SCOTUS Watch

[Smoove_B]

I've been in public service of some kind for ~26 years now and yeah, I am now realizing I should have been on the take the entire time. I've wasted my life.

[LawBeefaroni]

Are we all chumps for having integrity? That's the message I'm constantly getting from our venerable pillars of government.

+1

"I want to be able to look my kid in the eye and tell him I've led an honest life."

"I'd rather be able to tell mine that I'm leaving him generational wealth."

[malchior]

This is the corrosive problem. We unbelievably have worse problems ahead as this corruption from the top seeps into the everyday.

[Blackhawk]

I'd rather be a decent human being and die poor. I'd rather my kids and grandkids be decent human beings and die poor.

[LawBeefaroni]

I'd rather be a decent human being and die poor. I'd rather my kids and grandkids be decent human beings and die poor.

The thing is, poor and decent are both relative in 2023.

[Holman]

I'd rather be a decent human being and die poor. I'd rather my kids and grandkids be decent human beings and die poor.

What's bad is that ethical corruption creates a world where decency is not only unrewarded but actively punished.

[Blackhawk]

I'd say it's more that indecency is rewarded, and a willingness to bypass ethical and moral limits gives one a considerable advantage. But then again, have we ever had a time in history where being decent and altruistic did more for you than being underhanded and selfish? Unless you're a war hero or an astronaut, I doubt it.

It isn't society - it's just humanity.

[LordMortis]

I'd rather be a decent human being and die poor. I'd rather my kids and grandkids be decent human beings and die poor.

What's bad is that ethical corruption creates a world where decency is not only unrewarded but actively punished.

Sure seems like it. I'm resisting that belief as best I can though. I've always been of the mind that when enough people concede that a civil society is dead, a civil society is dead, so I keep on doing what one person can do.

[YellowKing]

Things have really gone to hell since LIttle House on the Prairie went off the air.

[Carpet_pissr]

He preemptively defends himself in the WSJ portraying free flights for junkets as "standard practice" in a piece smearing Propublica.

He's probably not wrong, sadly. I doubt it's just Thomas and this turd.

They're probably meeting in their underground lair asking each other WTF is going on with the country...they've been doing this shit for decades and no one has said peep before!

[Unagi]

Are we all chumps for having integrity? That's the message I'm constantly getting from our venerable pillars of government.

+1

"I want to be able to look my kid in the eye and tell him I've led an honest life."

"I'd rather be able to tell mine that I'm leaving him generational wealth."

Honestly, this is it.

WTF - I hate this world.

[Holman]

He preemptively defends himself in the WSJ portraying free flights for junkets as "standard practice" in a piece smearing Propublica.

He's probably not wrong, sadly. I doubt it's just Thomas and this turd.

They're probably meeting in their underground lair asking each other WTF is going on with the country...they've been doing this shit for decades and no one has said peep before!

On the other hand, many other judges and public officials and even fellow justices bend over backwards to consider and report that they've accepted a bagel or a cup of coffee from an outside party.

Thomas and Alito are completely corrupt. That's it. They do not deserve a seat on the Supreme Court. And Roberts is stained by overlooking it.

[Unagi]

I'd rather be a decent human being and die poor. I'd rather my kids and grandkids be decent human beings and die poor.

I want to follow this feeling, it is my leading philosophy, but there is a part of me that says the phrase "die poor" downplays what they are actually potentially up against in this battle.
I'm not willing to consign my progeny to "the meek shall inherit the earth", I actually want the unmeek to be ripped of their ownership of this earth.

[Unagi]

On the other hand, many other judges and public officials and even fellow justices bend over backwards to consider and report that they've accepted a bagel or a cup of coffee from an outside party.

Obviously, it is so much easier to report about the bagel and the coffee than it is about the vacations and airfare.

Thomas and Alito are completely corrupt. That's it. They do not deserve a seat on the Supreme Court. And Roberts is stained by overlooking it.

100%

[Isgrimnur]

I'm sure it's only a matter of time before there's a story about Roberts' indiscretions.

[Carpet_pissr]

I'm sure it's only a matter of time before there's a story about Roberts' indiscretions.

Right. My point was that I would bet that it's not JUST these two that are corrupt.

[Unagi]

I think it was well alluded to earlier, that the only reason the entire SCOTUS didn't lose their shit over the Thomas revelations was that they all harbored the same exact sins.

[Zarathud]

Blame The Federalist Society and the conservative justice pipeline for instilling both judicial activism and normalizing its corrupt influence building strategy.

[LordMortis]

Blame The Federalist Society

ding They are most definitely a general cause of modern political corruption and chaos and a dominant cause of the corruption of the courts. Possibly the dominant cause.

[malchior]

In particular Leonard Leo at the Federalist Society. He probably has had the most influence in raising money and shaping the network that broke the Supreme Court and democracy at large. He was the person who arranged the trip for Alito. He also allegedly had a hand at connecting Thomas and Crow. Josh Marshall at TPM said it sure looks like Leo and the Federalist Society elders at large connected Conservative jurists with wealthy patrons and showered them with gifts and perks. It just took time for those stories to be uncovered. Unfortunately it doesn't matter that we know this now. It is probably too late.

[El Guapo]

I'm sure it's only a matter of time before there's a story about Roberts' indiscretions.

I dunno, I'd still be surprised if Roberts has anything quite as bad as this. I'm sure people are looking, though, so who knows.

[El Guapo]

In particular Leonard Leo at the Federalist Society. He probably has had the most influence in raising money and shaping the network that broke the Supreme Court and democracy at large. He was the person who arranged the trip for Alito. He also allegedly had a hand at connecting Thomas and Crow. Josh Marshall at TPM said it sure looks like Leo and the Federalist Society elders at large connected Conservative jurists with wealthy patrons and showered them with gifts and perks. It just took time for those stories to be uncovered. Unfortunately it doesn't matter that we know this now. It is probably too late.

Has anyone looked into appellate judges and this network yet? I'd be surprised if they only hooked up SCOTUS judges like this. Although circuit court judges have actual ethics rules, so possible that they didn't because of that.

[ImLawBoy]

At this point I want one of the liberal justices to have a similar scandal just so that some people might start caring about this.

Of course, in this timeline that would likely result in the liberal justice being replaced by a center-right compromise candidate from Biden while Alito and Thomas somehow get to have their votes count double going forward.

[Smoove_B]

At this point I want one of the liberal justices to have a similar scandal just so that some people might start caring about this.

Well remember, Justice Kagan almost accepted those bagels. It's pretty similar to this:

Last July, Alito was feted in Rome by Notre Dame’s Religious Liberty Initiative, which has in recent years joined the growing ranks of conservative legal activists who are finding new favor at the Supreme Court – and forging ties with the justices. The group’s legal clinic has filed a series of “friend-of-the-court” briefs in religious liberty cases before the Supreme Court since its founding in 2020.

After the high court overturned Roe v. Wade last year, the group paid for Alito’s trip to Rome to deliver a keynote address at a gala hosted at a palace in the heart of the city. It was his first known public appearance after the decision.

At the start of his speech, he thanked the group for the “warm hospitality” it provided to him and his wife, which, he later said, included a stay at a hotel that “looks out over the Roman Forum.”

...

Alito joined the majority in ruling in favor of the Religious Liberty Initiative’s position in several of the cases for which it submitted briefs, including the one that reversed Roe, which he authored, and a 2022 decision that said a high school football coach had the right to pray on the 50-yard line after games.

Stephanie Barclay, the Religious Liberty Initiative’s director, confirmed to CNN that the group paid for Alito’s trip to Rome last year.

Of note:

“Like the other speakers and panelists at the summit, Justice Alito’s transportation and lodging were covered and of course, he had meals provided like all attendees,” she said. “Unlike other speakers, no honorarium was given.”

Oh, ok. That's totally fine then.

[Smoove_B]

Actual decision - against Navajo nation:

The Supreme Court on Thursday ruled against the Navajo Nation over claims that the federal government has failed to assert the tribe's desperate need for water access.

The justices, divided 5-4, said a lawsuit the tribe filed against the federal government must be thrown out.

Writing for the majority, Justice Brett Kavanaugh said that a 1868 treaty with the Navajo Nation did not require the U.S. government to take active steps to secure water access.

"And it is not the judiciary's role to rewrite and update this 155-year-old treaty," he added.

...

Conservative Justice Neil Gorsuch joined the three liberal justices in dissent.

The tribe was merely asking the federal government to identify its water rights and was not seeking dramatic further steps, Gorsuch wrote.

[Alefroth]

Wonder if Jim Jordan is about to be going through some things.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/supreme-co ... -rcna87519

The Supreme Court handed Ohio State University a potentially costly defeat by refusing to reconsider a lower court ruling that said former students should be allowed to sue it for failing to protect them from a sexual predator decades ago.

[El Guapo]

Wonder if Jim Jordan is about to be going through some things.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/supreme-co ... -rcna87519

The Supreme Court handed Ohio State University a potentially costly defeat by refusing to reconsider a lower court ruling that said former students should be allowed to sue it for failing to protect them from a sexual predator decades ago.

If there's one thing I know about Republican voters, it's that they won't tolerate candidates with credible accusations against them related to sexual misconduct.

[Alefroth]

[Pyperkub]

I've been in public service of some kind for ~26 years now and yeah, I am now realizing I should have been on the take the entire time. I've wasted my life.

I'm only a poor, corrupt public servant

[Isgrimnur]

Supreme Court Rules Against School That Made Girls Wear Skirts Because They're 'Fragile Vessels'

The Supreme Court rejected an appeal from a publicly funded North Carolina charter school that wanted to force girls to wear skirts to school because they are “fragile vessels” who need to be handled “more gently than boys.” By rejecting Charter Day School’s appeal, the highest court agreed that the school’s rules violated the girls’ constitutional civil rights.
...
This battle was a long time coming: The school was founded in 1999, which was the same year as the Columbine High School shooting. Why did I bring up that horrific bit of trivia? Because the founder, Baker Michael, invoked the shooting in an email to a parent, sent in 2015, who was asking for clarification as to why the girls couldn’t wear pants—even during physical education and recess.
...
After the email that needlessly invoked Columbine, parents eventually filed suit in 2016. At that time, the girls in question were in kindergarten, fourth and eighth grades. Keely Burks, one of the students challenging the skirts-only rule, said they gathered more than 100 signatures on a petition to get the rule changed. “It was taken from us by a teacher and we never got it back,” Burks wrote, adding that then they turned to the ACLU for help. (The school is now called Classical Charter Schools of Leland, per the ACLU release.)

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit wrote that Charter Day School’s dress code “blatantly perpetuates harmful gender stereotypes” in its opinion from June 2022. “Nothing in the Equal Protection Clause prevents public schools from teaching universal values of respect and kindness, but those values are never advanced by the discriminatory treatment of girls in a public school,” the court said.

[YellowKing]

I have a co-worker who had daughters at this school. She wasn't involved in the original lawsuit but she supported abolishing the skirt rule.

[pr0ner]

SCOTUS told North Carolina Republicans NO in Moore v. Harper and rejected their independent state legislature theory.

Roberts with the decision, Barrett and Kavanaugh join him and the liberals in a 6-3 majority.

https://twitter.com/mjs_DC/status/16736 ... x_HDw&s=19

[Octavious]

Seems that they aren't completely insane. So that's good I guess? Based on last year it looked like they we're going to go nuts, but so far that hasn't happened.

[Octavious]

Well I mean 3 did vote for something that is batshit insane. So if you want to look on the negative side.

[malchior]

Seems that they aren't completely insane. So that's good I guess? Based on last year it looked like they we're going to go nuts, but so far that hasn't happened.

Several of the court's critics have said that they appear to be reacting to the Dobbs and ethics backlash by moderating on some opinions. This is one that people were worried about but not because it was likely to happen but just because of the overall risk to the system.

That said, they are still doing a lot of regressive things via the shadow docket. And we still have the AA decision that is coming, It is highly likely to be very regressive but let's see.

But let's be clear, this isn't real moderation. This is the overton window in action. Just because they are rejecting extreme positions doesn't mean that they're still not delivering hard right outcomes.

[El Guapo]

Seems that they aren't completely insane. So that's good I guess? Based on last year it looked like they we're going to go nuts, but so far that hasn't happened.

Several of the court's critics have said that they appear to be reacting to the Dobbs and ethics backlash by moderating on some opinions. This is one that people were worried about but not because it was likely to happen but just because of the overall risk to the system.

That said, they are still doing a lot of regressive things via the shadow docket. And we still have the AA decision that is coming, It is highly likely to be very regressive but let's see.

But let's be clear, this isn't real moderation. This is the overton window in action. Just because they are rejecting extreme positions doesn't mean that they're still not delivering hard right outcomes.

Still good that they decided against ending American democracy, though.

[Kurth]

Seems that they aren't completely insane. So that's good I guess? Based on last year it looked like they we're going to go nuts, but so far that hasn't happened.

Several of the court's critics have said that they appear to be reacting to the Dobbs and ethics backlash by moderating on some opinions. This is one that people were worried about but not because it was likely to happen but just because of the overall risk to the system.

That said, they are still doing a lot of regressive things via the shadow docket. And we still have the AA decision that is coming, It is highly likely to be very regressive but let's see.

But let's be clear, this isn't real moderation. This is the overton window in action. Just because they are rejecting extreme positions doesn't mean that they're still not delivering hard right outcomes.

Still good that they decided against ending American democracy, though.

Don’t even try. Malchior just wants us all to be miserable all the time!

[malchior]

Still good that they decided against ending American democracy, though.

Definitely but more I think people shouldn't be glad they didn't end democracy and think it is a trade off for accepting that they are likely to tyrannically inject fuel into the systemic racism engine either (as one example). Which the credulous radical centrists are wont to do.

[malchior]

Don’t even try. Malchior just wants us all to be miserable all the time!

True!

Though seriously one of my steadfast beliefs is one of the main ways we've been eased into the shadow of autocracy is people accepting all this incrementalism. We're a year out from them rolling back a major human right and the narrative that is forming is...well they learned their lesson and are moderating. It's just insane to me that people don't see the *obvious* pattern.

[Isgrimnur]

Like a toddler testing their boundaries.