Supreme Court
April 17, 2024 — Scott Johnson
In a week laden with news, we shouldn’t overlook the oral argument held yesterday by the Supreme Court in Fischer v. United States. The issue before the Court. Fischer is one of some 350 January 6 defendants charged with obstructing an official congressional proceeding allegedly in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1512(c)(2) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (as well as other federal offenses). The question before the Court is whether the
»
April 8, 2024 — Scott Johnson
I found the oral argument of the case now styled Murthy v. Missouri last month to be utterly demoralizing. As soon as the oral argument concluded I rashly hazarded my assessment that it portends a victory for the massive censorship-industrial complex represented by the Biden administration, probably on procedural grounds (i.e., standing). My assessment was a hot take based on the tenor of the argument. The argument seemed to me
»
March 25, 2024 — Scott Johnson
Professor Jonathan Turley has concerns about the fate of the First Amendment based in part on the oral argument in Murthy v. Missouri. He writes: In Murthy v. Missouri, the court is considering a massive censorship system coordinated by federal agencies and social media companies. This effort was ramped up under President Joe Biden, who is arguably the most anti-free speech president since John Adams. Biden has accused companies of
»
March 20, 2024 — John Hinderaker
A showdown is coming on the conflict between the Biden administration, which is determined to negate federal immigration law, and the State of Texas, which bears the brunt of Biden’s open border policy and is determined to vindicate our immigration laws and protect its own citizens. The case is pending in the Fifth Circuit, but a shot across the bow was fired yesterday in the Supreme Court. This is the
»
March 20, 2024 — Scott Johnson
I found the oral argument of the case now styled Murthy v. Missouri this past Monday to be utterly demoralizing. As soon as the oral argument concluded I rashly hazarded my assessment that it portends a victory for the massive censorship-industrial complex represented by the Biden administration. My assessment was a hot take based on the tenor of the argument. The argument seemed to me to reflect a fantasy world.
»
March 5, 2024 — Steven Hayward
Last week I observed in “Liberal Fragility” how liberal law professors supposedly break down in tears they are so depressed that the Supreme Court has taken a turn away from the palmy days of their beloved Warren Court (which, recall, Barack Obama once said did not go far enough in the direction of true “equality”). Just imagine how much Xanax is being ingested after yesterday’s Supreme Court ruling that leaves
»
March 4, 2024 — Scott Johnson
The Supreme Court has held 9-0 that the Colorado Supreme Court erred in blessing the disqualification of Donald Trump from the state’s primary election ballot under section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment. The Court’s opinion is per curiam. Justice Barrett concurs in part and concurs in the judgment. Justices Sotomayor, Kagan, and Jackson concur in the judgment (i.e., the result). The Court’s opinions are posted online here. The Court’s per
»
February 25, 2024 — John Hinderaker
One of the big stories in the New York Times today is another Clarence Thomas smear, but with a twist: “Justice Thomas Hires Law Clerk Accused of Sending Racist Text Messages.” The story is about Crystal Clanton, who graduated from the Antonin Scalia Law School at George Mason University in 2022. She is coming off a clerkship with Judge William Pryor of the 11th Circuit, who calls her “an outstanding
»
February 24, 2024 — John Hinderaker
In 2001, 2005 and 2017, some Democrat House members objected to the certification of electoral votes for the winning Republican presidential candidate. Those objections, while “denialist,” were only symbolic. But Democrat leaders in the House are now suggesting that if they control that body following November’s election–as they well might–they may refuse to allow a victorious Donald Trump to take office. The Atlantic did the original reporting, behind a paywall.
»
February 9, 2024 — Scott Johnson
In the last of the five stories that make up his third volume of stories about fictional alter ego Henry Bech, John Updike recounts the incredulous response to Bech’s receipt of the 1999 Nobel Prize for Literature. In Updike’s telling, the New York Daily News runs a story with the headline “BECH? WHODAT???” That doesn’t quite apply to former Supreme Court Chief Justice Salmon Chase, but we should know him
»
February 8, 2024 — Steven Hayward
“Let me see your shoe.” “Huh?” “Let me see your shoe!” “Why?” “Because I have never seen anybody put their shoe that far up a guy’s ass.” That’s my favorite line of dialogue from the closing scene of Inside Man, a 2006 bank-robbery thriller starring Denzel Washington and Chiwetel Ejiofor (in the scene quoted), along with Clive Owen, Christopher Plummer, and Jodie Foster. (Clip at the end of this post:
»
February 8, 2024 — Scott Johnson
I just finished listening to the oral argument held before the Supreme Court this morning in Trump v. Anderson. It went on for a little over two hours. The oral argument as a whole was conducted at an extremely high level. My take is that the Court will reverse the decision of the Colorado Supreme Court and that President Trump will not be disqualified from the ballot under section 3
»
February 8, 2024 — Scott Johnson
The Supreme Court hears oral argument in the Colorado ballot case at 9:00 a.m. this morning — the case of Trump v. Anderson. Did the Colorado Supreme Court err in ordering President Trump excluded from the 2024 presidential primary ballot under section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment? Is this national question to be determined separately by each of the 50 states? Is section 3 applicable to the office of the
»
January 23, 2024 — Scott Johnson
Texas installed concertina wire in the vicinity of Eagle Pass to prevent illegal immigrants from crossing the border into the state. Governor Abbot is of course trying to make up for President Biden’s opening of our southern border and refusal to enforce the immigration laws. Biden’s undoing of our border is an act of willful destruction. In addition to everything else, it seriously jeopardizes our national security. Everyone knows who
»
January 10, 2024 — John Hinderaker
Two states, Colorado and Maine, have ruled that Donald Trump is ineligible to run for the presidency in those jurisdictions. These rulings are popular with Democrats: Rasmussen finds that: Sixty-six percent (66%) of Democrats approve of efforts to keep Trump off the ballot, including 50% who Strongly Approve. It is noteworthy that even among independents, 41% approve of Trump being removed from the ballot–not an auspicious sign for those who
»
January 5, 2024 — John Hinderaker
Today the U.S. Supreme Court granted a writ of certiorari to hear Donald Trump’s appeal of the Colorado case in which he was absurdly kicked off the ballot in that state. This is the Court’s order granting the writ: The Court has ordered an expedited briefing schedule that may allow it to rule in time to preserve the integrity of the primary process. We will see how this develops, but
»
December 5, 2023 — Scott Johnson
This morning the Supreme Court hears oral argument in Moore v. United States. It could be one of the most important cases to be heard by the Supreme Court this year. In it the Court has certified this question for review (references to “App.” are to the appendix to the petition for review filed with the Court by counsel for Mr. and Mrs. Moore): The Sixteenth Amendment authorizes Congress to
»
