Category Archives: SCOTUS

What’s to come … maybe

by Robert Huntington | 1 Comment

“In Roe, the justices ruled the right to an abortion arose out of a right to privacy, which isn’t explicitly spelled out in the Constitution but rather assembled through the guarantees of the 14th Amendment. Over the decades, the Supreme Court has built a Jenga tower of legal reasoning around the existence of that right to privacy and how rights may be extrapolated from the Constitution. Pull out one block, like Roe, and you threaten to topple the whole thing, experts say. …

“In Roe, the justices ruled the right to an abortion arose out of a right to privacy, which isn’t explicitly spelled out in the Constitution but rather assembled through the guarantees of the 14th Amendment. Over the decades, the Supreme Court has built a Jenga tower of legal reasoning around the existence of that right to privacy and how rights may be extrapolated from the Constitution. Pull out one block, like Roe, and you threaten to topple the whole thing, experts say.”

Birth Control and Gay Marriage Could Be Next If Roe v. Wade Falls
Birth Control and Gay Marriage Could Be Next If Roe v. Wade Falls
?Any sort of civil rights or constitutional rights that people have won over the last 50 years is open for discussion. I mean, why not??
www.vice.com

Views: 49

The Supreme Court and religion

by Robert Huntington | Leave a comment

“For decades, the Supreme Court took a robust approach to the establishment clause and provided relatively weak protections under the free exercise clause. Now, though, the court is taking the exactly the opposite course, finding little that violates the establishment clause and creating robust protections under the free exercise clause. The implications of this shift are enormous.”

Chemerinsky: Supreme Court reflects nation?s deep divide over Constitution and religion
Chemerinsky: Supreme Court reflects nation?s deep divide over Constitution and religion
There is a deep political divide on the U.S. Supreme Court, and in the country, over the Constitution and religion. Liberals long have interpreted the establishment clause of the First Amendment as best understood through Thomas Jefferson?s metaphor that there should be a wall separating church and state. For decades, this was the approach taken by the Supreme Court, but conservatives reject this notion and believe the government violates the establishment clause only if it coerces religious participation or gives assistance that favors some religions over others.
www.abajournal.com

Views: 41

The Onion’s customary accuracy

by Robert Huntington | Leave a comment

Democrats, Republicans Spar Over Whether Judge ?Unnamed Black Woman? Qualified For Supreme Court
Democrats, Republicans Spar Over Whether Judge ?Unnamed Black Woman? Qualified For Supreme Court
WASHINGTON?Digging in for what could become a weeks-long battle, Democratics and Republicans in Congress reportedly began sparring Thursday over whether Judge Unnamed Black Woman was qualified for the Supreme Court. ?I?m shocked that President Biden, who was elected to office with the promise that he would bridge the partisan divide, would pick someone as polarizing and radical as Judge Unnamed Black Woman,? said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who refuted Senator Chuck Schumer?s assertion that Unnamed Black Woman was the most outstanding pick for the vacancy given her sterling record on TBD issue as well as her impressive education at Ivy League University. ?My colleagues in the Senate and I have looked into Unnamed Black Woman?s records and are quite alarmed by what we?ve seen. If President Biden wants to fill this vacancy, he?s going to have to meet us halfway with a sensible candidate like Unnamed White Woman.? At press time, Democrats had begun expressing their admiration for the Supreme Court pick by christening her with the adoring nickname ?UBW.?
theonion.com

Views: 45

Let’s hope SCOTUS does the right thing

by Robert Huntington | Leave a comment

“In the United States, racialized police misconduct is endemic. Law enforcement officers too often cover up their abuses of BIPOC [Black, Indigenous, and Other People Of Color] with false ‘cover charges’ such as resisting arrest. The victims of police cover charges then suffer arrest, jail, court appearances, and all the collateral consequences (legal fees, lost wages and jobs) that come with prosecution. However, because the charges were trumped-up, no meaningful evidence exists, and the case is eventually dismissed.

“This might seem like a win, but in jurisdictions that apply an indications-of-innocence standard, it isn’t. Although the falsely accused person no longer has to defend against criminal charges, they can’t seek justice for having been falsely prosecuted in the first place. This leaves the victim of police cover charges with no meaningful recourse.”

The Supreme Court case that seeks to hold police officers accountable - The Boston Globe
The Supreme Court case that seeks to hold police officers accountable - The Boston Globe
How a little procedural rule before the Supreme Court has big consequences for racialized police misconduct in New England and beyond.
www.bostonglobe.com

Views: 42

Prophecy is a tricky business

by Robert Huntington | Leave a comment

Chemerinsky: Predicting the Supreme Court in 2021 may be dangerous and futile
Chemerinsky: Predicting the Supreme Court in 2021 may be dangerous and futile
At the end of 2019, I attempted to look ahead to what to expect in the U.S. Supreme Court in 2020. Of course, the most important stories?the COVID-19 pandemic and how it changed the court, the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the confirmation of Justice Amy Coney Barrett?could not possibly have been foreseen.
www.abajournal.com

Views: 35

Science? We don’t need no stinking science!

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Opinion: Supreme Court’s scientifically illiterate decision will cost lives | CNN
Opinion: Supreme Court’s scientifically illiterate decision will cost lives | CNN
The Supreme Court ruling against New York state’s decision to limit religious gatherings in a few high-incidence parts of New York City during the Covid-19 pandemic will cause grave danger in the rest of the country, where public health authorities will feel hamstrung to restrict religious gatherings even when the virus is spreading out of control, writes Jeffrey Sachs.
www.cnn.com

Views: 52