House Of Representatives Asks SCOTUS For Faster Timeline On Trump Financial Records Case | Review Of Supreme Court’s Major Environmental Decisions This Term
July 14, 2020
FEDERAL EXECUTIONS BEGIN AGAIN
|The U.S. government carried out its first federal execution in 17 years today after an overnight 5-4 ruling from the Supreme Court cleared the way for the death sentence. Daniel Lewis Lee was executed for the conviction of killing a family of three in 1996 as part of a plot to establish a whites-only nation. He was scheduled to be put to death by lethal injection yesterday, but a federal judge’s order prevented the execution. Hours later, the Supreme Court issued an unsigned majority opinion saying that “the plaintiffs have not established that they are likely to succeed on the merits of their Eighth Amendment claim” and “that claim faces an exceedingly high bar.” The Eighth Amendment bars cruel and unusual punishment. His was the first of three federal executions scheduled for this week.
CAN WE MOVE THIS ALONG
|Last night, the House of Representatives asked SCOTUS to speed up the process for getting the legal battle over PRESIDENT TRUMP’S financial records back to lower courts. Just last week, the high court had ruled that Trump cannot refuse to comply with legitimate congressional subpoenas, but it also sent the case back down to a lower court for further review. The House argued to SCOTUS that “speed is of the essence” since the current subpoenas die when Congress ends in January. CHIEF JUSTICE JOHN ROBERTS asked the Justice Department to respond by Thursday afternoon.
NICE TRY
|Caroline Kelly with CNN reports federal judges yesterday blocked abortion restrictions in Georgia and Tennessee, both of which banned abortions after detection of a fetal heartbeat which can occur before many women even know they are pregnant. Kelly reports, “The bills highlight the longstanding battle over abortion rights playing out in state legislatures. That clash most recently made its way up to the Supreme Court, where CHIEF JUSTICE JOHN ROBERTS moved to block a controversial Louisiana law restricting abortion access in siding with the liberal justices — while potentially leaving the door open to more state abortion limits.”
GREENER PASTURES
|“A Supreme Court term studded with blockbuster environmental cases has green groups celebrating and industry attorneys calculating the legal fallout. Amid pandemic-related argument delays and court closures that have not been seen since the 1918 flu epidemic, the justices churned out decisions in key water permitting, waste cleanup and pipeline siting cases and handed down other opinions that could affect federal environmental policymaking for years to come.” That’s Pamela King with E&E News reporting on the Supreme Court’s handling of major environmental disputes this term, and in particular, CHIEF JUSTICE ROBERTS finding a middle ground in the Clean Water Act and Superfund cases.
FAMILY AFFAIR
|Tony Mauro with The National Law Journal covers a group even more exclusive than the 2,000 or so who have served as Supreme Court law clerks: the handful of former law clerks whose children have gone on to clerk as well.
SCOTUS VIEWS
The Supreme Court Is Still Capable Of Shocking The Nation
Bloomberg“Let no court-watcher tell you that this was all anticipated or in the cards. The roots of human decision-making can always be reconstructed retrospectively. That doesn’t mean there are no surprises. The chief justice picked by George W. Bush has preserved the basic abortion right for a new generation. A justice appointed by Donald Trump gave us anti-discrimination protection for gay and transgender people. This is remarkable. And it should help restore some credibility to a court that has sometimes looked altogether too partisan and ideological.”
Progressives’ Supreme Court Victories Will Be Fleeting
The Atlantic“Liberals seemed to win several major Supreme Court cases this term, either because the results of the cases benefited liberal causes or because the Court rejected conservatives’ sweeping arguments. But even in cases where liberals appeared to win, conservatives did not exactly lose—and, indeed, seem on the brink of winning a lot in the years ahead.”
The Supreme Court Tries To Settle The Religious Liberty Culture War
TIME“Rarely has a single Supreme Court term created such alternating spasms of anger and joy, bouncing back and forth across the ideological aisle. And rarely has that seesaw reaction been so concentrated into a single, salient cultural issue – the perceived conflict between gay rights and religious liberty. By the end of this term, however, a trend seemed clear – a slice of the Supreme Court, led by Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Elena Kagan, seemed set on settling this conflict, if not once and for all, at least by providing a framework that can and will guide future courts.”
Why Joe Biden Won’t Campaign On The Supreme Court
The Washington Post“Back in February, Joe Biden pledged to nominate a black woman to the Supreme Court, which would be a first. ‘It’s long past time,’ he said, and it’s hard to argue with that. But he hasn’t said much more about the Supreme Court. He’s offered comments on some of the court’s recent decisions, but he hasn’t tried to persuade or motivate voters based on the future of the court. It’s an unfortunate omission. But it’s one Biden is not likely to correct before November.”