BRIEFS FLOOD SCOTUS OVER TRANSGENDER CASE | Kagan and Gorsuch Got Their Kale On | ICYMI We Talked Alligators With Shannon Bream
March 3, 2017
WAVE AFTER WAVE
|Briefs filed in support of GAVIN GRIMM flooded the Supreme Court yesterday, with amicus briefs submitted to the court by nearly 200 members of Congress, more than 60 current and former police chiefs and sheriffs, over 30 U.S. cities, the National Education Association, the National Parent-Teacher Association (PTA), the American School Counselor Association, the NAACP, dozens of major corporations and over 100 transgender adults from various professions.
WE TAKE CARE OF OUR OWN
|18 states and The District just stood up for transgender students at the Supreme Court Thursday, becoming the latest players in the case that considers whether transgender students must be allowed to use school restrooms that match their gender identity. The amicus brief from the states noted, “Our shared experience demonstrates that ensuring the civil rights of transgender people—including by allowing them access to common restrooms consistent with their gender identity—creates no public safety or personal privacy threat and imposes no meaningful financial burden.” Dominic Holden with Buzzfeed reports.
CALLED OUT
|Samantha Allen with The Daily Beast wants to know why Facebook, Google and Uber aren’t showing support for GAVIN GRIMM and the transgender community in the upcoming Supreme Court case
SOME THINGS CANNOT BE UNDONE
|Slate’s Dahlia Lithwick and Sonja West think JUDGE NEIL GORSUCH’S confirmation hearings need to be postponed while some very serious allegations waged against the Trump administration are probed and addressed. “If the fact that BARACK OBAMA had a mere year left of his presidency represented a full-blown crisis of legitimacy, one so severe that no nominee he selected could even have a hearing, then how should we describe the crisis level we’re living under now? Under the Republicans’ logic, how can a presidency in which there are myriad investigations of communication with Russia during the campaign possibly be legitimate? Notwithstanding a crisis of legitimacy, the work of the presidency must go on. But the one thing that need not, and should not, go on is the one thing that cannot be fixed later: an appointment to a position of immense importance with constitutionally guaranteed life tenure.”
KALE YES
|Looks like two potential colleagues were spotted out and about at the same restaurant in Washington last night. JUSTICE ELENA KAGAN and SCOTUS Nominee NEIL GORSUCH were both having dinner at The Bombay Club, a joint known for its crispy kale and tandoori salmon. Word has it they weren’t dining together though, and may have not even known the other was there. Sometimes it’s just nice to see the stars align.
TWEET DU JOUR
|From SHANNON BREAM of Fox News, @ShannonBream — “I had fun chatting with @SCOTUSDaily about covering the Court – oh – and alligator wrestling…”
ICYMI
|SCOTUSDaily had the chance to feature SHANNON BREAM on the latest Hot Bench interview. We discussed her love for SCOTUS, whether any justices are secretly on Twitter, and yes, alligator wrestling. Catch the full interview here.
SCOTUS VIEWS
Neil Gorsuch is exactly the kind of Supreme Court justice we need
CNN“To guard our most cherished values and the law that holds us together, America needs a Supreme Court justice committed to the people’s Constitution. Neil Gorsuch is that person.”
An 'absence of experience' among justices
The Baltimore Sun“The Supreme Court would be a more balanced and wiser institution if it drew from any of the lawyers who have spent their careers in the gritty place where the Constitution meets real life: in America’s trial courts.”
OTHER NEWS
The White House Is Vetting One Of Trump's Supreme Court Short-Listers For Another Court Seat
Buzzfeed“Judge Amul Thapar, one of the judges that Trump said he was considering for the US Supreme Court, is a frontrunner for a federal appeals court seat. The FBI has been doing background checks on the Kentucky federal judge in recent weeks.”
Kansas Supreme Court Says State Education Spending Is Too Low
The New York Times“The Kansas Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that the state’s spending on public education was unconstitutionally low, dealing a new blow to Gov. Sam Brownback, who is facing a rebellion from his own Republican Party over his trademark tax-cutting doctrine.”