Recent Supreme Court (SCOTUS) Decisions
Recent end-of-session SCOTUS Decisions. In no particular order. Still, some are left to be decided.
SCOTUS Decisions
by Amy Howe
SCOTUS Blog (except where cited from elsewhere)
Are there no Union workhouses? The Treadmill and the Poor Law are in full vigor? Compliments to Scrooge . . . Grants Pass v. Johnson was decided in favor of Grants Pass. Besides several trips to jail and fines, there does not appear to be an alternative other than criminalize the homeless. Except, the Homeless people in Grants Pass have a state law right to sue the local government for a place to sleep.
No need to guess how the Trump-3 sways SCOTUS decisions. Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council. Supreme Court (Friday) cut back sharply on the power of federal agencies to interpret the laws they “administer.” SCOTUS ruled courts should rely on their own interpretation of ambiguously written laws. The decision will likely have far-reaching effects across the country, from environmental regulation to healthcare costs. Courts move at a turtles or snail’s pace in even getting to making a decision. Meanwhile the damage continues.
In Securities and Exchange Commission v. Jarkesy the SEC cannot continue to handle this cases in house without a jury. The decision will have a far-reaching impact on dozens of federal administrative agencies using similar processes. Writing for the minority Justice Sonia Sotomayor (joined by Justices Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson) called the majority’s decision “a devastating blow to the manner in which our government functions.”
The Supreme Court on Friday afternoon declined a request from Donald Trump’s aide Stephen Bannon, to delay the start of his four-month prison sentence while he asks the Supreme Court to review his case. Such is life and all he will get to wear is a t-shirt and an outer shirt instead of multiple shirts.
Harrington v. Purdue Pharma: Justices rejected the plan to shield the Sackler family in the Purdue opioid deal. Owners till 1987 and on the Purdue Pharma Board till 2019. SCOTUS ruled the granting of uch protections to the Sacklers, who did not themselves declare bankruptcy was not authorized under law. Furthermore, there is a claim they did not know how OxyContin was being marketed. That is just false. I have written on the Opioid epidemic multiple times.
EPA’s interstate air pollution: On Thursday, the Supreme Court blocked a Biden administration environmental regulation aimed at curbing harmful air pollution that crosses from one state to another and contributes to the formation of smog. In dissent, Justice Amy Coney Barrett wrote the court blocked a major air pollution rule “based on an undeveloped theory that is unlikely to succeed on the merits” when the legal question is finally adjudicated.
Moyle v. U.S.: SCOTUS sidestepped a ruling on whether Idaho’s strict abortion law conflicts with a federal law that requires stabilizing care for emergency room patients. The court dismissed the appeal brought by Idaho officials, meaning a lower court ruling allowing doctors in the state to perform abortions in emergency situations remains in effect for now.
United States v. Rahimi: Supreme Court on Friday upheld a federal law barring anyone subject to a domestic violence restraining order from possessing a gun. By a vote of 8-1, the court ruled the law does not violate the Constitution’s Second Amendment, which protects the “right of the people to keep and bear Arms.”
Garland v. Cargill: The Supreme Court on Friday struck down a rule banning bump stocks, after a 2017 mass shooting at a concert in Las Vegas. By a vote of 6-3, the justices rejected the federal government’s argument of rifles equipped with bump stocks are machine guns, which are generally prohibited under federal law.
Thanks for the summary. It helps to see it all in one place. Maybe this is what the candidates should be talking about. So much for the responsibilities of democracy.
Within 25 years, the failure of the Biden administration to forcibly bring SCOTUS into compliance with the values of broader American society will be regarded as the greatest failure in domestic US politics in at least the past century.
America cannot maintain even a figleaf of being a representative democracy as long as the final legal authority is an unelected body chosen to ensure a Republican–rather than republican–form of government.
A judicial branch controlled by Christian nationalists and available for purchase by billionaires will eventually push the United States into a severe constitutional crisis, or even collapse into complete dysfunction. It is only a matter of time until this SCOTUS hands down a ruling at least as dangerous as Dred Scott v. Sandford.
Meanwhile, those who are a in position to fight are, at best, doing nothing: to date the only Democratic response to the transformation of SCOTUS into something akin to the Iranian Guardian Council has been to protect the court from the public rather than the reverse.
@nobody,
What do you propose as a politically realistic solution?
The constitution empowers Congress, not the President, to regulate the Supreme Court’s jurisdiction, number of members, and funding. The House of Representatives is controlled by Republicans. Any questions?
@Jack,
Well done.
Too many people think Biden is the Green Lantern.
Jack:
Thanks for saying such. It saved me from getting angry due to silly comments showing a lack of knowledge.