TRUMP’S TRAVEL BAN GETS YET ANOTHER DAY IN COURT | Yesterday A Win For Voting Rights, But Only A Temporary One
May 16, 2017
NO YOU CAN'T READ MY POKER FACE
|A three-judge panel in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals heard oral arguments yesterday on PRESIDENT TRUMP’S revised travel ban. However, the judges barely tipped their hands, maintaining some serious poker faces throughout the morning arguments and giving us little to help predict the outcome of their ruling.
THERE'S NO DENYING IT
|But will the travel ban go all the way to the Supreme Court? Matt Ford with the Atlantic writes, “Avoiding the Supreme Court may not be feasible for the [Trump] administration at this time.”
CAN'T TAKE MY EYES OFF OF YOU
|The oral argument at the Ninth Circuit yesterday was available not only through a live audio stream, but it was also available for viewing live on C-SPAN. Executive Director of Fix the Court, GABE ROTH, had this to say about the televised hearing: “C-SPAN is carrying out an important service not only by delivering live, high-quality video of a case with broad national interest but also by explaining in their lower-third graphics the legalese that’s involved. Such an exercise should finally put to rest the antiquated notion that televising federal court hearings would be incomprehensible to the public or, for that matter, distracting to judges and attorneys. The evidence shows it’s neither the former nor the latter.”
PAY UP, PUNK
|The Supreme Court ruled yesterday that people who have filed for bankruptcy cannot sue companies that try to recoup old debt that is not required to be paid back under the statutes of limitations. The justices ruled 5-3, with JUSTICE STEPHEN BREYER joining the court’s conservatives in the majority.
NOT GOING NOWHERE
|Recently, the rumor mill has been churning out whispers that JUDGE MERRICK GARLAND — Obama’s famous Supreme Court nominee who never got a hearing — was in contention for heading up the FBI following JAMES COMEY’S unceremonious firing. However, two friends of Garland just told NPR that the rumors are not true. Garland will continue to do what he loves and re
HOLD YOUR HORSES
|ICYMI, the justices ruled yesterday to leave in place a lower court ruling which found North Carolina’s sweeping voter identification law discriminatory and guilty of targeting African Americans “with almost surgical precision.” But before voting rights and civil rights groups celebrate, Mark Sherman with The Associated Press notes that the Supreme Court decision is unlikely to deter voting restrictions in the future.
BEST OF TIMES, WORST OF TIMES
|“Democrats got a victory in a voting rights case at the Supreme Court today — but don’t get used to that headline. There are dark days ahead for voting rights.” That’s Paul Waldman in The Washington Post opining that yesterday’s SCOTUS decision was a win, sure, but only a temporary one for voting rights advocates.