Trump's Supreme Court list underscores election's importance

WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump's list of potential Supreme Court nominees is a splashy reminder that the 2016 presidential election could determine the direction of the high court for years to come.

The presumptive Republican nominee on Wednesday named 11 federal and state court judges as potential replacements for the late Justice Antonin Scalia, any of whom would restore conservative control of the court lost with his death.

The eight men and three women, all white, on Trump's list are all judges, six who sit on federal appeals court judges and five state appellate judges.

The announcement came as Trump is working to bring together a fractured Republican Party and earn the trust of still-skeptical establishment Republicans who question his electability in the general election, as well as conservatives in his party still wary of his commitment to their cause.

In a statement, Trump said the list "is representative of the kind of constitutional principles I value" and said that, as president, he would use it "as a guide to nominate our next United States Supreme Court justices."

Colloton was part of a unanimous three-judge panel that ruled for faith-affiliated groups that challenged Obama administration rules giving women covered by the groups' health plans access to cost-free contraceptives.

Colloton's panel was the only one of nine appeals courts that sided with the nonprofit groups, and the Supreme Court this week failed to resolve the conflict among the lower courts.