SCOTUS Watch

[Alefroth]

https://www.npr.org/2023/02/27/11597489 ... court-cfpb

The Supreme Court agreed on Monday to take up a case that could threaten the existence of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and potentially the status of numerous other federal agencies, including the Federal Reserve.

A panel of three Trump appointees on the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last fall that the agency's funding is unconstitutional because the CFPB gets its money from the Federal Reserve, which in turn is funded by bank fees.

[Zaxxon]

Whee! I'm sure this is all totally above-board.

[malchior]

I am Jack's total lack of surprise. Thomas is going to be remembered as one of the most unethical, corrupt justices ever. His ethical lapses have been looming large, especially regarding his wife, his political boosterism, and the potential impacts of influence on his jurisprudence. This may very well become his lasting legacy.

[Grifman]

It will never happen but he should be impeached for this, and I don’t say that lightly. It’s a breach of ethics and not reporting it was illegal.

[Pyperkub]

Whee! I'm sure this is all totally above-board.

Link to investigative article:

In late June 2019, right after the U.S. Supreme Court released its final opinion of the term, Justice Clarence Thomas boarded a large private jet headed to Indonesia. He and his wife were going on vacation: nine days of island-hopping in a volcanic archipelago on a superyacht staffed by a coterie of attendants and a private chef.

If Thomas had chartered the plane and the 162-foot yacht himself, the total cost of the trip could have exceeded $500,000. Fortunately for him, that wasn’t necessary: He was on vacation with real estate magnate and Republican megadonor Harlan Crow, who owned the jet — and the yacht, too.

For more than two decades, Thomas has accepted luxury trips virtually every year from the Dallas businessman without disclosing them, documents and interviews show. A public servant who has a salary of $285,000, he has vacationed on Crow’s superyacht around the globe. He flies on Crow’s Bombardier Global 5000 jet. He has gone with Crow to the Bohemian Grove, the exclusive California all-male retreat, and to Crow’s sprawling ranch in East Texas. And Thomas typically spends about a week every summer at Crow’s private resort in the Adirondacks.

The extent and frequency of Crow’s apparent gifts to Thomas have no known precedent in the modern history of the U.S. Supreme Court.

[Smoove_B]

It will never happen but he should be impeached for this, and I don’t say that lightly. It’s a breach of ethics and not reporting it was illegal.

It would be nice if there were any consequences applied here. Not only for him but for all Justices - to make sure this doesn't happen (continue to happen?) again.

[malchior]

It sure wasn't a good look when Kavanaugh was at X-Mas parties attended by MAGA luminaries such as Erik Prince. The judiciary is turning into a hot mess rapidly and Roberts seems to be frozen in the headlights. I can't imagine he loves this yet he is essentially powerless to do anything about it. He is likely very hesitant to impose an ethics code since he can't enforce it in any meaningful way.

[Pyperkub]

It sure wasn't a good look when Kavanaugh was at X-Mas parties attended by MAGA luminaries such as Erik Prince. The judiciary is turning into a hot mess rapidly and Roberts seems to be frozen in the headlights. I can't imagine he loves this yet he is essentially powerless to do anything about it. He is likely very hesitant to impose an ethics code since he can't enforce it in any meaningful way.

If you haven't been paying attention, it's NOT just the judiciary. That's just a perk.

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[malchior]

Thanks to Sarah Kendzior keeping it real. Nothing will happen because everyone knows he's been doing this for 20 years. They just scatter when the lights get turned on and then return a little while later to laugh it up. American don't trust our institutions for good reason.

[coopasonic]

But Citizens United was definitely a proper, unbiased decision.

[Alefroth]

He'll never be impeached. Biden needs to expand the SC to make his vote meaningless.

[Grifman]

He'll never be impeached. Biden needs to expand the SC to make his vote meaningless.

And exactly how would he do this?

[malchior]

[Zaxxon]

Nbd; it's just being friendly.

[malchior]

Yeah who hasn't provided their friend - one of the most powerful people in the country - a free half million dollar trip that they subsequently hid?

[Blackhawk]

Somebody tell that one Democratic house member that they have it backwards. Public trust in the SC is already destroyed. Investigations and consequences are the only way to restore it.

[Alefroth]

He'll never be impeached. Biden needs to expand the SC to make his vote meaningless.

And exactly how would he do this?

I guess he can't. We missed our chance.

[Dramatist]

He'll never be impeached. Biden needs to expand the SC to make his vote meaningless.

And exactly how would he do this?

I guess he can't. We missed our chance.

There wasn’t a chance last house term either because of the senate filibuster.


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[waitingtoconnect]

I think it’s absolutely insane that Alvin Bragg took that trips with George Soros to use the space laser to start fires in California ! And the far left radical mainstream media is so corrupt they blame Clarence Thomas instead!

[malchior]

That definitely explains it away. Hot take: Thomas doesn't give a fuck but someone probably convinced him to at least make this non-apology.

[Zaxxon]

$500k in personal hospitality seems to strain the definition of the term.

[malchior]

$500k in personal hospitality seems to strain the definition of the term.

You can't put a dollar value on personal hospitality. It was just kindness from a billionaire who just so happens to be affiliated with several deep-pocketed conservative legal advocacy groups and struck up the friendship after he was appointed to the top court in the land. All trifles of coincidence!

[Zaxxon]

$500k in personal hospitality seems to strain the definition of the term.

You can't put a dollar value on personal hospitality. It was just kindness from a billionaire who just so happens to be affiliated with several deep-pocketed conservative legal advocacy groups and struck up the friendship after he was appointed to the top court in the land. All trifles of coincidence!

[Kurth]

$500k in personal hospitality seems to strain the definition of the term.

You can't put a dollar value on personal hospitality. It was just kindness from a billionaire who just so happens to be affiliated with several deep-pocketed conservative legal advocacy groups and struck up the friendship after he was appointed to the top court in the land. All trifles of coincidence!

Between this and the Alito thing that came out earlier . . . Roberts must be beside himself. He will forever be remembered as having been the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court that became a laughingstock. Not really sure what he could have done, but, still.

[ImLawBoy]

But this is exactly why nothing will come of this. The GOP doesn't need much cover to fall in line (and likely wouldn't have gone for any sort of impeachment even if we uncovered a video of Clarence Thomas saying that he'd rule in favor of Crow if Crow took him and Ginny on a $500K vacation), but this provides them with enough cover once it's repeated ad nauseam by GOP talking heads that they'll probably point to this as an example of just how ethical Thomas really is.

[Pyperkub]

$500k in personal hospitality seems to strain the definition of the term.

He's also lying about the official trips portions- the photo of him swearing in a judge at the Crow palace illustrates it quite well.

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[malchior]

Oh and btw, the court is figuratively grinding to a halt on merit decisions - perhaps amidst this partisan rancor.

The incomparable Steve Vladeck wrote last year:

Something weird happened this week: The Supreme Court didn’t issue any of the 33 rulings that are still expected in cases that have been argued during its current term, which began last October. An institution deeply committed to its traditions, the court usually releases such rulings every Monday (or, if it’s the week of Memorial Day, Tuesday) between the last oral arguments in April and the justices’ summer recess.

And because that’s usually not enough for a court that doesn’t like to hand down more than four or five decisions on the same day, the court typically adds extra “hand-down days” toward the middle and end of the final weeks of June to meet an all-but-formal goal of clearing the decks by July 4. Not having any decisions to hand down at all during the final week of May, with so many still to come, is more than a little unusual. Indeed, it’s indicative of a court that is way behind, having resolved by June 1 only 26 of the 59 cases that received plenary review, a paltry 44 percent of the total. (It’s been decades since the court left such a high percentage of its merits rulings for after June 1.)

There are both obvious and less obvious reasons for why the justices are running behind. No doubt, the unprecedented leak of a draft majority opinion overturning Roe v. Wade and its continuing fallout are distracting the justices. So too, the growing amount of attention the court is paying to applications for emergency relief and other decisions on the so-called “shadow docket” — on matters ranging from abortion to congressional redistricting to Covid vaccination mandates to restrictions on social media platforms

...

But for all of the focus on the numerator, it’s worth not losing sight of the denominator, too. Whenever the justices rise for their summer recess this year, they will have failed to reach 60 signed decisions in argued cases for the third term in a row, having handed down 56 such rulings during the 2020–21 term and 53 during the 2019–20 term. Before then, the court had not handed down so few decisions since 1864 — in the middle of the Civil War. And although the 2019–20 total was necessarily affected by the onset of the Covid pandemic (which led the court to postpone arguments in 10 cases to the 2020–21 session), the trendline is, by now, unmistakable: The Supreme Court is handing down fewer and fewer merits decisions each term.

So we saw over the last 3 years the court slowing down significantly...so how's this term looking...sure seem to be earning their $285,000/yr.

[Smoove_B]

...and yet they can spring to action when it's time to revoke rights to half of the population.

Regarding Thomas, I won't take a glass a water from a business owner while writing up an inspection, but he doesn't even balk at accepting a $500K vacation package from a political power broker. Absolutely unreal.

[malchior]

...and yet they can spring to action when it's time to revoke rights to half of the population.

That's the best part. They can just rely on the 5th circuit to do it for them! Then they have cleanish hands and don't get the big headlines.

[Zarathud]

Justice Thomas should have done better, and is smart enough to have checked again as the gifts became even more lavish. Credibility matters.

[ImLawBoy]

I'm guessing that most folks who work for organizations that have compliance departments have it drilled into them that they should avoid accepting or giving any gifts that would present even the appearance of impropriety, even if there is no actual impropriety. Maybe SCOTUS needs a compliance group?

[Isgrimnur]

Someone that's up on the law, perhaps. Or perhaps a group of them, supported by research assistants.

[malchior]

I am pretty sure this function already exists. Even if it didn't and was created it all suffers from a root problem. A clerk, compliance group, or support team can't support or research things that the justices keep to themselves.

I could also see a scenario where Thomas is arrogant enough to start maliciously complying and over report.

[Holman]

The SC enjoys and stews in a nearly complete lack of oversight. The premise is that high-minded legal philosophy doesn't need oversight because by its very nature--the pursuit of truth in pursuit of justice--it will of course avoid injustice.

Now we have proof that this is 100% bullshit.

[Zarathud]

That theory failed as soon as Justice Thomas’s wife joined the Heritage Foundation in 2000 and set on a path of partisan activism. And culminated in her actively supporting efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

[waitingtoconnect]

It’s not like nothing like this has ever happened before…

https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2018/02 ... homas.html

“to my complete shock, he groped me while I was setting the table, suggesting I should ‘sit right next to him.’ When I feebly explained I’d been assigned to the other table, he groped again … ‘Are you sure?’ I said I was and proceeded to keep my distance.”

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/202 ... fense.html

“ While we didn’t realize it until last week, the news means that Thomas has voted in cases in which his wife’s text messages would give him reason to attempt to protect her. This goes beyond the potential appearance of a conflict of interest for a sitting federal judge.”

https://chicagodefender.com/rosa-parks- ... ces/?amp=1

“ His confirmation to the highest court in the land would not represent a step forward in the road to racial progress but a u-turn on that road. His statements on Brown v. Board of Education case… and even on the Roe v. Wade to me indicate that he wants to push the clock back… The Supreme Court now appears to be turning its back on the undeniable fact of discrimination and exclusion …I believe that Judge Thomas will accelerate that trend and that will be destructive for our nation.”

[gbasden]

I'm guessing that most folks who work for organizations that have compliance departments have it drilled into them that they should avoid accepting or giving any gifts that would present even the appearance of impropriety, even if there is no actual impropriety. Maybe SCOTUS needs a compliance group?

I work with employees of the state of California and I cannot even bring donuts without being at risk of violating ethics rules. This is so transparently ridiculous it's not even a fig leaf.

[Smoove_B]

We are living in a simulation.



Article here.

“I still can’t get over the collection of Nazi memorabilia,” says one person who attended an event at Crow’s home a few years ago and asked to remain anonymous. “It would have been helpful to have someone explain the significance of all the items. Without that context, you sort of just gasp when you walk into the room.” One memorable aspect was the paintings: “something done by George W. Bush next to a Norman Rockwell next to one by Hitler.” They also said it was “startling” and “strange” to see the dictator sculptures in the backyard.

[LawBeefaroni]

We are living in a simulation.



Article here.

“I still can’t get over the collection of Nazi memorabilia,” says one person who attended an event at Crow’s home a few years ago and asked to remain anonymous. “It would have been helpful to have someone explain the significance of all the items. Without that context, you sort of just gasp when you walk into the room.” One memorable aspect was the paintings: “something done by George W. Bush next to a Norman Rockwell next to one by Hitler.” They also said it was “startling” and “strange” to see the dictator sculptures in the backyard.

This is really unfair. The Crows are good people. Harlan's brother, for example, is a philanthropist, apparently giving away large sums to benefit human sex trafficking:

The women claim that in exchange for financial support, Richard Hubbard would “supply drugs for Crow’s parties, would force [Julia] Hubbard to have sex with Crow’s then-girlfriend in front of Crow…, would force Goedinghaus to have sex in front of Crow…, and would traffic other victims” to Crow’s “Forced Sex Parties.”

https://dallasexpress.com/national/tram ... king-case/

[malchior]

Rich people just have different, elevated tastes. Who wouldn't want to ponder on the memorabilia of the near ruin of man after or with a glass of Balvenie 30 year in hand? Or stroll in a peaceful garden of dictator statues while enjoying a Gran Habano No 5. As the WSJ just opined about, it isn't fair to smear Clarence Thomas with a hyperfocus on superyachts. Clarence Thomas and his esteemed friends are good, decent god-fearing people worthy of the benefit of the doubt who have clearly done good things with their wealth and power. Such as advocate for making sure women don't have to face terrible choices on their own by just taking the choices away and deciding them for women like men should.