SCOTUS PUNTS TRANSGENDER CASE | What Happens In a Jury Deliberation Room, Doesn’t Always Stay There | The “Meet-Cute” Of Gorsuch and Kennedy
March 6, 2017
SUCH A TEASE
|After all the hubbub and anticipation, the Supreme Court decided today to punt the transgender case involving GAVIN GRIMM, the 17-year-old transgender student seeking the right to use his school’s restrooms that match the gender with which he identifies. The court said in a one-sentence order that they’re vacating an appeal’s court decision in favor of Grimm and sending it back to a lower court in Virginia for further consideration. This decision follows new guidance from the Trump administration that changed the government’s position and leaves the issue of transgender rights in limbo for now.
SECRETS DON'T MAKE FRIENDS
|The U.S. Supreme Court decided today that what is said behind closed doors in a jury deliberation must be kept secret, except when evidence emerges that those discussions were marred by racial or ethnic bias. Writing for the court, JUSTICE ANTHONY KENNEDY noted, “The nation must continue to make strides to overcome race-based discrimination. The progress that has already been made underlies the court’s insistence that blatant racial prejudice is antithetical to the functioning of the jury system and must be confronted in egregious cases.”
FOLLOWING THE LEADER, THE LEADER, THE LEADER
|“As ANGUS KING goes, so may go NEIL GORSUCH’S hopes of clinching a seat on the Supreme Court.” POLITICO’s Seung Min Kim reports that for Gorsuch to win confirmation, he’s going to need to win over folks like Senator King who is one of about a dozen Democratic votes that could swing over in his favor. Sunday night, King hosted a “Gorsuch-themed” town hall where he didn’t exactly say how he’ll vote on the nominee, though he did offer some clues as to how he might eventually vote “yes” on good ole Gorsuch.
MAKING A STAND FOR PUBLIC LANDS
|Looks like Supreme Court nominee JUDGE GORSUCH isn’t the public lands champion many were hoping to have while DONALD TRUMP sits in the White House. Gorsuch has spent a decade on the Denver-based 10th U.S. Circuit Court of appeals, hearing disputes about public lands ranging from energy companies’ drilling rights to the use of off-road vehicles in national forests across six western states. Over the years, Gorsuch has shown a sustained willingness to limit the participation of environmental groups in lawsuits involving these public lands disputes. Holbrook Mohr and Garance Burke with The Associated Press report.
LUCK BE A LADY
|Adam Liptak and Nicholas Fandos with The New York Times report on the tale of luck that led GORSUCH the clerk to KENNEDY the justice. Their “meet-cute” took place nearly a quarter-century ago on a hot summer day, and resulted in a lasting bond between an ambitious clerk and an established justice, three decades his senior.
TODAY IN HISTORY
|On this day in 1857, the United States Supreme Court handed down its decision in the case of Dred Scott v. Sandford. The staff over at Constitution Daily describes the impacts of what it calls “one of the most controversial decision in the court’s history” and explains why the decision still resonates in America today.
OTHER NEWS
Dubious Data Belies Supreme Court's Stance on Repeat Sex Offenders
The New York Times“That’s it. The basis for much of American jurisprudence and legislation about sex offenders was rooted in an offhand and unsupported statement in a mass-market magazine, not a peer-reviewed journal.”
Liberals to Senate Democrats: Step up the Gorsuch fight
POLITICO“Liberal advocacy groups are issuing a sharp rebuke to Senate Democrats, who they say have failed to sufficiently fight President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court pick.”
U.S. high court rejects 'Dracula' sex trafficking case
Reuters“The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday refused to hear an appeal by a Jamaican pimp who styled himself as Dracula, even wearing gold-plated fangs, concerning his objection to being ordered to pay restitution to a woman he forced into prostitution.”