The US Supreme Court

[Joe]

Actually, most of these idiots couldn't name a single justice or find the Supreme Court if they had to.

[Svartalf]

Well, I could not find the court either, and I fear I remember more dead justices than current

[L'Emmerdeur]

A fine specimen of American jurisprudence just came right out and told the world he's not somebody who's likely to interpret the US Constitution in an impartial manner. How about those problematic gays and their problematic insistence on equal rights, when everybody knows that Religious Freedom is paramount? If only something could be done about it, eh?

He also opined darkly on the 'unimaginable restrictions on individual liberty' to get infected, infect others, and die that have been instituted in response to the pandemic.

'Alito’s politically charged address draws heat'

Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito delivered an unusually inflammatory public speech Thursday night, starkly warning about the threats he contends religious believers face from advocates for gay and abortion rights, as well as public officials responding to the coronavirus pandemic.

Speaking to a virtual conference of conservative lawyers, the George W. Bush appointee made no direct comment on the recent election, the political crisis relating to President Donald Trump’s refusal to acknowledge his defeat or litigation on the issue pending at the Supreme Court.

However, Alito didn’t hold back on other controversial subjects, even suggesting that the pressure Christians face surrounding their religious beliefs is akin to the strictures the U.S. placed on Germany and Japan after World War II.

“Is our country going to follow that course?” Alito asked. “For many today, religious liberty is not a cherished freedom. It’s often just an excuse for bigotry and can’t be tolerated, even when there is no evidence that anybody has been harmed. ... The question we face is whether our society will be inclusive enough to tolerate people with unpopular religious beliefs.”

Alito argued that some recent Supreme Court decisions, including the landmark ruling upholding a constitutional right to same-sex marriage, fueled intolerance to those who believe marriage should be limited to unions between one man and one woman.

“Until very recently, that’s what the vast majority of Americans thought. Now, it’s considered bigotry,” he said.

Alito also seemed to minimize the significance of a refusal of a Colorado baker to produce a wedding cake for a same-sex couple. The justice noted that the couple involved “was given a free cake by another bakery” and that the high-profile standoff prompted “celebrity chefs” to come to their defense.

[Brian Peacock]

Okaaaay. So I guess any instance of anti-gay bigotry can be cancelled out by any instance of non-bigotry. The net harm is zero.

One might similarly argue that a punch in the face is cancelled out by a hug.

[L'Emmerdeur]

He was speaking to the Federalist Society, the organization that has promoted many if not most of the "conservative" judges that Mitch McConnell has put on the federal bench over the past four years.

[Brian Peacock]

Ah, say no more. Their brand of 'originalism' isn't very original at all.

[Svartalf]

A fine specimen of American jurisprudence just came right out and told the world he's not somebody who's likely to interpret the US Constitution in an impartial manner. How about those problematic gays and their problematic insistence on equal rights, when everybody knows that Religious Freedom is paramount? If only something could be done about it, eh?

He also opined darkly on the 'unimaginable restrictions on individual liberty' to get infected, infect others, and die that have been instituted in response to the pandemic.

What do you expect? it's not like he was chosen for his expert legal mind and objectivity on the matter of what the Founding Fathers designed and had in mind.

and originalists are small minded morons. I'm not among those who disparage the original idea of those who designed the Constitution, but making this the alpha and omega of legal thinking is patently stupid, we don't live in the same world they did.

Then again, I do guess those "people" would indeed like to go back to a world where only the moneyed can vote, open homosexuality is a capital crime, and non whites are open season to be enslaved in the service of their betters.

[Sean Hayden]

Even as the Constitution was being mulled over there was already strong opposition to slavery, but the south would never get on board without it. Eventually those opposed to slavery came to see a union with it as --wait for it-- the lesser of two evils...

[Brian Peacock]

Ironic that many Christians were at the forefront of the anti-slavery movement, whereas today many seem to be at the forefront of bringing it back!

[JimC]

No, Brian, that's too harsh. They simply want them back in their own cute little churches, singing Negro Spirituals on Sunday in-between 6 days of backbreaking labour for the minimum wage...

[Svartalf]

I beg to differ. The recent spate of dyed in the wool originalists nominations indicate that somebody wants the SCOTUS packed with people whose strongest feeling is that the big C should not have evolved since 1800... that does mean reinstating slavery, as well as such nice things as censitarian suffrage...

[Tero]

Abortion rules of roe vs wade more or less stand
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/ncna12 ... ssion=true

[L'Emmerdeur]

They basically wiped the slate clean on the emoluments cases against the former president, including vacating previous judgements by lower courts on the cases.

'Supreme Court ends Trump emoluments lawsuits'

The Supreme Court on Monday brought an end to lawsuits over whether Donald Trump illegally profited off his presidency, saying the cases are moot now that Trump is no longer in office.

The high court's action was the first in an expected steady stream of orders and rulings on pending lawsuits involving Trump now that his presidency has ended. Some orders may result in dismissals of cases since Trump is no longer president. In other cases, proceedings that had been delayed because Trump was in the White House could resume and their pace even quicken.

The justices threw out Trump's challenge to lower court rulings that had allowed lawsuits to go forward alleging that he violated the Constitution's emoluments clause by accepting payments from foreign and domestic officials who stay at the Trump International Hotel and patronize other businesses owned by the former president and his family.

The high court also ordered the lower court rulings thrown out as well and directed appeals courts in New York and Richmond, Virginia, to dismiss the suits as moot now that Trump is no longer in office.

The outcome leaves no appellate court opinions on the books in an area of the law that has been rarely explored in U.S. history.

[JimC]

Moot?

That's a hoot...

[Brian Peacock]

The boot is on the other fooot now it's moot.