ALITO SAYS RELIGIOUS LIBERTY UNDER THREAT | Gorsuch Trump’s Enduring Symbol
May 18, 2017
TODAY IN HISTORY
|On this day in 1896, the United States Supreme Court endorsed “separate but equal” racial segregation in its ruling on Plessy v. Ferguson.
KEEP THE FLAME
|Speaking before graduates of a historic Roman Catholic seminary yesterday, JUSTICE SAMUEL ALITO warned that religious liberty is under threat in America. Alito urged the graduates to “keep the flame” of those freedoms in “the hearts of our fellow Americans.”
AN ENDURING SYMBOL
|Slate’s Mark Joseph Stern opines that JUSTICE NEIL GORSUCH will be the only enduring symbol of Donald Trump’s “disastrous presidency.” Stern: “Gorsuch’s perceived illegitimacy will seep into the court. It will be especially acute if he is the only Supreme Court justice whom Trump appoints, the singular embodiment of his influence on the bench. But his presence will always be jarring, even if Trump replaces another justice: He is the beneficiary of the stolen seat, the man who is not MERRICK GARLAND. Gorsuch is Trump’s justice. And to the extent that he can shape the law, the Supreme Court might soon become Trump’s court.”
OTHER NEWS
A Trump Supreme Court Short-Lister Backs Up Sessions' Latest Criminal Justice Move
Buzzfeed“A federal appeals judge who was on President Trump’s short list for the US Supreme Court has expressed support, at least in part, for Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ new policy that federal prosecutors pursue the most serious criminal charges and penalties possible.“