CHIPPING AWAY AT CHURCH AND STATE | No Crime, No Coin | Are The Rumors True? Will Kennedy Retire This Summer?
April 20, 2017
THE GRASS IS ALWAYS GREENER
|The Supreme Court yesterday seemed ready to chip away the wall separating church and state in this country, suggesting that states may have to provide aid to religious groups. Thirty-nine states have constitutional provisions that bar taxpayer funds from going to religious schools – provisions that have been a major obstacle for the school choice movement. During arguments in Trinity Lutheran Church v. Comer yesterday, justices across the court’s ideological spectrum indicated that the state of Missouri might have gone too far in excluding the Trinity Lutheran church from funding. The outcome of this case could have enormous implications for government aid in this country.
ED BOARD OVERTURE
|“A ruling limited to the facts of this case would be an exercise in judicial modesty. It also would reassure those who have worried that a victory for the church in this case would make it easier to adopt a program of vouchers for religious schools in states with constitutional provisions such as Missouri’s. We share that concern. This page has opposed private-school vouchers for religious and non-religious schools alike because they siphon resources from public schools that are required to educate all children. The best way to avoid constitutional questions about vouchers is not to introduce such programs in the first place.” That’s the Editorial Board of the Los Angeles Times weighing in on yesterday’s Trinity Lutheran case.
PAY ME WHAT YOU OWE ME
|If you get released from prison because your conviction gets reversed, you deserve a refund for everything you paid in fees, court costs and restitution. That’s the law of the land folks, with the Supreme Court ruling yesterday in a case out of Colorado that once convictions are thrown out, the state has “zero claim” to an exonerated person’s money. The UCLA Supreme Court Clinic appealed the case to the high court last year noting that Colorado was the only state that regularly refused to refund money taken from criminal defendants who were later exonerated. The decision was 7-1, with only JUSTICE CLARENCE THOMAS dissenting.
ANOTHER DAY, ANOTHER STAY
|It’s going to be another long day of legal wrangling over Arkansas’s expedited plan to execute inmates this week. The conservative Arkansas Supreme Court granted a stay of execution for an inmate scheduled to be put to death later tonight. Another ruling from Pulaski County Circuit Court Judge Alice Gray also put a stay on all scheduled executions in the state over concerns about how Arkansas obtained one of the three drugs in its lethal injection protocol. The state already signaled that it plans to appeal the latter ruling.
99 PROBLEMS
|Democratic senator from Colorado MICHAEL BENNET is taking some serious heat for his support of NEIL GORSUCH’S SCOTUS nomination. This week, constituents delivered petitions to his Denver office demanding a town hall and an explanation for his vote to end the Democrats’ filibuster of the nomination. The petition was signed by more than 4,400 Coloradans. It read, “Hold open and in-person town-hall meetings in the Front Range.”
SUMMER FRIENDS DON'T STAY
|Only a few days after JUSTICE GORSUCH filled the long-outstanding vacancy on the Supreme Court and folks are already looking forward to the next vacancy. Senate Judiciary Chairman SENATOR CHUCK GRASSLEY says he’s expecting a resignation this summer, without disclosing who it is exactly he thinks will step down. The comment comes amidst growing rumors that JUSTICE ANTHONY KENNEDY, 80, is thinking of retiring.
TOP-ED
|From Fred Barnes in The Wall Street Journal, we are offered some lessons for DONALD TRUMP’S next Supreme Court nominee. Barnes expects that the fight to confirm the president’s next pick won’t be so pretty. He writes, “Republicans have created a political machine for confirming conservative nominees to the Supreme Court. It functioned like a well-run presidential campaign after President Trump nominated NEIL GORSUCH to succeed the late ANTONIN SCALIA. And it needed to perform, despite Justice Gorsuch’s impressive credentials…That isn’t to say that the next nominee will have smooth sailing.” Read what he expects for the next round in the ring.
A PATH FORWARD FOR DEMOCRATS
|Speaking of lessons learned, yours truly wrote up her thoughts on how Democrats can move forward from their supremely devastating losses this year — both at the ballot box and in the fight for SCOTUS. Turns out, like most things, the answer is in achieving better understanding and respect for the Supreme Court.
OTHER NEWS
Will the Supreme Court give a big boost to the Trump-DeVos 'school choice' agenda?
The Washington Post“If the court were to declare these amendments unconstitutional, voucher programs could proliferate. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, 14 states provide state-funded school vouchers to qualifying students. There is one federally funded voucher program, which is in the District of Columbia.”
Supreme Court Asked to Save Abbott and Costello "Who's on First?" Copyright
The Hollywood Reporter“After being sworn in, Neil Gorsuch is now the ninth justice at the U.S. Supreme Court, but at an upcoming conference to decide which cases should be heard, a question will undoubtedly be raised: ‘Who’s on first?'”