HAWAII KEEPS FIGHTING TRUMP’S TRAVEL BAN | SCOTUS Got Their Budget Behind Closed Doors | The Mystery Of The Chief Justice
July 17, 2017
SEND A RAVEN
|The Supreme Court has asked the state of Hawaii to respond by tomorrow at noon to PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP’S motion to block a judges ruling that prevented his travel ban from being applied to grandparents of citizens and refugees already being processed by resettlement agencies. The administration had asked Friday that the justices overturn the Hawaii judge’s decision in the latest round in the fight over the EO that was issued on March 6 of this year.
ACCORDING TO MY LITTLE BIRDS
|The Supreme Court got their FY18 budget approved by the House Appropriations Committee, and as Fix the Court points out, this was the second year in a row that the justices met behind closed doors with members of the committee to discuss their budget instead of testifying publicly. In a statement from Fix the Court, Executive Director GABE ROTH notes, “There’s no justification for the court’s decision to exempt itself from the convention that every government entity justify its annual funding in a public hearing, and I hope it changes next year.”
CHAOS ISN'T A PIT, IT'S A LADDER
|“Legal disputes in the federal courts often unfold in a familiar pattern, going from the lowest-ranking court and then, step by step up the ladder, finally reaching the Supreme Court. It is usually quite orderly, even when an urgent situation is developing.” That’s not how it’s played out over DONALD TRUMP’S travel ban. Lyle Denniston for Constitution Daily explains that in recent weeks, “the judicial flow chart has looked more like a diagram for a ping-pong match.”
THE NORTH REMEMBERS
|The Editorial Board of The Wall Street Journal weighs into the murky waters of political corruption in its analysis of the Second Circuit’s decision last week, considering whether SCOTUS gave corrupt politicians a free pass. Turns out, the WSJ doesn’t think the justices did, although prosecutors will have to follow the law better than former U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara did.
YOU'RE STILL A MYSTERY
|Robert Barnes with The Washington Post considers a Supreme Court mystery: “Has CHIEF JUSTICE JOHN G. ROBERTS JR. embraced the court’s same-sex marriage decision that he so passionately protested two years ago?” The question comes in response to how the justices ruled in favor of same-sex couples at the end of this term without oral arguments. Barnes: “And the answer could be important for more than curiosity’s sake. The court has accepted for its next term a case dealing with whether business owners must provide services for same-sex unions even if they are religiously opposed, and the nation’s courts are filling with cases about how far the 2015 same-sex marriage ruling extends. Usually, there is no question about where the justices stand.” But now, we’re not so sure about the big dog in charge.
LOYALTY, GOT ROYALTY INSIDE MY DNA
|Daniel Crown in the Washington Post opines that voter suppression has been part of America’s DNA since its inception. He notes that for three centuries, Americans have been doing their best to keep their opponents from voting. But the Supreme Court has the chance to squash that practice once and for all as early as next year.