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US Supreme Court Tag

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on June 26, 2017 7 Comments
Monday, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of a Missouri Lutheran School who'd sued the state over the state's decision to withhold grant money. PBS summarized:
The case grows out of a lawsuit filed by Trinity Lutheran Church of Columbia, Missouri, after it lost out on a grant for its playground in 2012 despite being ranked fifth out of 44 applicants.

Posted by Mary Chastain on June 26, 2017 28 Comments
The Supreme Court has decided to hear a challenge from a Colorado baker, after the state charged him with violating the state's anti-discrimination law when he declined to make a wedding cake for a gay couple. From the LA Times:
Jack Phillips, the owner of the Masterpiece Cakeshop in Lakewood, Colo., was charged with violating the state’s anti-discrimination law, which says businesses open to the public may not deny service to customers based on their race, religion, sex or sexual orientation. The state commission held that his refusal to make the wedding cake amounted to discriminatory conduct, and the state courts upheld that decision.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on June 26, 2017 82 Comments
[BREAKING - This post has been updated multiple times] In a per curiam Order (full embed at bottom of post), the Supreme Court agreed to hear the Trump Travel Order cases, and also substantially lifted the injunctions, with the exception of people seeking admission who already have a bona fide connection to the U.S. This represents a huge win for Trump. The key element of his Second Travel Order (the one at issue on appeal) was to exercise his constitutional and statutory power to exclude persons from the U.S. The lower courts effectively took that power away, and substituted their own judgments as to security threats. With a relatively narrow exception, that power has been reinstated to the presidency, pending a full decision on the merits of the case.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on June 25, 2017 37 Comments
With the House having passed a healthcare bill, and the Senate close to passing a version, there is a lot of debate over the specifics of the bills. Shameless Democrats like Hillary Clinton, Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders portray Republicans as setting out to kill tens of thousands of Americans. In the wake of the shooting of Republican Congressmen by a Sanders-supporter spouting similar talking points, the false death claims are nothing short of incitement to violence.

Posted by Mary Chastain on June 19, 2017 23 Comments
The Supreme Court has ruled 8-0 that it is unconstitutional for the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to not register offensive names under the federal trademark law's disparagement clause. The Asian-American band The Slants did not receive a trademark due to this clause, which the justices found violated free speech. From CNN:
"Holding that the registration of a trademark converts the mark into government speech would constitute a huge and dangerous extension of the government-speech doctrine, for other systems of government registration (such as copyright) could easily be characterized in the same way," Justice Samuel Alito wrote in the majority opinion.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on June 12, 2017 28 Comments
We've been here before. Another judicial opinion upholding an injunction against Trump's Travel Order No. 2. This time from the 9th Circuit arising out of the injunction by the Hawaii District Court. The Opinion (pdf.) is embedded below. The Trump administration already has the Hawaii injunction before the Supreme Court, as it previously filed for contingent review of a possible 9th Circuit decision, expecting a losing result. The 4th Circuit Opinion also is before the Supreme Court for a stay of the injunctions, the opposition to which is due today.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on June 05, 2017 34 Comments
There he went again. Early this morning Donald Trump launched a twitter storm regarding the issue of the Executive Orders regarding visa entry to the U.S. from 6 (originally 7) majority Muslim nations previously identified by the Obama administration as posing unique security risks. On January 28, 2017, just after the first Executive Order, I addressed much of the nonsense in the media about the substance of the Executive Order, Most claims about Trump’s visa Executive Order are false or misleading. Most significantly, it was inaccurate to describe it as a "Muslim ban," which was the media descriptor of choice.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on June 02, 2017 52 Comments
Donald Trump's second Executive Order on visa entry from six majority Muslim countries is now before the Supreme Court. Trump is seeking review of the 4th Circuit's decision upholding a Maryland District Court injunction halting the Executive Order. In addition to the Petition for  a Writ of Certiorari asking SCOTUS to hear the case on the merits, Trump has a request for a stay of the lower court injunctions pending a decision on the merits. The application is on a fast track, with the Court setting June 12 as the deadline for opposition papers. The 4th Circuit's decision found that the Executive Order, though facially neutral, "in context drips with religious intolerance, animus, and discrimination" and that context was "a backdrop of public statements by the President and his advisors and representatives at different points in time, both before and after the election and President Trump’s assumption of office."

Posted by William A. Jacobson on June 02, 2017 17 Comments
IF the U.S. Supreme Court wants to weigh in quickly on the legality of Donald Trump's Second Executive Order temporarily barring new visa entries on people from six high-risk countries, SCOTUS has an opportunity to do so. Yesterday the Justice Department filed requests for review of the case (Petition for Certiorari) and for a stay of 4th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmance of a Maryland District Court injunction pending determination of whether SCOTUS will hear the case.

Posted by Mary Chastain on May 22, 2017 23 Comments
The Supreme court has ruled that Republicans in North Carolina used race and not politics when they drew congressional districts in 2011. A lower court ruled the same, which "forced legislators to create new maps last year." The News & Observer continued:
The 5-3 ruling, written by Justice Elena Kagan, is among a series by the justices against the excessive use of race in redistricting that state lawmakers across the country take up every 10 years after the release of new Census data. Justice Clarence Thomas joined the majority, taking a stand with more liberal justices with whom he often disagrees.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on May 15, 2017 20 Comments
Okay, I'll admit this is a good bit of trolling, but I can't help myself this morning. You remember Merrick Garland? He's the guy Obama nominated for the Scalia seat, but who never got a vote. That was like an injection of hot sauce into the veins of Democrats. Senator Mike Lee recently floated the idea of Trump nominating Garland to replace James Comey as FBI Director. Lee did it in a very Trumpian way - on Twitter:

Posted by Mike LaChance on May 14, 2017 27 Comments
The liberal freakout over the recent confirmation of Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court was just a preview. If another vacancy opens up this summer, we'll see the main attraction. And just so you know, there is already talk of another vacancy. Max Greenwood writes at The Hill:
Grassley: There will be a Supreme Court vacancy this year A top GOP senator is predicting another vacancy on the Supreme Court this year. "Every year you get these rumors. Somebody's going to quit. Everybody looking – 'Have they hired their clerks?' Etcetera, etcetera. You know, are they sick or something?" Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) said on C-SPAN's "Newsmakers."

Posted by Mary Chastain on April 17, 2017 21 Comments
New Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch took his chair on the high court for the first time Monday and wasted no time making his voice heard. During his long confirmation process, Gorsuch told the Senate that he would not allow his personal beliefs to persuade his judicial interpretation.

Posted by Mary Chastain on April 10, 2017 7 Comments
The Honorable Neil Gorsuch took his Constitutional oath in a private ceremony and the Judicial Oath in the Rose Garden today to become the 113th justice of the Supreme Court. From Fox News:
Gorsuch took the Constitutional Oath in a private ceremony, administered by Chief Justice John Roberts in the Supreme Court’s Justice’s Conference Room. He was accompanied by his wife Louise, who held the Bible, and his two daughters. That oath will be followed by a public ceremony at the White House where Justice Anthony Kennedy – Gorsuch’s former boss – will administer the Judicial Oath.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on April 06, 2017 20 Comments
Neil Gorsuch will be confirmed to the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday, April 7, 2017, on a straight up or down vote. That up or down vote will happen after Democrats filibustered the nomination by getting 45 Democrats to vote against closing debate. Republicans then exercised what usually is referred to as the Nuclear Option, but really should be called the Harry Reid Option, to eliminate the need for 60 votes to close debate. It should be called the Harry Reid Option because in 2013 Democrats used that procedure to eliminate the 60-vote requirement for all nominations, judicial or otherwise, other than the Supreme Court.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on April 06, 2017 33 Comments
The Senate Republicans used the "nuclear option" to end the filibuster on Judge Neil Gorsuch's nomination to the Supreme Court. The Senate now has 30 hours to debate before the confirmation vote, which should take place on Friday at 7PM EST. The Senate voted 55-45 to end the debate with three Democrats voting yes: Donnelly (IN), Heitkamp (ND), and Manchin (WV). With this change, a Supreme Court nominee can receive confirmation with a simple majority instead of 60 votes.

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on April 02, 2017 28 Comments
Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) appeared this morning on Meet the Press and announced that the Republicans are unlikely to reach the 60 votes needed to confirm Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court.   Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell (R-) later appeared on the same show and announced that Gorsuch would indeed be confirmed and that it would happen as early as this week. The NY Daily News reports:
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said Sunday that President Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, Neil Gorsuch, likely won’t get the 60 Senate votes he needs for confirmation — even as the GOP ensured Gorsuch is a go.
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