JUSTICES TAKE ON GOOGLE SETTLEMENT AND MISSOURI DEATH PENALTY CASE | Just How Bad Is #GorsuchStyle? | RBG, An Icon Of Cool

April 30, 2018

The Supreme Court decided today to hear arguments in a privacy case involving Google that might make it harder for companies to settle class-action lawsuits without providing direct compensation to those affected. The case centers on an increasingly common litigation tactic in which much of the money in the Google settlement went to outside groups to promote internet privacy and none of the money went directly to Google users. These are known as “cy pres” awards in settlements that give money that goes unclaimed or cannot feasibly be distributed to unrelated entities as long as it would be in the plaintiffs’ interests. The 9th Circuit had justified Google’s settlement structure because each of the 129 million Google users affected in the case would have received very, very little money anyway.

Justices decided to take up a death penalty case from a Missouri inmate, RUSSELL BUCKLEW, who claims an execution by lethal injection would cause “needless suffering” because he suffers from a rare disease that would make him choke on his own blood and suffer “the excruciating pain of prolonged suffocation resulting from the complete obstruction of his airway.” Missouri allows for the option of lethal injection or lethal gas—and the gas is likely to cause a lot less suffering for Bucklew—but the state no longer has a gas chamber and has not used that method since 1965.

ICYMI, over the weekend The New York Times Editorial Board made a supreme plea in an open letter to the high court’s swing vote, asking JUSTICE ANTHONY KENNEDY not to retire. “How can we put this the right way? Please don’t go.” The Ed Board wrote that there are two ways for the justice to think about this decision: safeguarding his legacy and safeguarding the Supreme Court itself.

USA Today’s Richard Wolf writes that even though there isn’t yet a vacancy at the Supreme Court, liberal and conservative activists are ready to do battle when the day does come. Wolf reports, “The potential retirement of JUSTICE ANTHONY KENNEDY—the deciding vote on dozens of controversial cases over a 30-year career—has energized both sides for what likely would be the most divisive confirmation battle in decades. Strategy sessions are being held with increasing frequency. Commercial messages are being crafted in favor and against any potential nominee. Moderate senators on both sides of the political aisle whose votes will be critical already have targets on their backs.” Of course, all of this could be for nothing. Justice Kennedy hasn’t given any real indication that he plans to retire, and any suggestion of his departure is, at this point, just a rumor.

“Justice Neil M. Gorsuch arrived at the Supreme Court last year with a reputation as a fine writer. He promptly lost it.” That’s Adam Liptak with The New York Times wondering if JUSTICE GORSUCH’S writing style is really that bad. He notes that while most judgement comes down to personal taste, Nina Varsava—a law student at Yale and a doctoral candidate in modern thought and literature at Stanford—was able to get us some measurable results on the question of the day: just how bad is #GorsuchStyle?

Michael O’Sullivan in The Washington Post reviews the new “RBG” documentary on the venerable JUSTICE RUTH BADER GINSBURG. He says it serves as evidence of her judicial rock stardom and refers to her as “an icon of cool.” O’Sullivan concludes, “‘RBG’ shines a strong, clear spotlight on female jurists who are out to change the world, one small step at a time.”