Hey SCOTUS, Secrets Don’t Make Friends | Judges Push Back On Efforts To Use Coronavirus As Excuse For Restricting Access To Abortions
March 31, 2020
SECRETS DON'T MAKE FRIENDS
|“The Supreme Court has yet to announce alternatives for regular oral arguments in pending cases, even as President Donald Trump has declared the national distancing guidelines should continue through April. The justices issued an order on Monday in an April case, as if the month’s schedule had not changed amid the death and turmoil of Covid-19. The Court allocated the argument time among various parties in a still-slated April 21 dispute from Oklahoma. That ambiguous order and lack of public notice about how the nine justices may modify their practices for spring cases has only added to the swirl of uncertainty in difficult times. The reluctance to offer alternatives — or provide clarity about possible postponements — reinforces the secrecy around what is already one of the most insular and mysterious institutions of government.” That’s Joan Biskupic with CNN discussing the lack of guidance the Supreme Court has provided on its plans for the rest of its term — a term that is over-flowing with blockbuster cases.
TOP-ED
|Ashwin Phatak argues in The Washington Post that the Supreme Court shouldn’t be letting the coronavirus get in the way of doing its judicial duties. Phatak offers some suggestions for how the justices can get back to work and notes, “Although none of the above options is ideal, any of them would be preferable to delaying these cases indefinitely.”
A BAD MIX-UP
|Next term, justices will consider a case that involves the rules that come into play when someone seeks compensation for alleged unconstitutional behavior by law enforcement. Robert Barnes with The Washington Post reports on the case of James King who was seized and beaten by plainclothes police officers who mistook King for a fugitive the officers had been looking for.
NICE TRY BUCKOS
|Federal judges yesterday issues a series of legal actions that blocked officials in Texas, Ohio and Alabama from banning most abortions as part of their state orders to postpone surgeries and procedures deemed as nonessential. These decisions come in response to a widespread effort to use the coronavirus pandemic to block access to abortions in Republican-controlled states.
YOU'RE ON CLEAN-UP DUTY
|The Supreme Court ruled yesterday that CITGO Asphalt Refining Co., an oil refining company, must cover the cleanup costs for a shipping accident that spilled 6,000 barrels of crude oil into the Delaware River. Ellen M. Gilmer with Bloomberg Environment reports on the decision.