trump after a long and bitter fight over the seat left vacant by the death last year of Justice Antonin Scalia. Senate Republicans refused to consider President Barack Obama’s Supreme Court pick, Judge Merrick B. Garland, saying that the next president should choose Justice Scalia’s successor. The Senate confirmed Judge Neil M. Gorsuch only after discarding rules meant to ensure bipartisan cooperation in considering Supreme Court nominees. The vote was 54 to 45. The occasion for Justice Gorsuch’s remarks was a celebration of the ... Link to the full article to read more