RBG WELCOMES NEW AMERICANS | With Legislation Agenda Stalled, Trump Packs Courts | Clarence Thomas Moving More And More To The Right
April 11, 2018
MAKING AMERICA STRONG AGAIN
|Yesterday in New York, JUSTICE RUTH BADER GINSBURG presided over a naturalization ceremony for over 200 people from 59 countries. They were as diverse in home country as they were in occupation, with pastors, pediatric cancer doctors and taxi drivers in the audience. Participating in the ceremony was the justice’s idea, and at one point during the event she made sure to announce to the group, “We are a nation made strong by people like you.”
PACK IT UP PACK IT IN
|Between Stormy Daniels, Bob Mueller, Russia, Syria and everything in between, PRESIDENT TRUMP hasn’t been able to get much done on his legislative agenda. CNN’s Dan Merica and Ariane de Vogue say that with controversy looming large, Trump is hoping to leave at least some impression of a legacy starting (and maybe ending) with the courts. They write, “Though Trump has scored some legislative victories, most notably tax reform last fall, his legislative agenda has been largely stymied by infighting within the Republican Party and largely uniform opposition by Democrats. In the face of those issues, Republicans on Capitol Hill have tried to usher as many of Trump’s judicial picks through the confirmation process, hoping to fill the court system with Republicans whose legacy will survive long after the Trump presidency.”
ONE YEAR DOWN, A LIFETIME TO GO
|For The Economist, Steve Mazie covers the newbie justice’s first year at the Supreme Court and notes that JUSTICE NEIL GORSUCH is, thus far, filling the role of a Republican-appointed jurist predictably. However, Mazie points out that some big cases the court has yet to rule on will force the freshman to make a big choice between “the modest judicial role he often champions, and the conservative change-maker persona some of his supporters—and his nominating president—hope he will embody.”
MEET YA THERE HONEY
|Slate’s Mark Joseph Stern reports JUSTICE CLARENCE THOMAS seems to be moving more and more to the right-wing fringe — growing closer to the position long embraced by his wife, GINNI THOMAS. Stern explains, “To be sure, Clarence has not gone nearly as far as his Ginni in embracing fringy Trumpist dogma. But it’s clear that both Thomases have been invigorated by Trump’s presidency, seizing upon this unhinged political moment to promote their agendas with renewed zeal and a diminishing concern for optics. Yes, Clarence and Ginni lead separate lives. But on the major questions of the day, they appear almost perfectly aligned with each other—and the White House.”
OTHER NEWS
Supreme Court Can Reinforce Free Speech With Rod Blagojevich Case
The Hill“Although Blagojevich is an unsympathetic petitioner, the court should hear his case. The disputed jury instructions pose risks to honest politicians and ordinary people who get active in election campaigns. In a world where politically-motivated prosecutions happen too often, a pro-free speech ruling would help cut these risks.”
For One Supreme Court Justice, A Personal Connection To School Law
Education Week“The elder Breyer was legal counsel to the San Francisco Unified School District for those 40 years, serving from the depths of the Great Depression until the era when the city’s school system grappled with desegregation. ‘He loved the job,’ Justice Breyer said in a rare interview that offered insight into his family history and into a little-known, but influential, facet of local school administration.”
He Had No Idea Ruth Bader Ginsburg Would Be Presiding Over His Naturalization Ceremony
The Washington Post“The day got even bigger when Perez-Valdez saw U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg take a seat on the stage, her tiny frame swallowed up by the wooden chair. Nobody, he said, including the new citizens seated around him, knew she was coming.”