Chief Justice Does Double Duty | Supreme Court Today Heard A Case On Public Funds For Religious Schools
January 22, 2020
47 YEARS LATER
|Today marks the anniversary of the Supreme Court’s decision in Roe v. Wade, and after nearly fifty years of its precedent, SCOTUS may be on the brink of reversing it. Ian Millhiser with Vox looks ahead to the arguments scheduled for later this year in which the justices will review a 2014 Louisiana law requiring abortion providers to have admitting privileges at a local hospital. He writes, “The case could be chance for the Court to revisit Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 decision that established Americans’ right to an abortion. That decision is popular, with more than 70 percent of Americans — and a majority of Republicans — saying they want it to stay in place. But anti-abortion groups and many Republicans in Congress support overturning the decision. Indeed, in January, more than 200 Republican lawmakers signed an amicus brief asking the Court to uphold the Louisiana law — and consider getting rid of Roe.”
ANOTHA ONE
|There was another notable anniversary this week — yesterday marked ten years since Citizens United was decided, with JUSTICE ANTHONY KENNEDY penning a majority opinion that made it easier for big money to influence political outcomes. REP. TED DEUTCH opines for NBC News about the consequences of that decision — a decision he says was flat out wrong. “Citizens United, and the cases that followed, corrupted our elections by elevating the interests of billionaires and corporations above the concerns of American voters. Ten years later, we must advance our fight to put voters back in charge of Washington and restore the faith of the American people in our democracy.”
A VERY BIG DAY
|Yesterday was a big day for the country as the Senate kicked off its impeachment trial of PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP. It was also a very big day for CHIEF JUSTICE JOHN ROBERTS who was on double-duty, juggling his day job along with his responsibilities to preside over the trial that continued into the wee hours of the morning. Reuters reports, “As expected, Roberts stayed in the background. Unlike at the court, his impeachment role — mandated by the U.S. Constitution — is largely ceremonial. It appears he wants to keep it that way. Sitting at a dais in the Senate chamber, Roberts unobtrusively oversaw the process, asking lawyers for Trump and the Democratic-led House to speak when required, while granting motions to take recess breaks.”
WORK WORK WORK WORK WORK
|After being at the Capitol until close to 2AM this morning, CHIEF JUSTICE ROBERTS was back to work at the Supreme Court just a few hours later at 10. SCOTUS heard arguments in a case out of Montana concerning the state’s allocation of funds for religious schools. Reports from arguments note that a majority of justices appeared ready to rule that states that offer scholarships or subsidies to private schools must include those operated by churches. JUSTICES ROBERTS, ALITO and KAVANAUGH expressed concerns about dozens of state constitutional amendments that block religious schools from receiving tax dollars. Roberts compared the exclusion of private religious schools to racial discrimination. Kavanaugh at one point referred to the history of excluding religious schools from public funding as having its origins in the “grotesque religious bigotry against Catholics” in the late 19th century.