JUSTICES COME DOWN ON NORTH CAROLINA | Gorsuch Makes First Big Dissent | All Eyes On The Chief
May 22, 2017
BADLANDS
|This morning, the Supreme Court struck down two congressional districts in the state of North Carolina ruling that race played too large a role in their creation. The justices ruled 5-3 and JUSTICE ELENA KAGAN wrote the court’s opinion — the latest in a series of SCOTUS decisions against the excessive use of race in redistricting. JUSTICE CLARENCE THOMAS joined the four liberal justices in striking down the maps.
TWEET DU JOUR
|From Rick Hasen, @rickhasen: “What a winning streak by @marceelias, who went head to head w Paul Clement in NC and VA voting case on same day at #SCOTUS and won both!” Marc Elias is the “Democratic super-lawyer” who won three out of three Supreme Court arguments in OT16 — all three cases were focused on the issue of voting rights in America.
LOCATION LOCATION LOCATION
|The Supreme Court just decided to make it easier for companies to defend themselves against patent infringement lawsuits. The justices ruled unanimously today that these lawsuits can only be filed in states where the defendants are incorporated, a decision that will have the biggest effect on federal courts in eastern Texas where more than 40 percent of patent lawsuits are now filed.
NEW KID MAKES MOVES
|David Savage with the Los Angeles Times reports that today marks the first and most significant decision JUSTICE NEIL GORSUCH has made since joining the Supreme Court last month. The newbie joined JUSTICE CLARENCE THOMAS in dissent to the court’s decision to reject an appeal from a Republican Party lawmaker seeking to strike down limits on big-money contributions to political parties.
MONEY CAN'T BUY YOU CLASS
|The justices (aside from Gorsuch and Thomas, of course) elected to turn away a challenge to a federal campaign finance restriction that prevents political parties from raising unlimited amounts of cash to spend on supporting candidates. It was the Republican Party of Louisiana that brought forward the challenge, arguing a provision of the 2002 Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act violates free speech rights. However, the justices lefts in place a lower court’s ruling rejecting the Republican challenge.
WHERE YOU AT CHIEF?
|Robert Barnes with The Washington Post notes that although the Supreme Court delivered a victory for voting rights advocates earlier this month, there’s still cause for liberals to worry about future SCOTUS rulings on the issue, mostly because of the big man in the middle: CHIEF JUSTICE JOHN ROBERTS.
OTHER NEWS
Supreme Court Rejects Challenge to State Retroactive Tax Changes
Reuters“The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear a challenge by several major corporations to a Michigan law that retroactively changed the way businesses are taxed in the state, leading to $1 billion extra for government coffers.”
Texas Passed an Intense Abortion-Restriction Bill Despite Supreme Court Ruling
New York Magazine“The Texas Legislature pushed through Senate Bill 8 Friday, which places extreme limits on reproductive rights. The bill, which has to be approved in the House and the Senate, focuses on partial-birth abortions and the treatment of fetal remains — specifically, it bans the sale or donation of remains, and requires the cremation or burial of fetal remains.”