CALIFORNIA SUED OVER SANCTUARY LAWS | The Surrealism Of Capital Punishment In America | Kagan v. Marshall
March 7, 2018
COMING FOR CALIFORNIA
|Yesterday the Trump administration followed through on its threats to stop California and its immigration policies. The Justice Department filed a federal lawsuit against the state to stop a series of so-called “sanctuary state” bills. California GOVERNOR JERRY BROWN responded in kind with a statement aimed at ATTORNEY GENERAL JEFF SESSIONS, “Jeff, these political stunts may be the norm in Washington, but they don’t work here. SAD!!!”
BRING IT ON
|The Editorial Board of The Sacramento Bee has a message for the president: Go ahead, bring it on. “No one is surprised at the dishonest lawsuit filed late Tuesday by ATTORNEY GENERAL JEFF SESSIONS in the U.S. District Court in Sacramento. President Donald Trump has made it clear he wants mass arrests and deportation, no matter how costly, cruel and counterproductive – and California has made it clear we will not play along.”
REPEAT OFFENDER
|“When can someone be arrested at a public government meeting during a public comment forum? That’s a tricky question the Supreme Court is considering after a familiar face was back at the nation’s highest court last week.” That’s Scott Bomboy with Constitution Daily reviewing last week’s case brought forward by two-time SCOTUS personality, FANE LOZMAN. Bomboy reports: “During the Supreme Court arguments last Tuesday, it became clear that some of the Justices were looking for a way to protect speakers in a public forum such as a city council meeting without affecting the ability of police to make on-the-spot decisions to arrest people based on probable cause. ‘In this case, there’s a very serious contention that people in elected office deliberately wanted to intimidate this person, and it seems to me that maybe in this case we should cordon off or box off what happened here from the ordinary conduct of police officers,’ said JUSTICE ANTHONY KENNEDY.”
THE SURREALISM OF OUR DEATH PENALTY SYSTEM
|Is it possible for someone on death row to be too sick to be put to death? It’s a question currently before the Supreme Court and the Editorial Board of the Los Angeles Times is weighing in. “The list of absurdities runs on, but arguing over the fine lines and legal distinctions of specific cases tends to obscure the core unfairness and inhumanity of capital punishment itself. Death sentences fall disproportionately on minorities and the poor. Executions do not deter others from committing murder. Witnesses, police and prosecutors lie or make mistakes, leading to wrongful convictions. Executions occur decades after the crimes, which serves no penological purpose, yet due process requires a deliberate pace. The clearest solution for all of these issues would be to end a practice that diminishes us all and indicts our collective sense of humanity.”
A GREAT DEBATE
|AP’s Mark Sherman reports that last night JUSTICE ELENA KAGAN recalled the moment 30 years ago when her boss, JUSTICE THURGOOD MARSHALL, looked at her as though she had lost her mind. She was clerking for the Supreme Court justice at the time and arguing with him over how to rule in a case that involved a North Dakota student’s fees for busing to her school located several miles away from her home. Turns out, Kagan’s position was the majority’s view in the 5-4 decision written by JUSTICE SANDRA DAY O’CONNOR.