NORTH CAROLINA VOTING LAW VOTED OUT | 9th Circuit Hears Travel Ban 2.0
May 15, 2017
A WIN FOR VOTERS
|Today at SCOTUS, the justices left in place a federal appeals court ruling that struck down key parts of a North Carolina voting law, finding it was unconstitutionally targeting African Americans “with almost surgical precision” and “impose[d] cures for problems that did not exist.” The decision today does not set a legal precedent and does not necessarily mean the conservative-leaning court would not endorse such laws in the future. However, today’s ruling stands as a major victory for civil rights groups.
CROSSING THE LINE
|Adam Liptak with The New York Times considers when political gerrymandering goes too far and crosses a constitutional line. It was JUSTICE ANTHONY KENNEDY who wrote in a 2004 concurrence that no one has come up with “a workable standard” to answer that question and draw a clear line in the sand, but Liptak writes that could all change very soon. “Finding such a standard has long been, as one judge put it, ‘the holy grail of election law jurisprudence.’ In the coming weeks, the Supreme Court will consider an appeal from a decision in Wisconsin that may have found that holy grail.”
HERE WE GO HERE WE GO
|This morning, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals will hear arguments on whether PRESIDENT TRUMP’S revised travel ban violates a constitutional prohibition against religious discrimination. A three-judge panel, all appointees of PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON, will decide the case known as State of Hawaii v. Donald Trump. You can listen in to the full argument here starting at 9:30 AM Pacific Time, or you can watch live on C-SPAN.
THOUGHT I KNEW YOU
|Paul Elias with The Associated Press profiles each of the three judges set to hear the appeal of Hawaii’s challenge to PRESIDENT TRUMP’S travel ban 2.0. Read the brief backgrounders on Michael Hawkins, Ronald Gould and Richard Paez.
TODAY IN HISTORY
|On this day in in 1911, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Standard Oil Co. was a monopoly in violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act, and ordered its breakup. Also on this day in 1976, SCOTUS ruled unanimously that juveniles accused of crimes were entitled to the same due process afforded adults.
OTHER NEWS
U.S. Supreme Court Rejects Case Involving Burping Teen
Reuters“The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to revive a civil rights lawsuit against a New Mexico police officer for arresting a 13-year-old boy who burped repeatedly and disrupted his class, a case that raised questions about police conduct in school settings.”