TRAVEL BAN’S TWIN APPEALS | Get Ready To Gamble | What Cakeshop Outcome Could Mean For LGBT Community
December 8, 2017
TWO FOR THE PRICE OF ONE
|For the second time this week, PRESIDENT TRUMP’S travel ban 3.0 comes to court. First the policy was debated in Seattle, and today it comes before a panel of judges in Richmond, Virginia. In the lead-up to the twin appeals this week, the Trump administration got a big ole boost from the Supreme Court when the justices granted that the policy go fully into effect while the challenges in lower courts continue. The panel of judges for the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals didn’t tip its hand Wednesday as to how it might rule, so we’ll see how today’s court appearance pans out.
IT'S A GO
|The State Department today said the travel ban on citizens from six, mainly Muslim countries, is now fully in effect. The ban was fully implemented starting today at the opening of business at all U.S. embassies and consulates.
ARE YOU READY FOR IT?
|Dan Wolken with USA Today reports that while the Supreme Court justices debate the legality of sports gambling, the NCAA should prepare itself for having to embrace the practice. Wolken opines, “Sports gambling is good for college sports. It drives interest and popularity. And if it’s going to be legalized nationwide, the smart and progressive leagues will find a way to capitalize on it rather than fight it and get left in the dust.”
OUT WITH THE OLD
|Samantha Allen with The Daily Beast explains that an outcome in favor of the baker from Colorado who refused to make a cake for a same-sex couple would have devastating consequences for millions of LGBT people in America. “The Masterpiece Cakeshop case could decide whether we live in a country where we have to check storefronts for anti-gay signage before walking in—or whether we simply continue living in a country where couples like mine have to navigate uncertain and sometimes homophobic environments to participate in public life.”
PODCAST DU JOUR
|In the latest episode of the Heritage Foundation’s SCOTUS 101 podcast, pre-argument rituals are discussed along with a review of this week’s arguments in the Masterpiece Cakeshop case.