New Poll Shows Americans Want SCOTUS Live Audio To Continue | Roe v. Wade Plaintiff Paid To Speak On Behalf Of Anti-Abortion Movement
May 20, 2020
POLL DU JOUR
|t the Supreme Court’s decision to provide a live audio feed of their oral arguments during the pandemic. At the same time, 70 percent favor maintaining live audio going forward for future SCOTUS hearings. GABE ROTH, Executive Director of Fix the Court, said in a statement: “Supreme Court justices say they don’t follow public opinion, but the sheer success of the audio livestream this month is something they should pay close attention to. Could you imagine the outcry if the court went back to releasing argument audio on a several-day delay? It would be ugly and do untold damage to the institution.”
WHY THEY CALL IT CHOICE
|“Jane Roe”, whose real name was NORMA MCCORVEY, was the plaintiff at the heart of Roe v. Wade — the Supreme Court’s landmark decision that legalized abortion throughout the U.S. But just months before her death in 2017, she shared in a documentary that comes out Friday that she had only spoken out on behalf of the anti-abortion movement later in her life because she was paid to do so. She said on camera, “I took their money and they took me out in front of the cameras and told me what to say. I did it well too. I am a good actress. Of course, I’m not acting now.” She also added on a more colorful note, “If a young woman wants to have an abortion, that’s no skin off my ass. That’s why they call it choice.” Jill Serjeant with Reuters reports.
PLAYING BOTH SIDES
|In The New York Times, Jenny Gross and Aimee Ortiz write, “MS. MCCORVEY was a polarizing and inconsistent figure in the abortion debate, and her latest revelation in the documentary is unlikely to stem any dispute over which side she favored. Each claims the other used her.” JOSHUA PRAGER, a journalist who interviewed McCorvey extensively and is writing a biography of her says she was really exploited by both sides of the debate. He says, “She was coached on both sides, and she was paid on both sides.”
DEATH PENALTY IN A PANDEMIC
|“Missouri on Tuesday carried out the country’s first execution amid the coronavirus pandemic, not long after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected a request to stop the lethal injection. In an order issued late Tuesday afternoon, the court said it was denying the application filed by Walter Barton, who was convicted of killing an elderly acquaintance in 1991. There were no noted dissents. About two hours later, Barton was pronounced dead, according to the Missouri Department of Corrections.” That’s Mark Berman with The Washington Post reporting on the execution that resulted from nearly thirty years of Barton’s case winding its way through the legal system. Berman notes that several other executions have been delayed due to the pandemic. The last execution in America took place on March 5 in Alabama.