No Love For Amy Coney Barrett From The Left Or Right | Legal Experts Say ACB’S Massive Book Deal Is Bad Optics For SCOTUS
April 22, 2021
NOT A GREAT LOOK
|Democrats are asking JUSTICE AMY CONEY BARRETT to recuse herself from a case involving a conservative nonprofit with ties to a group that gave at least $1 million to fund a national campaign to help her win Senate confirmation. Nina Totenberg with NPR writes, “The case, which is to be argued next week, was brought by the Americans for Prosperity Foundation, created by the conservative Koch brothers. It challenges a California law, similar to laws in other states, that requires tax-exempt nonprofits to attach to their state tax filing an IRS form that discloses the identity of their large donors. The foundation is seeking a broad constitutional ruling that would keep its donor [identities] secret.” Just after Barrett was nominated to the Supreme Court, the sister organization of Americans for Prosperity launched its seven-figure campaign to get her confirmed. Totenberg also points out that Democrats’ pushback comes at an “awkward time” for Barrett who is also under fire for a new book deal…
BAD OPTICS BABY
|ICYMI, AMY CONEY BARRETT got a massive $2 million book deal, and now legal experts are saying the size and timing of the deal create bad optics for the Supreme Court. Greg Stohr with Bloomberg reports the book would “emerge unusually soon” given she only joined the court six months ago and “has just two majority opinions to her name.”
KEEPING CLOSE WATCH
|Dahlia Lithwick with Slate puts aside the pros and cons of reforming the Supreme Court to note there’s already evidence that the court is reforming itself. “Court reform doesn’t come exclusively from changing the size and structure of the bench. It can also come informally, from the people exerting pressure on the current justices—and there’s good evidence that’s already happening.” Look no further than the arrival of JUSTICE AMY CONEY BARRETT. Lithwick suggests that while SCOTUS has “tacked quickly and radically rightward” on religious freedom, the conservative legal movement is already feeling disappointed that Barrett hasn’t done enough. Lithwick writes, “Of course, some form of large-scale structural court reform is needed, and needed now. But even when it feels like sweeping back the sea, there is still power in sustained public attention and focus.”
NO JUSTICE, NO PEACE
|The guilty verdict in the historic trial of DEREK CHAUVIN quickly reinvigorated calls from civil rights leaders and progressive Democrats for overhauling qualified immunity. John Fritze with USA Today reports, “Critics say the broad protections of qualified immunity, set by the Supreme Court in a 1982 decision, let police off the hook in virtually every case where their actions are not specifically prohibited. Police groups have long countered that officers need legal protection in cases where split-second decisions go south. Though not at issue in the Chauvin trial, some signaled their hope that the verdict could give political lift to efforts to unwind the decades-old legal protection for police.”