John Roberts Finally Gets To Play Umpire | Supreme Court Takes Up New Cases On Contraceptive Coverage And Faithless Electors
January 20, 2020
LET'S PLAY BALL
|A new piece from Richard Primus with POLITICO takes a look at how CHIEF JUSTICE JOHN ROBERTS will shape the impeachment trial of DONALD TRUMP. Titled, “John Roberts Finally Gets His Day As Umpire,” the story notes that the role that Roberts will play during the trial could have him calling more balls and strikes — and in a much more public manner — than is required at his day job. “As the presiding officer at a trial, Roberts will be called upon to make decisions on the spot and all alone—something unusual in the career of a justice who has never been a trial judge.”
MAKE A CALL
|Alexander Bolton with The Hill reports CHIEF JUSTICE ROBERTS is under pressure from both Republicans and Democrats over the calling of witnesses in DONALD TRUMP’S impeachment trial. Bolton writes, “While Roberts is expected to refer major disputes over trial procedures to the entire Senate for a vote, some Democrats hope he will make his own rulings on what they say are basic questions of fair jurisprudence. Democrats argue that holding a trial but blocking the consideration of relevant witness testimony and document review would fall well short of what’s considered a fair trial in any court of law.”
PUT ANOTHER WAY
|Last week the Supreme Court announced its plans to hear a case about whether employers should be allowed to opt out of providing contraceptive coverage to their workers due to moral or religious objections. Adam Liptak with The New York Times reports, “In the Obama years, the court heard two cases on whether religious groups could refuse to comply with regulations requiring contraceptive coverage. The new case presents the opposite question: Can the Trump administration allow all sorts of employers with religious or moral objections to contraception to opt out of the coverage requirement?
HAVE A LITTLE FAITH IN ME
|SCOTUS last week also decided to hear two cases “challenging state attempts to penalize Electoral College delegates who fail to vote for the presidential candidate they were pledged to support.” Nina Totenberg with NPR reports on the “faithless electors” cases which reach the Supreme Court at an important time just ahead of the 2020 presidential elections. Totenberg explains, “Electoral College delegates are selected by each party, and under state laws, they are pledged to cast their ballots for the candidate who carries the popular vote. But from 1796 to 2016, over 20 presidential elections, 150 electors have not abided by that pledge, according to FairVote, a nonpartisan voting rights advocacy group. In fact, 2016 marked the largest number of faithless voters — a total of seven who cast votes for candidates they were not pledged to support. States have tried to prevent such ‘faithless elector’ votes by enacting laws to remove them or fine them or both. Now, just as the presidential campaign is heating up, the Supreme Court has agreed to hear challenges to such state laws in Washington and Colorado.”
SCOTUS VIEWS
To Protect Religious Freedom, The Supreme Court Must Rule In Favor Of School Choice
USA Today“Our hope and expectation is that the court will rule that barring religious options from choice programs shows hostility, not neutrality, toward religion. The Montana Legislature did not have to pass a school choice program, but once it did, it had to allow everyone to participate, regardless of their religious preference. Using Montana’s Blaine Amendment to invalidate the program, just because it included religious schools, violates the federal Constitution’s Free Exercise Clause.”
Trump Administration's Religious Freedom Announcements Square With Constitution, Supreme Court Precedent
The Hill“Government is not permitted to treat people of faith as second-class citizens. But for far too long public schools and many other government institutions have willfully curtailed religious actions by private individuals in government buildings and grounds. President Trump’s package of religious freedom announcements on Thursday is extremely encouraging, not just to people of faith but to any American who believes that all branches of government should always follow the law.”
OTHER NEWS
21 Kids Sued The Government Over Climate Change. A Federal Court Dismissed The Case.
Vox“A three-judge panel in the US Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 to dismiss the Juliana v. US lawsuit on Friday, a seminal case involving 21 young people who sued the federal government for violating their right to a safe climate. The decision is a blow to climate activists and shows the limits of the courts’ willingness to assign legal responsibility to the government for the harms caused by greenhouse gases.”
Florida Supreme Court Rules Convicted Felons Must Pay Fines To Vote
NPR“This year, Florida will also be a popular stop on the campaign trail. It’s a key swing state that could end up deciding the presidential election in November. If recent elections are any indicator, the margin of victory can be very narrow. That’s why a political fight going on right now in Tallahassee is getting a lot of national attention. It involves Amendment 4, a measure approved by Florida voters in 2018 that aimed to restore voting rights to more than a million former felons who had completed their sentences. But the story didn’t end there. To bring us up to speed, we’ve called Ari Berman.”