TRANSGENDER PROTECTIONS ARE NO MORE | 6 Questions to Ask Gorsuch | Ivanka @ SCOTUS
February 23, 2017
BACK TO BASICS
|The Trump administration late yesterday informed the U.S. Supreme Court of its withdrawal of guidance on transgender students in schools issued under PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA. Trump rescinded protections for transgender students in public schools, overruling his own education secretary. A joint letter issued by the Justice Department and the Education Department rejected Obama’s position that nondiscrimination laws require schools to allow transgender students to use the bathroom of their choice. It also noted that there “must be due regard for the primary role of states and local school districts.” SCOTUS is scheduled to hear arguments on March 28 in the case filed by 17-year-old student GAVIN GRIMM who argues his school’s bathroom policy is unconstitutional and violates Title IX.
STATES STANDING UP
|The guidance issued yesterday by PRESIDENT TRUMP elicited outspoken complaint from individuals and advocacy groups. Buzzfeed’s Dominic Holden writes that several state and local officials wasted no time when they announced last night that they plan to continue enforcing bans against transgender discrimination in schools and ensure that students can use the bathrooms that match their gender identity.
YESTERDAY AT SCOTUS
|“For a bench that usually protects arbitration agreements from attack, the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday seemed unusually hostile to such arrangements when they are embedded in nursing home contracts. The court heard arguments in Kindred Nursing Centers v. Clark, in which the Kentucky Supreme Court ruled against enforcing arbitration agreements that were signed on behalf of two nursing home residents by relatives with ‘power of attorney.'” Tony Mauro with The National Law Journal reports on yesterday’s hearing.
WHAT TO DO, WHAT TO DO
|Tessa Berenson with TIME reports that Republicans are divided over whether to change Senate rules to get JUDGE NEIL GORSUCH confirmed to the Supreme Court. Between the White House, Republican leadership in Congress and outside conservative groups, there is disagreement abound.
IF YOU DON'T MIND ME ASKING
|“Senators love to talk. It’s listening that they can’t abide. This explains the maddening nature of most Senate hearings, especially those for nominees to the Supreme Court. Senators are so busy showing off how much they know, or posturing on issues they care about (which are often unrelated to the work of the courts), that the nominee often has little to do but sit there and appear interested.” That’s Jeffrey Toobin of The New Yorker thankfully coming to the rescue of those Chatty Cathy’s on the Hill with six questions that should be asked of JUDGE NEIL GORSUCH during his confirmation hearings.
ICYMI
|First Daughter, IVANKA TRUMP, took her own daughter to the U.S. Supreme Court yesterday to get a front row seat to the best show in Washington. The spectators sat in the “VIP section” as guests of JUSTICE ANTHONY KENNEDY and listened to arguments in Kindred Nursing Centers L.P. v. Clark.
SCOTUS Reviews
Judicial Supremacy
The Huffington Post“The danger of a President who considers any judicial ruling against himself as casting discredit on the judiciary and who disavows the very principle of judicial independence is obvious. If we are to be ‘a nation of laws, not men,’ then the Courts’ right to declare unconstitutional the acts of a President is an essential element.”
If abortion rights fall, LGBT rights are next
The Washington Post“The Senate Judiciary Committee needs to know if Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, Judge Neil Gorsuch, stands with precedent and with each of us. Given the president’s promise to take our rights away, we must ensure that full, detailed questions are asked of this nominee and that we get the answers we deserve.”
OTHER NEWS
Sen. Daines Touts Supreme Court Nominee Amid Protesters
The Associated Press“U.S. Sen. Steve Daines arrived Wednesday at the Montana state Capitol to tout the nomination of Judge Neil Gorsuch for the Supreme Court and found himself surrounded by a swarm of demonstrators demanding the senator convene a town hall.”
'Some Toxins Can Be Deadly in Small Doses'
The Atlantic“Race has long played a role in which defendants get the death penalty and which ones don’t, albeit in subtler ways. What made Buck’s case unusual is that the constitutional testimony came not from the prosecution, but from a witness called to testify in Buck’s defense.”