scotus
Via Noah Berlatsky:
maybe he had an emergency billionaire yacht to attend.
NBC: Justice Thomas is not in court for Monday's Supreme Court oral arguments.
Chief Justice said Thomas would "participate fully" based on briefs/transcripts but gave no reason for his absence.
No further information provided. #ClarenceThomas #SCOTUS
Via Emptywheel: 1/…
This will be an important case. If SCOTUS throws out application of obstruction to Jan6, those who PLANNED to obstruct vote certification could only face misdemeanors, whereas those who got caught up, could face civil disorder charges. #legal
Josh Gerstein:
After years of dodging and weaving about the gravity of #Jan6 , #SCOTUS seems likely to grapple with the subject as it considers whether an obstruction charge used against hundreds of rioters was misapplied.
Canada looks better every day
“The Supreme Court's conservative majority appeared skeptical of the Justice Department's position during oral arguments over whether a federal obstruction law can be used to prosecute some of the rioters [sic] involved in the #Jan6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol.” #SCOTUS
The Supreme Court appeared ready to let cities crack down on homeless camps, with conservative justices questioning lower-court rulings against anticamping laws - WSJ #SCOTUS
MEANWHILE, at #SCOTUS, via Ryan Reilly:
Supreme Court Trump immunity arguments underway.
"There can be no presidency as we know it" without presidential immunity, Trump lawyer John Sauer argues. 🤦🏻♀️
Via Emptywheel:
On the bright side: If #SCOTUS rules (in June) in as horrible a way as they might, then Jack Smith could issue a report on ANYTHING else he found that would be immunized under their shitty rule before the election.
Brown vs Board Of Education of Topeka, Kansas.
One of the few decisions that the US Supreme Court has got right. Exactly 70 years ago today.
May 17, 1954.
“Separate but equal” is unconstitutional. The reversal of that evil Plessy v Ferguson decision.
If you're an American born after 1969, you've never lived under a liberal-leaning U.S. Supreme Court.
If Hillary Clinton had been elected in 2016, that could have changed.
The U.S. could be much different.
Roe would still be the law of the land.
Justice and equality could move forward, not backward.
The Supreme Court, and federal courts, are reason enough to vote for Democrats.
Finally some good / lawful news!
#SCOTUS lets #LisaCook remain as a #FederalReserve governor *for now*
The #SupremeCourt on Wednesday allowed Lisa Cook to remain as a #Fed governor for now, declining to act on the #Trump admin’s effort to immediately remove her from the #CentralBank.
In a brief unsigned order, the high court said it would hear arguments in January over Trump’s effort to force Cook off the Fed board.
#law #independent #economy #autocracy
https://apnews.com/article/supreme-court-trump-federal-reserve-lisa-cook-5a48941a9e30017b0ed3e5837492d288?utm_source=onesignal&utm_medium=push&utm_campaign=2025-10-01-Breaking+News
SIDEBAR, via Elie Mystal #SCOTUS:
1st: SCOTUS had chance to stop pre-hearing civil forfeiture (when cops steal your stuff w/o a hearing to prove you did anything wrong).
They declined (wait for it) 6-3. Sotomayor, Kagan, Jackson dissenting.
2nd-copyright/damages case. So you'll have to talk to somebody who knows/cares about copyright
It's also 6-3, but this time the libs in the majority w Gorsuch, Thomas, and Alito dissenting (Roberts, Kav, and Barrett were in the majority in both cases)
Elie Mystal on #SCOTUS: 🪡 1/…
I'm officially worried that Rahimi is taking so long. I feel like if we were gonna win that one, and keep guns *out of* the hands of domestic abusers, it would have been ready already.
Chevron is taking a long time because we're definitely losing that one and, I imagine, Roberts is writing that while Neil shouts "MORE, MORE" like Kylo Ren in Last Jedi.
#GovernmentShutdown: #Trump Promises Cuts to ‘Democrat Agencies’ — There is no such thing as a “Democrat Agency”
Trump redoubled his threat to use the shutdown to slash the federal bureaucracy as #Democrats & #Republicans dug in for an extended battle.
#OrchestratedShutdown #law #RevengePolitics #CultureWars #SCOTUS #immunity #ExecutiveBranch #AbuseOfPower #authoritarianism #autocracy #dictatorship #fascism #tyranny
https://www.nytimes.com/live/2025/10/02/us/trump-government-shutdown?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare
The arrest of two city council members in a small #Texas town set off a firestorm of legal controversy that's reaching all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. From Correspondent Jason Buch, in our magazine: https://www.texasobserver.org/small-town-politics-national-consequences/
#news #politics #USpol #SCOTUS #police #CriminalJustice #law #SouthTexas
Uniparty? Hardly.
Biden and Trump offer worlds-apart contrasts on issues
Here's how the candidates stand on 10 key issues: abortion, climate / energy, democracy, federal government, immigration, Israel / Gaza, LGBTQ issues, NATO / Ukraine, trade, taxes
https://apnews.com/article/biden-trump-rematch-policies-abortion-immigration-gaza-1a904cd70f14581f264b851a5cb2f9e4?utm_source=copy&utm_medium=share #USpolitics #Politics #USnews #JoeBiden #Democrats #BidenHarris #Elections #WomensRights #WomensHealth
#GOP #Republicans #DonaldTrump #trumpism #fascism #fascist #SCOTUS
Justice Clarence Thomas calls criticism of him ‘nastiness’ & ‘lies’
After facing harsh questions about his judicial decisions & accepting lavish gifts from a billionaire, #SCOTUS Justice #ClarenceThomas forcefully pushed back on
his critics Fri — saying he & his wife, #GinniThomas, have endured “nastiness” & “lies.”
#law #SupremeCourt #JudicialEthics #BoughtAndPaidFor #PartisanCourt #ActivistCourt
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/05/10/kavanaugh-thomas-alito-supreme-court-speeches/
US Supreme Court allows order forcing #Google to make #app store reforms
#SCOTUS declined on Monday to halt key parts of a judge's order requiring #Alphabet's Google to make major changes to its app store Play, as the company prepares to appeal a decision in a lawsuit brought by "Fortnite" maker #EpicGames.
#law #tech
https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/boards-policy-regulation/us-supreme-court-allows-order-forcing-google-make-app-store-reforms-2025-10-06/?utm_source=braze&utm_medium=notifications&utm_campaign=2025_engagement
“Alito doesn’t deny the flag was flying upside down, doesn’t deny its meaning, doesn’t express any disapproval for it and doesn’t disavow it.”
This wasn’t a random period of time. It was AFTER January 6 and BEFORE the inauguration.
ITS A SYMBOL OF INSURRECTION.
A Justice has never made a more persuasive case for the Legislature to kick them out on their ass for bad behavior than has Alito.
#uspol #politics #uspolitics #law #lawfedi #legal #SCOTUS #SupremeCourt
👀👀Via Kyle Griffin:
The Supreme Court has declined to hear a Republican-backed challenge that sought to end mail-in voting in #Oregon. #SCOTUS
https://oregoncapitalchronicle.com/2024/05/20/u-s-supreme-court-wont-hear-oregon-lawsuit-that-sought-to-end-mail-voting/
My reason for moving: When Trump got in, I said to Mr. Laffy, "He'll now have the courts. We can't overcome a lot of that." This is what I was referring to:
#BREAKING: #SCOTUS upholds #SouthCarolina's congressional map, reversing a lower court decision that struck down the map for racial gerrymandering.
The Court also makes it harder to fight against future racial gerrymandering. https://www.democracydocket.com/cases/south-carolina-redistricting-challenge/
2yrs AFTER an #UpsideDown American flag was flown outside the VA home of #SCOTUS Justice Samuel #Alito, another *provocative* symbol was displayed at his…house in NJ….the #AppealToHeaven flag…like the inverted #UnitedStates flag was carried by *rioters* [ #insurgents] at the… #Jan6 2021 [ #insurrection].
#law #ActivistCourt #ChristianNationalism
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/22/us/justice-alito-flag-appeal-to-heaven.html?unlocked_article_code=1.t00.2xMd.Y8aUZ-CGwkQJ&smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare&sgrp=c-cb
#ClarenceThomas wrote a concurring opinion on #Trump’s #immunity that delved into the separate & unasked question of whether AG #MerrickGarland violated the #Constitution when he appointed #SpecialCounsel #JackSmith in Nov 2022 to oversee the 2 federal prosecutions of Trump.
#law #SCOTUS #ExtremeCourt #TrumpCourt #PartisanCourt #DarkMoney #MAGA
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2024/07/01/clarence-thomas-jack-smith-special-counsel-immunity/
Ya think?
Federal #Judges, Warning of ‘#JudicialCrisis,’ Fault #SCOTUS’ Emergency Orders
Dozens of sitting judges shared with NYT their concerns about risks to the courts’ legitimacy as the #SupremeCourt releases opaque orders about #Trump admin policies.
#law #CorruptCourt #ActivistCourt #LegalEthics #judiciary
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/11/us/politics/judicial-crisis-supreme-court-trump.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare
Supreme Court Thursday cleared the way for a National Rifle Association lawsuit against a former New York state official over claims she violated its free-speech rights.
The unanimous opinion reverses a lower court decision tossing out the gun rights group’s lawsuit against ex-New York State Department of Financial Services Superintendent Maria Vullo. #SCOTUS #NRA
https://apnews.com/article/953424f3fd33f279b0cc2ce050069d48 https://apnews.com/article/953424f3fd33f279b0cc2ce050069d48