NO EXCUSE FOR NO CAMERAS IN SCOTUS | Being Trump Means Never Having To Say Sorry | Sotomayor To Have Shoulder Surgery

May 1, 2018

ICYMI, the Supreme Court announced yesterday that it’s going to take a closer look at class actions and hear appeals in two separate cases from California that could change the way corporations have to pay up for harms made against individuals. Jess Bravin with The Wall Street Journal reports.

The justices yesterday also said they’re willing to hear an appeal from Missouri death row inmate, RUSSELL BUCKLEW, who says his rare condition would made him suffer tremendously and choke to death on his own blood should he be put to death by lethal injection. This case follows Glossip v. Gross where SCOTUS ruled against inmates challenging Oklahoma’s lethal injection protocol, saying they had failed to identify an available and preferable method of execution. But Bucklew does have an alternative on the table. He says lethal gas would give him a much easier death.

In his latest for The Sacramento Bee, Erwin Chemerinsky notes that there is no excuse for keeping cameras out of the U.S. Supreme Court. He urges, “Allowing the American people to actually see the justices at work would have many positive effects. In addition to the democratic advantages of governmental transparency, there are many educational, historical, and civic benefits to visible Supreme Court proceedings.” Here, here!

Christopher Cadelago, Josh Gerstein and Louis Nelson with POLITICO write that being DONALD TRUMP means never having to say you’re sorry. The president refused Monday to apologize for his rhetoric around his Muslim ban, even though it could help save the policy. The issue came up last week during oral arguments over the ban when CHIEF JUSTICE JOHN ROBERTS asked if a public disavowal by Trump of his rhetoric would alleviate concerns about the travel ban’s constitutionality. The attorney challenging the ban said that it would.

It was Monday, though, that the president was asked directly during a press conference with Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari whether he’d apologize for some of the things he said during the campaign about banning Muslims. A Washington Times reporter asked, “Last week in the Supreme Court case over your travel ban, the lawyers for the opponents said if you would simply apologize for some of your rhetoric during the campaign, the whole case would go away.” Trump’s response? “I don’t think it would, number one. And there’s no reason to apologize. Our immigration laws in this country are a total disaster. They’re laughed at all over the world. They’re laughed at — for their stupidity. And we have to have strong immigration laws. I think if I apologize, it wouldn’t make 10 cents’ worth of difference to them. We have to have strong immigration laws to protect our country.”

“It’s not easy to draw a straight line between oral arguments at the Supreme Court and the White House correspondents’ dinner, but I’m going to give it a try. It’s not just that both are highly selective, members-only gatherings. The two events are also closely linked by the fact that they rely on public showcasing of institutional norms for their continued survival. Taken together, they reflect the no-win conundrum faced by those who embrace norms at the expense of reality in an era in which institutions are all we have left to save us.” That’s Dahlia Lithwick writing for Slate and warning about the woes that come when self-preservation is put above the protection of our democracy.

Two weeks after breaking her left shoulder in a fall at her home, JUSTICE SONIA SOTOMAYOR will undergo shoulder replacement surgery today. She will wear a sling for several weeks and will undergo physical therapy for several months. Get well soon, Justice Sotomayor!