Biden Ready To Focus On The Courts | Conservative Justices Seem Torn On Not Whether But How To Chip Away Abortion Rights
March 19, 2021
MOVING ON UP
|Mike Memoli and Sahil Kapur with NBC News report PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN is ready to move quickly to reshape the courts, starting with the elevation of District Court JUDGE KENTAJI BROWN JACKSON to replace MERRICK GARLAND on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. “Sources close to the deliberations insist that no final decisions have been made, and a White House spokesperson declined to comment on any pending personnel announcements. But the preparations come ahead of what they say will be a more urgent push than previous Democratic administrations to fill judicial seats, after then-President Donald Trump and Senate Republicans confirmed scores of young, conservative jurists over the past four years. Biden and his team have put a premium on selecting a diverse field of candidates, seeking out civil rights lawyers and defense attorneys while deprioritizing prosecutors and corporate lawyers.”
READY WITHOUT A PLAN
|Joan Biskupic with CNN suggests conservative Supreme Court justices want to reverse prior decisions from the court on abortion rights — but they can’t seem to agree on how. Biskupic notes, “New internal tensions in the age-old controversy have emerged, as the six Republican-appointed justices on the right wing diverge on curtailing precedent and more sharply clash with the court’s three remaining Democratic-appointed liberals. The justices could move a step closer to their next chapter as they meet privately on Friday to consider whether to take up Mississippi’s ban on abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. Then again, the newly reconfigured court may want to wait to take any dramatic action on abortion.”
SCOTUS VIEWS
A Supreme Court Case Could Devastate Unions’ Ability To Organize. And That’s Just The Start.
The Washington Post“On March 22, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in a seemingly minor labor-law dispute with potentially sweeping ramifications. Although the case itself concerns a mundane California agricultural regulation, a decision could threaten fundamental laws governing organized labor, child safety, nursing-home inspections — and even laws forbidding stores and restaurants from discriminating.”
It’s Nearly Impossible To Hold Federal Officers Accountable. The Supreme Court Can Change That.
The Washington Post“Thanks to qualified immunity, it’s hard enough to hold state and local officers to account. But most lawsuits against federal officers meet with immunity that is not just qualified, but absolute. This issue has largely flown under the radar in the national discussion on police accountability. Many judges have assumed that because state and local officers can be sued under a civil rights statute called Section 1983 and federal officers cannot, there is a higher threshold of accountability when the culprit is employed by a state or a municipality. That’s profoundly wrong, and it strikes at the heart of our constitutional system.”