Tag: Supreme Court

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Supreme Court Justice Alito Criticizes High Court’s Marriage Equality Ruling

Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito (screen capture)
While delivering the keynote speech at the Federalist Society’s convention last night, Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito surprised some by going full-on anti-same-sex marriage by openly criticizing the high court’s 2015 Obergefell ruling. The Federal Society is the ulra-conservative organization that, among other things, has advised and recommended all three of Donald Trump’s Supreme Court picks. From HuffPost:

Alito condemned the landmark same-sex marriage decision Obergefell v. Hodges, saying it has led to censorship of people who believe is “a union of one man and one woman.” He suggested it meant that freedom of speech is “falling out of favor in some circles.”

“You can’t say that marriage is a union between one man and one woman. Until very recently, that’s what the vast majority of Americans thought. Now it’s considered bigotry,” Alito said.

“That this would happen after our decision in Obergefell should not have come as a surprise,” he added. “Yes, the opinion of the court included words meant to calm the fears of those who cling to traditional views of marriage. But I could see, and so did the other justices in dissent, where the decision would lead.”

First of all, the Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines the word bigotry as “obstinate or intolerant devotion to one’s own opinions and prejudices.” So, “clinging” to one’s own views without considering those of others pretty much falls under that definition. And, as HuffPost points out, “people can still freely express opposition to same-sex marriage, just as their critics can freely call them ‘bigots.'” Alito also criticized governors for issuing “sweeping restrictions” in response to the coronavirus pandemic, which is currently surging in nearly every state in the union.

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Supreme Court Appears Inclined To Uphold Obamacare After Oral Arguments

(stock image via Depositphotos)
Several news outlets report that at least 5 Supreme Court justices appear to lean against striking down the Affordable Care Act after oral arguments today in a case brought by the Trump administration. From the New York Times:

It was not clear whether the court would strike down the so-called individual mandate, which was rendered toothless in 2017 after Congress zeroed out the penalty for failing to obtain insurance. But the bulk of the sprawling 2010 health care law, which is President Barack Obama’s defining domestic legacy, appeared likely to survive its latest encounter with the Supreme Court.

In legal terms, the key justices said the mandate could be severed from the rest of the law.

“It does seem fairly clear that the proper remedy would be to sever the mandate provision and leave the rest of the act in place — the provisions regarding pre-existing conditions and the rest,” said Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh.

Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. made a similar point. “Congress left the rest of the law intact when it lowered the penalty to zero,” he said.

The three justices who make up the court’s more liberal wing – Justices Stephen G. Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor, and Elena Kagan – all seem inclined to uphold the ACA. According to a study by the Urban Institute, more than 21 million Americans would become uninsured if the law were to be struck down. A ruling in the case is expected by next spring.

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Nevada Is First State Constitution To Recognize All Marriages

(image via Depositphotos)
The state of Nevada is on its way to making history as the first state in the U.S. to acknowledge all marriages in its state constitution. On the ballot this election cycle was Question 2 which asked voters to remove an existing provision that only marriage between a male person and a female person would be recognized. The state constitution will be amended to require the state (and its political subdivisions) to recognize all marriages and issue marriage licenses to couples regardless of gender, and to treat those marriages equally under the law. The ballot question did include explicit language that allows religious organizations and clergy to refuse to perform a marriage that they don’t agree with on religious terms. Same-sex marriages became legal in the Silver State in 2014, and across the nation in 2015 thanks to the U.S. Supreme Court’s historic Obergefell v. Hodges ruling. At this writing, the Secretary of State’s website shows the measure passing overwhelmingly by 61.69 percent to 38.31 percent. Gary Brewer, who married his husband this past May in a small ceremony, told local news affiliate FOX5, “It feels really good to know this is the direction Nevada has taken and I feel really proud to call the state my home,” Chris Davey of the Henderson Equality Center told FOX5 the legal amendment won’t change daily life for LGBTQ Nevadans at this time, but could prove to be crucial if the now-conservative leaning U.S. Supreme Court were to rule in favor of rolling back rights for same-sex marriages.

As I reported last month, on the first day of the Supreme Court’s new term, conservative Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito chose to reignite their discontent with the 2015 decision that made marriage equality the law of the land. Justice Thomas wrote that the Obergefell ruling “enables courts and governments to brand religious adherents who believe that marriage is between one man and one woman as bigots, making their religious liberty concerns that much easier to dismiss.” Since that time, Amy Coney Barrett (who has a history of anti-LGBTQ views) has been confirmed to replace recently-deceased Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg increasing the conservative-leaning of the court to 6-3. Just this week, Barrett heard arguments in a case regarding a Roman Catholic adoption agency in Philadelphia (Catholic Social Services) that claims a First Amendment right to decline to match foster children with same-sex households even though it signed a contract with the city agreeing not to engage in anti-LGBTQ discrimination through its taxpayer-funded activities. According to Washington Blade reporter Chris Johnson, the court appeared to side with CSS after the oral arguments. With these Supreme Court developments in mind, state-based legal moves like Question 2 in Nevada become all the more important for LGBTQ Americans. (source: FOX5 News, Washington Blade)

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Trump Takes Tax Returns Case Back To SCOTUS After Losing In Lower Courts

Donald Trump

Donald Trump during a White House press briefing (public domain)
Donald Trump has asked the Supreme Court to block lower court rulings that would allow the Manhattan District Attorney’s office to review several years of the Donald’s income tax returns. This comes after a federal district judge ruled against Trump’s legal team which had argued the District Attorney’s subpoena is “overbroad.” A federal appeals court agreed with the lower court’s assessment. More from CNBC:

If the Supreme Court agrees to hear his appeal, it will be the second time the court has taken the case, which is related to an ongoing criminal probe of the Trump Organization, the president’s company, by Manhattan DA Cyrus Vance Jr.’s office.

Trump’s lawyers in their filing Tuesday said “there is a reasonable probability that” the Supreme Court will take the appeal.

In the meantime, Vance has agreed to hold off on enforcing the subpoena pending the outcome of Trump’s efforts at the Supreme Court.

Vance is seeking the tax returns and other records as part of a probe that is known to be eyeing how hush-money payments to women who say they had sex with Trump were accounted for by the Trump Organization. The president has denied having sex with either woman, porn star Stormy Daniels and Playboy model Karen McDougal.

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Barrett Dodges On LGBTQ Rights & Marriage Equality “I Can’t, I’m Sorry”

Sen. Dianne Feinstein and Judge Amy Coney Barrett

Sen. Dianne Feinstein and Judge Amy Coney Barrett Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) brought up LGBTQ rights and specifically marriage equality during today’s confirmation hearing with Supreme Court nominee Judge Amy Coney Barrett. Feinstein asked Barrett whether she believes marriage equality is settled law, but Barrett dodged on giving a clear answer. In public comments, Barrett has previously made it known she did not support the 2015 Obergefell ruling which made marriage equality legal across the U.S. She also believes Title IX doesn’t protect transgender people on the basis of sex discrimination. In responding today, Barrett used the anti-LGBTQ phrase “sexual preference” in referencing sexual orientation indicating that she believes it is a choice. The catchphrase is popular among those who oppose LGBTQ rights and maintain queer people could just choose to be straight if they wanted to.

Here is a clip of Sen. Feinstein asking the judge about her thoughts on both the Defense of Marriage ruling which SCOTUS struck down as well as the Obergefell decision.

Feinstein: “Both decisions were decided by a 5-4 margin. Justice Ginsburg was in the majority. Justice Scalia dissented in both cases. You said in your acceptance speech for this nomination that Justice Scalia’s philosophy is your philosophy. Do you agree with this particular point of Justice Scalia’s view that the U.S. Constitution does not afford gay people the fundamental right to marry?”

Judge Barrett: “If I were confirmed, you would be getting Justice Barrett, not Justice Scalia so I don’t think that anybody should assume that just because Justice Scalia decided a decision a certain way that I would too. But I’m not going to express a view on whether I agree or disagree with Justice Scalia for the same reasons that I’ve been giving.

“Now, Justice Ginsburg, with her characteristic pithiness, used this to describe how a nominee should comport herself at a hearing. ‘No hints, no previews, no forecasts.’ That had been the practice of nominees before her but everybody calls it the Ginsburg rule because she stated it so concisely and it’s been the practice of every nominee since. So I can’t, and I’m sorry to not be able to embrace or disavow Justice Scalia’s position but I really can’t do that on any point of law.”

Feinstein: “Well that’s really too bad because it’s really a fundamental point for large numbers of people in this country. I understand you don’t want to answer these questions directly but you identify yourself with a Justice that you, like him, would be a consistent vote to roll back hard-fought freedoms and protections for the LGBT community. And what I was hoping that you would say is that this would be a point of difference where those freedoms would be respected and you haven’t said that.”

Barrett: “Senator, I have no agenda and I do want to be clear that I have never discriminated on the basis of sexual preference and would not ever discriminate on the basis of sexual preference.

“Like racism, I think discrimination is important. On the questions of law, however, I just, because I’m a sitting judge and because you can’t answer questions without going through the judicial process, can’t give answers to those very specific questions.”

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Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg Dead At 87

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg (public domain)
UPDATE: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has already announced “President Trump’s nominee will receive a vote on the floor of the United States Senate.”

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a true American hero, has died at the age of 87. An announcement from the high court said the cause was complications from metastatic cancer of the pancreas. The statement added that Ginsburg died at her home in Washington surrounded by family. From NPR:

Architect of the legal fight for women’s rights in the 1970s, Ginsburg subsequently served 27 years on the nation’s highest court, becoming its most prominent member.

Her death will inevitably set in motion what promises to be a nasty and tumultuous political battle over who will succeed her, and it thrusts the Supreme Court vacancy into the spotlight of the presidential campaign.

Just days before her death, as her strength waned, Ginsburg dictated this statement to her granddaughter Clara Spera: “My most fervent wish is that I will not be replaced until a new president is installed.”

Sadly, Ginsburg’s passing gives Republicans a chance to possibly solidify the conservative-leaning of the high court to a 6-3 majority. In 2016, with nearly a year left in President Obama’s time in office, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell refused to consider Obama’s nominee for the Supreme Court, Judge Merrick B. Garland. Hours after Antonin Scalia died in February of 2016, McConnell said, “The American people should have a voice in the selection of their next Supreme Court Justice. Therefore, this vacancy should not be filled until we have a new President.” Democrats in the Senate, which votes to approve SCOTUS nominees, have almost no power to stop a simple majority vote on Ginsburg’s replacement.

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News Round-Up: September 10, 2020

Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov (screen capture via HBO Sports)
Some news items you might have missed: • The Daily Beast: A Russian social media dissident was captured in Chechnya and forced to sit on a glass bottle as an act of apology to Putin’s favorite enforcer, Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov (above). • OUT: Jussie Smollett in a recent Instagram Live chat, “From the very, very beginning, it was set up to seem like I was lying about something or everything.” The gay Empire actor was referencing his January 2019 claim that two men attacked him near his Chicago apartment while spewing racist and homophobic slurs, physically assaulting him, and hanging a noose around his neck. The police alleged it was a false report. • Edge Media: Actor Anthony Rapp (Star Trek: Discovery, Rent) and an anonymous accuser have filed a civil lawsuit in New York State court Manhattan against Academy Award winner Kevin Spacey for alleged sexual assaults in the 1980s.
Oscar winner Kevin Spacey (screen capture via YouTube)
• NY Daily News: The Trump administration has secretly siphoned nearly $4 million away from a program that tracks and treats FDNY firefighters and medics suffering from 9/11 related illnesses. The Treasury Department mysteriously started withholding parts of payments — nearly four years ago — meant to cover medical services for to firefighters, emergency medical technicians and paramedics treated by the FDNY World Trade Center Health Program. • The Advocate: Donald Trump has unveiled a new shortlist of potential U.S. Supreme Court nominees, and it includes such anti-LGBTQ+ types as Sens. Ted Cruz, Tom Cotton, and Josh Hawley as well as the lawyer who defended the Defense of Marriage Act. • Washington Blade: The venerable LGBTQ news outlet has officially endorsed former Vice President Joe Biden for president. “There’s no reason for any informed American voter to grant Trump another four years. There’s even less reason for LGBTQ voters to support him, no matter what the hypocrites at Log Cabin tell you.” • Election 2020: A new campaign ad from Joe Biden hits Donald Trump over the revelations Trump knew the severity of the coronavirus for months while telling the American people “it’s like the flu.”

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Ruth Bader Ginsburg Discharged From Hospital “Doing Well”

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg (via Flickr/CC license)
Whew! Thank you universe! Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has been discharged from the hospital after being treated for a possible infection in her latest health scare. More from CNN:

“Justice Ginsburg has been discharged from the hospital,” a Supreme Court spokeswoman said in a statement Wednesday. “She is home and doing well.” Ginsburg had been taken to Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore early on Tuesday “after experiencing fever and chills,” spokeswoman Kathleen Arberg said.

“She underwent an endoscopic procedure at Johns Hopkins this afternoon to clean out a bile duct stent that was placed last August,” Arberg said on Tuesday, announcing Ginsburg’s hospitalization. “The Justice is resting comfortably and will stay in the hospital for a few days to receive intravenous antibiotic treatment.”

Ginsburg’s quick discharge is the latest apparent dodge of a health scare for the 87-year-old justice, who has proven adept at continuing her job without interruption despite her health issues.

We need to wrap the Notorious RBG in bubble wrap and keep her safe. Not only do we need her sanity come the fall court season, but you know if the unspeakable were to happen, the Donald would be thrilled to nominate another far-right, uber-conservative nominee to the court.

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Supreme Court: Manhattan DA Can See Trump Taxes, Congress Will Have To Wait

The current U.S. Supreme Court (image: public domain)
The Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr. can see Donald Trump’s taxes and business records, but Congress will have to wait a bit longer. From the New York Times:

Vance is investigating whether the Trump Organization falsified business records to conceal hush payments to two women, including pornographic film actress Stormy Daniels, who alleged they had affairs with Trump years ago. Trump has denied those claims.

Vance is seeking Trump’s tax returns, among other records. The president has refused to make them public, unlike previous modern presidents. Because the records are for a grand jury investigation, they would not likely be disclosed before the election.

Separately, three House committees have sought bypass the president to obtain his financial records from his longtime accounting firm, Mazars USA, and financial institutions. The committees, all controlled by Democrats, say they are needed to check Trump’s financial disclosures and inform whether conflict-of-interest laws are tough enough.

In both cases, the justices ruled 7 to 2, with Trump nominees Neil M. Gorsuch and Brett M. Kavanaugh joining the majorities. Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel A. Alito Jr. dissented.”

Predictably, Trump went on an epic Twitter rant claiming ‘Prosecutorial Misconduct!’

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Supreme Court Blocks Trump Administration’s Plan To End DACA

Donald Trump

In a 5-4 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that the Trump administration cannot move forward with plans to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which has enabled an estimated 800,000 young people, known as ‘Dreamers,’ to remain in the United States. The decision represents a huge rebuke of Donald Trump’s immigration policy, which has been central to his presidency since he announced his run for office in 2015. According to the majority opinion, the administration failed to give an adequate justification for ending the federal program. From the New York Times:

The court’s ruling was a blow to one of President Trump’s central campaign promises — that as president he would “immediately terminate” an executive order by former President Barack Obama that Mr. Trump had called an illegal executive amnesty for hundreds of thousands of young immigrants.

Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. wrote the majority opinion, joined by the court’s four more liberal members in upholding the program, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA.

“We do not decide whether DACA or its rescission are sound policies,” the chief justice wrote. “We address only whether the agency complied with the procedural requirement that it provide a reasoned explanation for its action.”

As the ruling notes, the decision didn’t rule on the legality of ending DACA, just that the Trump administration hadn’t followed proper procedures. Several pundits have shared the ruling could be used as a ‘road map’ for Trump to re-submit his executive order with more success. Trump has since announced he plans to do exactly that. This is the second ruling this week from the high court that decided against the Trump administration. On Monday, SCOTUS ruled that LGBTQ people are protected in the workplace by existing federal civil rights laws. It’s notable that Chief Justice Roberts voted in the majority in that decision as well. The Trumpster was, of course, not happy.