News

County native makes Trump's list of potential Supreme Court nominees

Allison Jones Rushing

By Lightning Reports, Published: September 9, 2020

Allison Jones Rushing, a native of Hendersonville and graduate of East Henderson High School, made President Trump's list of 20 judges and attorneys he said he would consider for a Supreme Court appointment if he wins a second term.

Trump's announcement Wednesday of a list from which a Supreme Court nominee would be drawn was similar to a pledge he made in his 2016 campaign.

“Should there be another vacancy on the Supreme Court during my presidency, my nominee will come from the names I have shared with the American public,” Trump said Wednesday.

“Thank you @realDonaldTrump for including Allison Jones Rushing in the updated list of potential Supreme Court nominees," U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis said in a tweet Wednesday. "Judge Rushing is a western NC native I was proud to recommend to serve on the Fourth Circuit and a strong conservative choice who would uphold the Constitution.”

The daughter of David and Lynnette Jones, Rushing, 38, grew up in East Flat Rock, singing and playing piano at East Flat Rock Baptist Church. She excelled in academics and was a star on the East Henderson mock trial team coached by Virginia Haynes before graduating from Wake Forest University and Duke’s School of Law. In March 2019, the Senate confirmed her appointment to the Fourth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which hears cases from North Carolina and four other states.

After graduating magna cum laude from Duke law, Rushing clerked for some of the biggest names in the judiciary, including Canton native David Sentelle, a senior U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals judge; 10th Circuit judge Neil Gorsuch, who became the newest U.S. Supreme Court judge last year; and U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.
“She was blessed,” her father said in 2018 when she was first nominated to the Fourth Circuit. “They thought a lot of her, especially Justice Thomas."