TRAVEL BAN BACK IN COURT YESTERDAY | Should Justices Kill Death Penalty | Trump Administration Comes Down Against Unions
December 7, 2017
THIRD TIME'S THE CHARM?
|Yesterday, a three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals gave a somewhat friendlier reception to PRESIDENT TRUMP’S third and most recent travel ban, two days after the Supreme Court ruled to allow the policy to be implemented in full for the first time. Thus far, the debate on Trump’s policy has been focused on whether it is a legitimate exercise of national security power. However, much of Wednesday’s arguments focused on a much narrower point: whether the president satisfied immigration law in issuing his latest travel order.
DEATH TO THE DEATH PENALTY
|The Editorial Board of the Los Angeles Times argues that the Supreme Court has a chance to put an end to the death penalty, and the justices should do what they can do finally let it die. LAT: “It’s a medieval system too fraught with human error to be relied upon for determining whether someone should live or die.”
OUT WITH THE OLD
|Wednesday, the Trump administration asked SCOTUS to overrule a 40-year-old precedent that allows compelling public employees to pay fees to unions that represent them. This move puts the administration squarely on the side of the conservative legal activists who have long complained that the requirement violates the free-speech rights of those who don’t want to join the union or pay fees to it.
TWEET OF THE WEEK
|You might say it’s risky to make this call on a Thursday, but the tweet of the week comes to us from ROBERT BARNES with The Washington Post. He tweeted out — In trying to figure out what KENNEDY will do, remember similar confusion after Obergefell argument. “This definition [of traditional marriage] has been with us for millennia,” Kennedy said. “And it’s very difficult for the court to say, ‘Oh, well, we know better.'” — Words of wisdom, yes indeed.
SCOTUS VIEWS
Wedding Cakes And Conscience
Chicago Tribune“Gay couples in Colorado have far more options for their wedding confections. Mullins and Craig could have easily gotten what they wanted without forcing a baker to swallow his objections. There are plenty of other Colorado bakers who would be happy to design a wedding cake for a same-sex ceremony.”
The Cake Is Just The Beginning
Slate“Gorsuch’s theory would hobble this nondiscrimination regime by preventing the government from directing employers to tell employees about their rights and responsibilities under law.”
A Wedding Cake Won't Heal Religious Differences
CNN“Please allow some time for adjustment, and allow those who are conflicted on these issues some space and understanding. Tolerance needs to be mutual, not one-sided.”