Supreme Court Upholds State “Faithless Elector” Laws | Justices Hang Up On Robocalls
July 6, 2020
HAVE A LITTLE FAITH IN ME
|Today the Supreme Court unanimously ruled to uphold state laws that remove or fine Electoral College delegates who refuse to fulfill their pledge to vote for their state’s popular vote winner in presidential elections. JUSTICE ELENA KAGAN wrote for the court and noted that the Constitution gives states authority over choosing presidential electors, including the power to set conditions on an elector’s appointment.
RING-A-DING-DING
|In another decision handed down today, SCOTUS upheld a nearly thirty-year-old ban on automated calls to cellphones, rejecting efforts to upend the law over free speech concerns. Richard Wolf with USA Today reports, “To fix that constitutional problem, the justices ruled that a recent exception to the law allowing robocalls to people who owe the government money must be eliminated. The decision was written by Associate JUSTICE BRETT KAVANAUGH, with many justices agreeing only in part. The ruling brought to a close an unusual case in which neither side sought what the court deemed the most acceptable result. Political consultants and pollsters wanted the original law declared unconstitutional, while the government wanted both the ban and the government-debt exception upheld.”
LET'S CALL THE WHOLE THING OFF
|Despite winning a major Supreme Court case just last month, two of the nation’s largest utility companies announced yesterday that they are canceling plans to build the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, which would have carried natural gas across the Appalachian Trail. The companies cited delays and rising costs, including lawsuits that mainly came from environmentalists, as reasons for canceling the project.
MEANWHILE AS THE PANDEMIC SURGES
|Over the weekend, SCOTUS rejected a bid from Illinois Republicans to lift the government’s public health order limiting gatherings to 50 or fewer people. JUSTICE BRETT KAVANAUGH oversees federal courts in the Seventh Circuit covering Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin, and he denied the emergency application without comment several hours after it was filed on Saturday. Jess Bravin with The Wall Street Journal reports.
ED BOARD OVERTURE
|“The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that the leadership structure of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is unconstitutional. Many see this as a big setback for the agency. It needn’t be. In fact, it could end up helping the CFPB to survive.” Bloomberg’s Editorial Board argues that those supportive of the CFPB should fear not. “For now, what matters most is that the CFPB lives on and that, when properly led, it can continue to do its necessary work.”
THIS IS THE END, HOLD YOUR BREATH AND COUNT TO TEN
|So what’s left of the Supreme Court’s term? Greg Stohr with Bloomberg looks at the top remaining cases which of course include those concerning PRESIDENT TRUMP’S financial records, as well as a case concerning access to birth control. Stohr writes, “Together, the final opinions could rewrite the narrative of a Supreme Court term that so far hasn’t produced the clear conservative shift some envisioned after two Trump nominees joined the court. The rulings will shape public perceptions of the court, and perhaps of Trump, heading into the November election.”