ON EDGE AT SCOTUS | They Never Retire, And They Rarely Die | Democrats Going Postal
December 7, 2016
ON EDGE AT SCOTUS
|Today the Supreme Court heard arguments in a case that could “upend the common practice that ranks lenders, employees and other creditors in order of priority as they try to recover their money when a company files for bankruptcy.” It’s a case that Libby Lewis in The New York Times says has the bankruptcy world on edge.
THEY NEVER RETIRE, AND THEY RARELY DIE
|“A vacancy in Washington’s most exclusive club is a time for political opportunity and obstacle. It is also something President-elect DONALD TRUMP must confront in his first 100 days in office as he works to replace the late conservative icon JUSTICE ANTONIN SCALIA.” For Fox News, Bill Mears reports on Trump choosing the 113th Supreme Court justice in the early days of his administration.
ICYMI
|The Supreme Court just made it much harder to get away with insider trading, ruling Tuesday to uphold the conviction of Bassam Salman who traded on information based on a tip.
DON'T GO POSTAL, GO NUCLEAR:
|In The Washington Post, Aaron Blake describes two theories that Democrats might consider trying to get JUDGE MERRICK GARLAND on the Supreme Court before DONALD TRUMP moves into the White House. However, these are two theories that Blake says are “unlikely to be attempted and even unlikelier to succeed.”
YOU'RE STILL A MYSTERY
|Tony Mauro with The National Law Journal attempts to solve the mystery of the lingering SCOTUS cases in his latest, pointing to three “long-lingering cases” that will still be pending on the docket without argument after a year of being granted cert. The cases – Trinity Lutheran Church v. Pauley, Murr v. Wisconsin and Microsoft v. Baker.
WHERE WE GO FROM HERE
|Courts in North Carolina found multiple congressional and state legislative districts to be racial gerrymanders, and in Wisconsin, several state legislative districts have been found to be political ones. So what happens when an election is declared unlawful? It’s a question Vann R. Newkirk II in The Atlantic seeks to answer, writing, “Overall, what’s next is a nightmare to predict. If either of the decisions on Wisconsin and North Carolina in this [Supreme] Court is deadlocked, the next Court with a Trump appointee as a ninth justice might side with the North Carolina and Wisconsin state legislatures on gerrymandering and on the states’ voting laws.”
OTHER NEWS
Court arguments set on retroactivity of death penalty ruling
The Associated Press“Delaware’s Supreme Court is hearing arguments on whether its ruling declaring the state’s death penalty law unconstitutional can be applied retroactively to a dozen men already sentenced to death.”
Empowered by Trump, Ohio legislature passes 'heartbeat' bill that would ban most abortions
The Washington Post“Ohio lawmakers passed a bill late Tuesday that would prohibit abortion as soon as a fetal heartbeat can be detected – at around six weeks, before many women realize they are pregnant. If Gov. John Kasich signs the bill, it would pose a direct challenge to Supreme Court decisions that have found that women have a constitutional right to abortion, at least until the point of viability.”