POLL SHOWS SUPPORT FOR ROE AT ALL-TIME HIGH | Secret Money Floods SCOTUS Fight | Not One But Two Podcasts Du Jour
July 24, 2018
POLL DU JOUR
|A new poll from The Wall Street Journal and NBC News shows support for Roe v. Wade is at an all-time high, with 71 percent of voters opposed to overturning the Supreme Court ruling. The poll reveals the highest level of support for the decision — and the lowest share of voters who want Roe v. Wade overturned — in the poll’s history dating back to 2005. In 1989, according to Gallup’s survey, 58 percent said they believed Roe should stay in place while 31 percent disagreed.
THE CULTURE WARS
|Today’s episode of The Daily from The New York Times looks into the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision to discuss how that one Supreme Court ruling “gave way to the deep and enduring rifts we face today.”
ED BOARD OVERTURE
|The Editorial Board of USA Today shares its concern for the secret money that now floods into Supreme Court nomination fights and says the America people “have reason to question whether justice is being sold to the highest bidders.”
TOP-ED
|“Judge Kavanaugh was directly involved in some of the most politically charged moments of our recent history. The Senate owes the American people an unsparing examination of his nomination, which could affect their lives for a generation. I urge Senate Republicans to live up to the bipartisan standard of transparency we set for Justice Kagan and demand his full record. That means all of it.” That’s SENATOR PATRICK LEAHY in The New York Times urging his colleagues to uncover the nominee’s paper trail thoroughly in order to determine his viability for a high court appointment.
HOTLINE BLING
|ICYMI, the new First Mondays podcast offered some lighter fare yesterday during the Supreme Court’s recess. The hosts note, “We were in Chicago speaking at the National Foundation of Judicial Excellence’s Annual Judicial Symposium this past weekend, and we took some time to eat Japanese BBQ, drink sake and record a new episode. We get caught up on our backlog of our (disappointingly male-dominated) hotline calls while also briefly recapping the latest news on the battle to confirm Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court.” Ok now ladies, we gotta break this thang down next go around.
IT'S ABOUT TO BE A WHAT? SCOTUS FIGHT
|Adam Feldman notes for SCOTUSblog that we should all prepare ourselves for what is expected to be a confirmation battle more intense than most. Read how historical context provides some clear indications of a major battle ahead even if preventing the confirmation is “a tall if not impossible order.”
OTHER NEWS
A Supreme Court Vote Is Just One Of Heidi Heitkamp's Headaches
The New York Times“To block Judge Kavanaugh’s confirmation, Democrats almost certainly will need their entire 49-member caucus to oppose him, and then at least one Republican to break with his or her party. But Ms. Heitkamp is one of 10 Democratic senators running for re-election in states won by Mr. Trump in the 2016 election, and her difficult race would get even more challenging if she votes against Judge Kavanaugh. She was one of three Democrats who voted last year for Mr. Trump’s first Supreme Court nominee, Neil M. Gorsuch.”
Pence's Anti-Abortion Law Could Upend Roe v. Wade
POLITICO“An anti-abortion law Vice President Mike Pence signed as governor of Indiana could become the case that lets the Supreme Court reshape abortion rights as soon as next year. The Indiana law — which prohibited abortion because of the gender, race or disability of the fetus, such as Down syndrome — was blocked by lower courts and is one of three significant anti-abortion state statutes that are sitting one level below the Supreme Court. If Indiana appeals this fall, and the justices accept the case, it could be the opening for a broader ruling on Roe v. Wade that could redefine abortion rights nationwide.”
New Hampshire Fights Supreme Court Sales-Tax Ruling
The Wall Street Journal“New Hampshire is one of five states without a broad-based statewide sales tax, a status that had insulated Mr. Bart and other retailers from a task familiar to businesses elsewhere. That cushion lasted until the U.S. Supreme Court’s June decision in South Dakota v. Wayfair, which lets states require retailers to collect sales taxes even if those businesses lack a physical presence in the state. That decision was a “huge mistake,” says New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu, who expects to sign legislation this week to make it harder for other states to impose collection requirements on New Hampshire retailers.”
Brett Kavanaugh's Criticism Of United States v. Nixon Should Worry Robert Mueller
Slate“No matter what he tells the Senate Judiciary Committee, it’s worth remembering that the underlying philosophy which led to his Nixon critique remains in full force today. Kavanaugh still wants the president to have a huge amount of power over the entire executive branch. That’s a fact no one can seriously dispute, no matter what Kavanaugh does or doesn’t believe about the Nixon tapes.”