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Supreme Court Shadow Docket: Horrifying

Supreme Court

You are here: Home / Archives for Supreme Court

It’s the Media, Stupid

by WaterGirl|  September 2, 20232:10 pm| 161 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads, Political Action, Politics, Supreme Court Corruption

Remember Bill Clinton?  “It’s the economy, stupid.”

Well, this time around, it’s the media, stupid.

Why do 45% of those polled believe that black is white, the economy sucks, and Biden is too old to run for president?

BECAUSE THE MEDIA TELLS THEM THAT, ALL DAY, EVERY DAY.

With the traditional media in the bag for the right, I think the only way to pierce the lies that the media supports is for people to experience something for themselves.

  • My student loan was forgiven.
  • The cost of my prescriptions was capped this year so I saved a lot of money on medication.
  • I can afford my insulin now!  (other options: my mom, my dad, my sister, my cousin, that nice guy I work with…)
  • No one is going to inspect my kid’s private parts in order for her to play sports.
  • Someone I am close to died when she miscarried.
  • They fixed the scary bridge I have to drive across to get to work.
  • What do you mean that I can’t decide whether I want to have a child or not?

The trick is to get the word out that those good things are brought to you by Dems, and that virtually all the things that are limiting are brought to you by Republicans.

How do we do that?  I think it’s up to us, because the traditional media isn’t going to do it.

If we had an actual 4th estate doing their job, they would be all over the Supreme Court corruption instead of one new media outfit doing all the investigating.

Open thread.

It’s the Media, StupidPost + Comments (161)

Sheldon Whitehouse, A Hero for Our Times

by WaterGirl|  June 21, 20239:15 pm| 36 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads, Supreme Court, Supreme Court Corruption

Sheldon Whitehouse has been leading this charge for quite some time, and he hasn’t quit.

Now Pro Publica is bringing the receipts.

And it sounds like even Dick Durbin is willing to start playing hardball.

Maybe this is the one-two punch that is needed in order to move off the mark?

That’s why when the Senate returns after the July 4th recess, the Senate Judiciary Committee will mark up Supreme Court ethics legislation.

— Senator Dick Durbin (@SenatorDurbin) June 21, 2023

I hope that before that time, Chief Justice Roberts will take the lead and bring Supreme Court ethics in line with all other federal judges.

But if the Court won’t act, then Congress must.

— Senator Dick Durbin (@SenatorDurbin) June 21, 2023

Justice Alito’s response to this latest reporting shows exactly why this Supreme Court urgently needs an ethics overhaul to hold the justices accountable for the many instances of ethical wrongdoings that continue to come to light.

— Sheldon Whitehouse (@SenWhitehouse) June 21, 2023

I’m pleased that @JudiciaryDems Chairman @SenatorDurbin has announced plans to take up Supreme Court ethics legislation in the Judiciary Committee so we can clean up this mess and bring the Court into alignment with the rest of the federal courts and other branches of government.

— Sheldon Whitehouse (@SenWhitehouse) June 21, 2023

If the Supreme Court isn’t going to do anything to restore the public’s trust, then it’s up to us in Congress to ensure that our nation’s highest Court does not have the lowest ethical standards.

— Sheldon Whitehouse (@SenWhitehouse) June 21, 2023

Also a hero – Pro Publica for doing these investigations.

As Betty Cracker mentioned earlier, they take donations here if you’re interested.

Open thread.

Sheldon Whitehouse, A Hero for Our TimesPost + Comments (36)

Supreme Court Corruption: Harlan Crow & Clarence Thomas, Continued

by WaterGirl|  May 11, 20234:45 pm| 122 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads, Supreme Court Corruption, Thomas Crow Affair

My opinion is that we should point out the supreme amount of corruption in the highest court of the land, every single day, for as long as it takes.  This cannot be normalized.  Make them pay.  Hound the corrupt bastards every single day until they decide that life’s too short.

They are counting on us to let this slip into this is just one more thing that’s so terribly wrong but there’s nothing we can do about it territory.

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse is leading the charge, but he shouldn’t be out there alone, as he has been for most of the past 5 years.

What can we do to to make sure that this issue stays front and center until it is resolved?

In which @DahliaLithwick and @TheLisaGraves hit it out of the park:https://t.co/YUJDcKbDAD

— Sheldon Whitehouse (@SenWhitehouse) May 9, 2023

(Slate)

Yes. It’s astonishing. For Clarence Thomas to assert that people told him he didn’t have to disclose this—I think he should have to respond under oath, under penalty of perjury, and name each and every person in government or out of government who told him that he did not have to provide public disclosure of these sorts of gifts, particularly the gift of travel on private jets or Harlan Crow’s luxury yacht, because thousands of people employed by the federal government routinely follow those rules. The rules allowing for personal hospitality of a close friend are described in the instructions to comply with that statute. As you know, a meal, like a birthday meal from a friend or a small gift, is exempt—but not travel. Private jets, private yachts are not considered gifts of hospitality like a dinner. These are gifts; they’re valuable gifts. And they really put a stain on the court and on the integrity of the court.

On this question of “we’re just friends”: They’re not just friends. Let’s look at the cases pending before the court this term. Right now, there are three cases where the Manhattan Institute has submitted amicus briefs to this Supreme Court, including the student debt case. Kathy Crow—one of Clarence and Ginni Thomas’ “best friends”—is a trustee. So basically, she’s a funder and a director of the Manhattan Institute. Has Clarence Thomas recused from the cases involving the amicus brief submitted by his best friend? No.

I think there are a lot of issues at stake here, including what’s been uncovered about Harlan Crow’s having business before the court. But it’s also the case that Harlan Crow isn’t just a billionaire. He’s a billionaire who has spent a lot of money trying to influence law in this country and influence who wins offices, including who gets on the Supreme Court. In fact, Harlan Crow was a donor to one of the groups that helped spend money to get John Roberts and Samuel Alito onto the Supreme Court. So he has a deep and intense interest, it seems, in what’s happening with this court and who is on this court. And now he’s been spending years rewarding someone on the court.

BREAKING: Harlan Crow and his family's average yearly political contributions went up 862% after Citizens United was decided in 2010.

Who provided a deciding vote for that case?

Justice Clarence Thomas, a "family friend" they showered with luxury travel and gifts for 20+ years. pic.twitter.com/GS2KCq6ktd

— Americans For Tax Fairness (@4TaxFairness) May 1, 2023

Nothing to see here. //

Open thread.

Supreme Court Corruption: Harlan Crow & Clarence Thomas, ContinuedPost + Comments (122)

The Highest Court Should Not Have the Lowest Standards

by WaterGirl|  April 23, 202311:00 am| 89 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads, Supreme Court Corruption, Thomas Crow Affair

We must bring the Supreme Court into alignment with the rest of the federal courts. The highest court should not have the lowest standards. https://t.co/RZ2wc0Vo7g

— Sheldon Whitehouse (@SenWhitehouse) April 18, 2023

In case you didn’t notice, that was part #21 from Sheldon Whitehouse, as part of his tireless efforts to call attention to the travesty that is the court system in general and the Supreme Court in particular.

“You’re not a court just because you wear black robes. You’re a court because you behave like a court.”https://t.co/pX8KMpmo6M

— Sheldon Whitehouse (@SenWhitehouse) April 22, 2023

🧚‍♀️

“We Can’t Lower the Bar So Low”: Can the Senate Rein in a Scandal-Plagued Supreme Court?  (Vanity Fair)

“There is absolutely nothing that is difficult or complicated about this,” Senator Sheldon Whitehouse tells me. Supreme Court justices should be held to the same ethical standard as any other judge—and if they violate it, as Clarence Thomas seems to have done, there should be a way to hold them to account. It’s common sense stuff. And yet, in the immediate aftermath of new revelations about Thomas’s lucrative friendship with conservative billionaire Harlan Crow, there seems to be little hope that the far-right justice will be held to any ethical standard at all.

Neither a divided Congress nor Chief Justice John Roberts—who has willingly refused to enact ethical rules—are likely to be of any aid. Which leaves us with “the attorney general investigation that we asked the judicial conference to request,” Whitehouse tells me, and the “continued pressure on Roberts to set up a mechanism for the investigation and determination of ethics complaints within the Supreme Court. That’s pretty much the suite of options we’ve got.”

Still, a tireless champion of judicial reform, the Rhode Island senator is holding onto hope that Thomas’s latest scandal could be the tipping point for reform—even if Democrats have no clear recourse right now to hand down concrete consequences for Thomas’s conduct. “This attention, and this pressure on the court, and the outrage that many federal judges feel, and the prospect of hearings and legislation being debated—that to me is all a big step forward,” Whitehouse says. “I’m very much glass half full about the progress that’s been made in the last weeks, though I am glass half empty about where this ends. We don’t know where this ends.”

His doubt is well-founded; despite years of facing calls for more accountability, the court has declined to establish formal ethics requirements. In 2011—amid concerns about how Thomas’s friendship with Crow and Ginni Thomas’s activism, as well as liberal Elena Kagan’s previous work for the Obama administration, might influence the justices’ approach to cases involving the Affordable Care Act—there was enough bipartisan interest for reform that the Senate Judiciary Committee brought then justices Antonin Scalia and Stephen Breyer to Capitol Hill to testify. But Roberts refused to adopt the Judicial Conference of the US Codes of Conduct, writing in his annual report that year that the court had “no reason to adopt the Code of Conduct as its definitive source of ethical guidance,” and suggested that the “rigorous appointment and confirmation process” justices are subjected to is a sufficient guard against misconduct.

show full post on front page

🧚‍♂️

Lacking sharp legislative teeth, Democrats are essentially hoping to outsource immediate oversight to the executive and judicial branches—calling for a Justice Department investigation, which it has yet to open. They’ve also demanded that Roberts conduct his own probe, which he has not indicated to Whitehouse he would do. (The Supreme Court did not respond to Vanity Fair’s request for comment.) “The time has come for a new public conversation on ways to restore confidence in the Court’s ethical standards,” Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Dick Durbin said in a Thursday letter, inviting Roberts to answer questions before the committee early next month.

Those hearings could make waves, and pressure from the public could build a groundswell in favor of reform. “That’s not dead in the water,” Jeremy R. Paul, a professor at the Northeastern University School of Law, told me. “I think the possibility of reform is real. [But] I also think the question of what that reform would take is hard to say.”

Whitehouse and his fellow Democrats have already put pen to paper. Back in February, they introduced the Supreme Court Ethics, Recusal, and Transparency Act (SCERT), which would do exactly what the justices themselves have refused to do: establish a process for investigating misconduct and create stronger recusal standards, disclosure rules, and a code of ethics for justices. It’s far from a sure thing, of course, that the measure would garner enough GOP support, given the collective shrug the party has issued in response to the Thomas revelations. Then again, Republican senator Lindsey Graham, the ranking member of the Judiciary Committee, has promoted similar legislation in the past, and his party could be compelled to act as questions about the court’s legitimacy grow louder. “The behavior of these justices is inexcusable…and at some point, they’re gonna have to reconcile themselves with that,” Whitehouse tells me. “You’re not a court just because you wear black robes,” he added. “You’re a court because you behave like a court.”

Passing SCERT would help immediately safeguard against the kind of egregious impropriety Thomas seems to have engaged in, unchecked, for decades. But in the long term, Lipton-Lubet said it will take more than one bill to restore public trust in the integrity and independence of the court. “We can’t lower the bar so low just because the Republican Party has decided that they don’t care about ethics or the rule of law or common decency,” she told me, so “what are the structural reforms that we’re gonna put in place to salvage the court and really save it from itself?”

 

Here’s a gift article to the Jennifer Rubin at the Washington Post, where she talks about the ridiculous and outrageous dissent from Justic Alito.

Some highlights (but please read the whole thing at the gift link above if you are interested).

Justice Clarence Thomas has gotten the attention of late due to questionable ethics. But it’s high time Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. received the scrutiny he deserves. Alito’s dissent in the mifepristone case has served up yet another example of his intemperate, partisan rhetoric.

In the rush to celebrate the failure of medical zealots (this time) to dredge up an antiabortion activist in robes to countermand the FDA, Alito’s dissent shouldn’t be ignored, for it perfectly encapsulates the degree to which he’s become “unmoored from reason,” as legal scholar Norman Eisen tells me.

The opinion is so lacking in judicial reason and tone that Supreme Court advocates and constitutional experts with whom I spoke were practically slack-jawed. They cite a batch of objectionable arguments and remarks in his dissent.

It’s entirely irrelevant to the matter at hand and, as with so much of Alito’s writing, utterly intemperate.

But it gets much worse. Alito has the temerity to assert that there would be no irreparable injury in denying the stay because “the Government has not dispelled legitimate doubts” — by whom? where does this standard come from? — “that it would even obey an unfavorable order in these cases, much less that it would choose to take enforcement actions to which it has strong objections.” This unprecedented attack on the government’s obedience to court rulings — based on nothing — is out of order. There is zero evidence — stray pundits and legislative backbenchers don’t count — that the Biden administration would essentially put itself in contempt of court.

Moreover, Alito’s dissent demonstrates that he does not care one whit about the women affected if the drug were suddenly made unavailable. (At least he’s consistent; he also utterly ignored the interests of women in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, giving them no weight in contrast to the seemingly inviolate interest of states in commandeering women’s reproductive choices.) Their irreparable harm doesn’t register.

Next, consider Alito’s hypocrisy in accusing the government of “leveraging” (i.e., judge shopping) by going to a court in the 9th Circuit to obtain a contrary opinion, thereby setting up a conflict between circuits. It takes some nerve to make that accusation, given how the case began when antiabortion activists searched out a single-district division in Amarillo, Tex., where they were certain to draw a judge who embraces their cause.

Finally, Alito dishonestly asserts that a stay isn’t needed because this will all get decided quickly at the 5th Circuit or at the Supreme Court — probably in the government’s favor. (“Because the applicants’ Fifth Circuit appeal has been put on a fast track, with oral argument scheduled to take place in 26 days, there is reason to believe that they would get the relief they now seek — from either the Court of Appeals or this Court — in the near future if their arguments on the merits are persuasive.”)

Open thread.

The Highest Court Should Not Have the Lowest StandardsPost + Comments (89)

Tick Tock, Motherfucker (No Not That One)

by WaterGirl|  April 13, 20233:46 pm| 148 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads, Politics, Supreme Court, Supreme Court Corruption, Thomas Crow Affair

I am working on taxes today, but while I finally get around to that tedious task, you can chew on this.

🧚‍♀️

Dear Clarence Thomas,

Tick tock.

Brought to us by ProPublica.  (Again.)

Billionaire Harlan Crow Bought Property From Clarence Thomas. The Justice Didn’t Disclose the Deal.

🧚‍♀️

NEW: Clarence Thomas Didn’t Disclose Harlan Crow Real Estate Deal.

“The justice’s failure to report the transaction suggests ‘Thomas was hiding a financial relationship with Crow,’ said Kathleen Clark, a legal ethics expert.” https://t.co/NMOm9uL8gK

— Katie S. (💙-check) Phang (@KatiePhang) April 13, 2023

“Crow still owns Thomas’ mother’s home, which the now-94-year-old continued to live in through at least 2020, according to public records and social media. Two neighbors told ProPublica she still lives there. Crow did not respond to questions about whether he has charged her…

— Jen Taub (@jentaub) April 13, 2023

Open thread.

 

Tick Tock, Motherfucker (No Not That One)Post + Comments (148)

Celebration Open Thread: Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson

by Anne Laurie|  July 16, 20223:14 pm| 42 Comments

This post is in: Balloon Juice, Civil Rights, Commentary, Open Threads, Proud To Be A Democrat!, Supreme Court

(Jack Ohman via GoComics.com)

 
The Boston Globe found the most Boston way ever to celebrate Justice Brown Jackson’s installation, which reminded me I never got around to sharing these happy stories…

… “On the 50th anniversary of Shirley Chisholm’s bold run for president, we have a Black woman on a Supreme Court,” said Carr, who’s president, chief executive and co-founder of Higher Heights. “We didn’t think there would be an opening in 2022. We’re certainly seeing the fruits of [Chisholm’s] labor today.”…

For liberal organizers like Carr, Jackson’s ascent to power comes during a terrifying time.

But “we needed this happy today,” Carr added. “I’m excited to be able to see and hear the excitement [online]. Sometime between today and tomorrow, I’ll be rocking a Ketanji Brown Jackson poster, I’ll be posting a Ketanji Brown Jackson photo.”…

“This wonderful thing happened today. We can certainly pause to celebrate,” MSNBC host Joy-Ann Reid wrote on Twitter.

“Congratulations to Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson,” Sherrilyn Iffil, president of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, tweeted…

Her favorite Maya Angelou quote also comes to mind, she said: “I come as one, but I stand as 10,000.”

Jackson, in standing with her hand up today, “may be coming as one, but she stands as 10,000,” Carr said. “And I think that sums up the moment today for me.”

show full post on front page

In many ways, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson has followed a trajectory similar to those of the court’s other members.

But she brings a unique set of experiences to the court, having served as a federal district judge and public defender. https://t.co/JdHcF5WpLD pic.twitter.com/hjNekeQNBr

— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) June 30, 2022

Another good, uplifting interview, which I don’t think I got to post before The Great Interruption:

Ketanji Brown Jackson on being a ‘first’ and why she loves ‘Survivor’ https://t.co/9n9KoJsEkX

— Ellevate Network (@EllevateNtwk) May 23, 2022

Ketanji Brown Jackson, a former public defender who rose to become a judge on a powerful federal appeals court, made history Thursday as the first Black woman to sit on the Supreme Court. https://t.co/EB8pGDbVj6

— USA TODAY (@USATODAY) July 1, 2022

Even Mr. Mystal got some joy from the occasion, imagining himself as a free-speech martyr…

Celebration Open Thread: Justice Ketanji Brown JacksonPost + Comments (42)

Ajabu Shares a Personal Story

by WaterGirl|  July 6, 20228:00 pm| 98 Comments

This post is in: Civil Rights, Open Threads, Supreme Court, The War On Women, Women's Rights

Ajabu shares a very personal story.

In light of the SCOTUS decision, I want to share a very personal story of my own pre-Roe experience that I’ve never discussed publicly, but because you jackals are like family I want you to hear it.  I need you to hear it.   Considering that the other two principals (girlfriend and doctor) are both deceased, it’s become my story alone.

What the Extreme Court has just done is to recreate the horror I’m about to describe.  I realize as I contemplate writing this that all the minor details that I thought I’d for gotten over the decades are flooding back, so it’s clear that I was more affected by this than I thought I was.

I’m old now.  In 1967 I wasn’t.  In early 1967 I got my steady girlfriend – my first true love that I adored – pregnant.  At the time she was a 20 year old student, raised by a single mother and the first in her family to attend college.

I was a young musician struggling to establish myself as a professional.  I wasn’t upset that she was pregnant.  I had wanted to marry her anyway.  Her response, however, was she wan’t about to drop out of college and said, “If I marry you it will be in spite of, not because of, the pregnancy.”

So we were looking at the only other option.  Abortion.  A totally illegal and VERY expensive procedure.  It had to be right.  I loved her.  And I’d heard the stories of coat hangers and back alleys.  Time was of the essence.

I was terrified of the cost.  Not that I wouldn’t pay it.  I just didn’t have it!

I talked to everyone I knew, looking for a solution.

Days became weeks, and still no answer.  Fortunately for me, a pianist I was working with came from old money and his mother was a an M.D.with some sense and a connection!!

She wasn’t about to get directly involved, but passed on contact info to a Dr. Robert Spencer through her son.  Dr. Spencer was apparently already famous as an illegal abortionist.  Check his Wikipedia page.  He was!  And his price was $50!!!  Hallelujah!!

And that’s when the spy novel shit started for real.

I had to write to a P.O. box. “Dear Dr. Spencer: I have been told by a friend you may be able to help me.  Date of the last period was xx/xx.”  I mailed it and waited.  And the clock was ticking…

About a week later I received an envelope in the mail with no return address.  55 years later I can can still quote it verbatim: “On Monday at Noon and the following A.M.  Bring no luggage to the office.  Make no arrangements to stay until you have been examined.  Be careful.  This is the most difficult time.”

The letter arrived on a Saturday.  This was 1967.  No ATMs.  No access to money.  I had no credit cards and he was in Ashland, PA.  I had to fly there by Monday morning.  To see a (hopefully legitimate) stranger to perform surgery on my girlfriend on the basis of a cryptic, unsigned, typed note.

First things first.  I had to find some money, book a flight and explain to my girlfriend’s mother what was going on.  I was able to get the local grocer to let me cash a check for $100 so we could at least eat and get a room.

I then called the pianist whose mother arranged it and he advanced the plane fare and gave me more cash for me to return to him when the bank opened on Monday.

Then the hard part – her Mom.  I must have talked a hell of a game because once she recovered from the initial shock and rage she agreed to allow her daughter to get a 6:00 am flight to another state with me, to see a stranger for an illegal procedure.  She hoped to see her daughter alive again.

Monday morning we set out.  We flew to Reading, PA, rented a car and drove to Ashland.  We arrived about 10:00 am and went to the office.  Greeted by an elderly receptionist.  I looked at our surroundings.  A bunch of goofy signs like “We grow too soon old and too late smart.”   An equally elderly gentleman arrived and escorted my girlfriend back to the exam room, leaving me alone with my thoughts.  I’m in a nightmare scenario being tended to by Dementia patients posing as medical staff.

When she returned with some pills and an appointment for 9:00 the next morning, we went to check into our motel.  I was struck by the fact that Ashland is a small rural (white) town and the only apparent minorities were us (Black) and another young couple (Asian) while the locals were like “Oh, Dr, Spencer’s abortion patients, huh?”  We were like exhibits…

The night was bizarre.  After taking the medication, Girlfriend spent the night on the toilet trying to induce whatever while I tried to comfort her.  It was a nightmare.

With very little sleep we headed to our morning appointment.  Everything went smoothly (although I was still concerned that we were dealing with geriatric medical staff).  This was a blind contact, after all.  They took her to the operating room, and I spent an endless agonizing time alone waiting for the conclusion and hoping for the best.

At last, the assistant, a man in his 80’s I’d guess, came out to tell me that the procedure went well, no complications – however – she was still unconscious and needed to be moved to the recovery room.  Neither of these elderly men were physically able to pick up an unconscious young woman, they had no rolling equipment, and I was invited into the operating room to remove her from the table and carry her to recovery.

I then spent the next hour holding her hand waiting for her to regain consciousness.  She finally did, I left her to dress and paid the $50 bill.  FIFTY DOLLARS!  For saving this young girl’s future…

Dr. Robert Spencer had been performing these procedures illegally since 1921 simply because because he was a good, righteous and moral man doing the right thing and, in my eyes, a Saint!

We left, drove back to Reading and stopped to eat before going to the airport.  I found a pay phone and called her Mom.  She answered with fear in her voice.  I said, “I’m bringing you back a carefree college girl.”

From that day forward till the day she died, I was Mom’s favorite person.  We took our flight home and resumed our lives, already in progress.*  Relieved, but emotionally exhausted.  It shouldn’t have been so fucking complicated!

Addendum:

*I don’t want to give the impression that this was easy.  Quite the contrary.  That’s why I’ve included so much detail.  The experience had a profound impact both emotionally and psychologically on both of us.   It changed the trajectory of our lives.

We reluctantly participated in a felony (that never should have been a criminal act to begin with) and, because of the nature of the situation and secrecy surrounding it, kept us in a state of confusion and random terror all the way through.  And we were kids at the time.

Six years later I could have driven her to a local facility where she’d have been prepared and nurtured throughout.

Now?  FUCK SCOTUS!!

* Dr. Spencer died in 1969 having done extraordinary good for nearly 50 years.  Rest In Power!

* Girlfriend and I never could quite get past this experience, never married but never completely let go.  We remained close friends (and frequently lovers) for another 20 years. She never married.  I did.  We remained friends till she died.

Ajabu Shares a Personal StoryPost + Comments (98)

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