SCOTUS Takes On Cases Of Trump’s Tax Returns & Says No To Boise’s Ticketing Of Homeless Population
December 16, 2019
SCOTUS TO THE RESCUE?
|On Friday, the Supreme Court decided to take on the issue of whether PRESIDENT TRUMP’S financial records need to be turned over to Congressional and New York investigators. Justices agreed to review three lower court decisions that all have said Trump’s longtime accountants and banks must comply with subpoenas to turn over his records. Donald Trump is the only modern president to have thus far refused to make public his tax returns. Up until his election to office, it had been standard practice for nearly half a century. SCOTUS will likely make its decision on the matter in June of next year.
WHO'S IN CHARGE HERE
|The Supreme Court also agreed on Friday to decide whether much of eastern Oklahoma is an Indian reservation. Adam Liptak with The New York Times reports on the history of this issue, which justices attempted to resolve last term but they appeared to have deadlocked 4-4. JUSTICE NEIL GORSUCH had recused himself from that case. Liptak writes that the new case involves whether a Muscogee (Creek) Nation man can be prosecuted by state authorities, or if the Creek Nation’s authority over the land requires he be only prosecuted by federal authorities.
PUTTING THIS ONE TO BED
|This morning the high court refused to consider reviving a pair of local laws that would have allowed the City of Boise to ticket homeless individuals sleeping on the street. A three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit had struck down the laws saying the Constitution does not allow prosecuting people for sleeping outdoors if there is no shelter available. The outcome of this decision could have a major impact on cities across the country struggling with rising homeless populations, particularly in California.
MAYBE IT WAS JUST MOOT
|David Savage with the Los Angeles Times also reports on the Supreme Court’s decision not to hear the homelessness case out of Idaho noting, “The outcome was a significant victory for homeless activists and a setback for city officials in California and other Western states who argued the ruling from the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals undercut their authority to regulate encampments on the sidewalks.” He further explains, “The Supreme Court did not explain its decision to turn down the appeal — the justices usually do not do so — but they may have thought the dispute was moot. Lawyers for the homeless pointed out that in 2014, Boise announced its police ‘shall not enforce’ its misdemeanor ordinances against sleeping or camping in public when no shelter space is available. The city thought this would end the litigation, but the 9th Circuit proceeded to issue a broad ruling last year.”
SCOTUS VIEWS
Don’t Assume The Supreme Court Will Give Trump A Resounding Victory
The Washington Post“President Trump no doubt welcomed the news that the Supreme Court will review three separate decisions in which lower courts have ruled against him, upholding subpoenas calling for banks and accountants to turn over financial records pertaining to him. He’s taken a shellacking in the federal courts to date, and he’s well aware that the Supreme Court majority that he helped put in place is bullish on executive power. But it would be a mistake to assume that the court will give Trump a resounding victory, or come close to upholding the extreme propositions that the president has been unsuccessfully advancing in the lower courts.”
Don’t Let The First Amendment Forget DeRay Mckesson
The Atlantic“The Roberts Court has repeatedly assured the nation that the First Amendment protects everyone, regardless of popularity and regardless of viewpoint. The Court has a chance to put its doctrinal money where its free-speech mouth has been. It should do that as soon as possible by summarily reversing a recent atrocious Fifth Circuit decision called Mckesson v. Doe—rather than waiting until a Louisiana policeman has a chance to bankrupt a civil-rights activist with enormous litigation costs.”
OTHER NEWS
Punished For Sleeping On The Streets, They Prevailed In Court
The New York Times“Being homeless was hard enough for Pamela Hawkes. Her pain was compounded when she found herself a frequent target of the police. Ms. Hawkes had moved with a boyfriend to Boise, Idaho, from Spokane, Wash., looking for a fresh start after becoming homeless in 2005. Instead of finding a city where they could get their lives back on track, Ms. Hawkes said, she faced repeated jailings that caused her emotional and mental health to deteriorate.”
SCOTUS Skips Spam Text Class Case Challenging Incentive Awards
Bloomberg Law“An objector to a $14.5 million spam text settlement with American Eagle Outfitters Inc. lost her bid for U.S. Supreme Court review of the use of incentive awards in class actions. Long-standing Supreme Court precedent prohibits representatives from receiving awards that are much greater than individual class members’ recovery, objector Kara Bowes argued. Class representatives in this Telephone Consumer Protection Act suit took home $2,500 each.”
Mississippi’s Ban On Abortions At 15 weeks Gets Shut Down Second Time
Vox“A federal appeals court blocked Mississippi’s 15 week abortion ban on Friday, simultaneously affirming abortion access in the state, and paving the way for further legal challenges to current federal abortion regulations. Jackson Women’s Health Organization — the only abortion clinic left in Mississippi — sued the state in 2018 to block the law banning the procedure; a judge ruled in the clinic’s favor that year.”