SCOTUS Schedules Arguments Regarding Trump’s Financial Records | Kudos All Around for Justices Taking A Step Toward Transparency
April 15, 2020
SAME FIGHT DIFFERENT PLAYERS
|Yesterday, abortion groups withdrew their request from the Supreme Court to have justices block a Texas coronavirus-related ban on abortion procedures after a lower court allowed some of the procedures to continue in the state during the pandemic. And though this means justices will get to dodge the hot button subject for now, it’s possible that won’t last for long. New legal battles over abortion access have popped up most recently in Louisiana and Tennessee.
WHIP IT, WHIP IT GOOD
|Ariane de Vogue with CNN reports that while the legal battles over abortion access in Texas have played out in federal courts, it’s the women on the ground in the state who have been caught in the crosshairs. These women have been feeling the whiplash of the Texas lawsuit bouncing between courts, some of whom have been camping out in clinic parking lots hoping to get care.
COME ONE, COME ALL
|SCOTUS announced today that it will hear the much-anticipated cases concerning PRESIDENT TRUMP’S financial records on May 12. The day after, justices will hear a case regarding the Electoral College and so-called “faithless electors.” The remote arguments will begin May 4, and details for how the arguments themselves will be structured in a virtual setting have not yet been released. It will be the first time ever the American public will get to hear a Supreme Court oral argument live without having to be in-person at 1 First Street.
NO GOING BACK
|Now that the Supreme Court has said it plans to hear oral arguments remotely next month and provide a live-stream of the proceedings, Melissa Murray writes in The Atlantic that this step for court transparency shouldn’t be taken back post-pandemic. “We are all adapting to pandemic conditions. When this crisis passes, we will sort through the rubble, deciding which pandemic-era practices to maintain, and which to abandon in favor of the old, familiar ways. The court’s new transparency is a necessary accommodation of a global catastrophe, but public understanding and appreciation of the court’s work is also a necessary precondition for bolstering and maintaining a healthy and thriving democracy. Given the opportunity to show its work to the American people, the court cannot—and should not—go back.”
CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW?
|The Editorial Board of The Wall Street Journal gives kudos to the Supreme Court for its plans to hear oral arguments virtually next month, and for giving the public a live audio feed so we can all listen in too. The Ed Board wonders, “The real short-term question is whether the justices will be any better at telework than the rest of us on Zoom. Who’s clomping around? Are those birds chirping in the background? Someone forgot to press the mute button.”
KIND OF A BIG DEAL
|“Come May 4, the Erik Wemple Blog has a chance to play a small role in media history. Simply by turning on our C-SPAN Radio app, we’ll be able to listen to a live Supreme Court oral argument. Not an oral argument that had already taken place, mind you, but one that’s happening in real time. Sorry for the repetition, but this is a breakthrough.” No apologies necessary for Erik Wemple who reacts in The Washington Post to the news of justices giving live access to their arguments amid the coronavirus pandemic.