THE THIEVERY OF IT ALL | Even The Best Made Plans Can Come Undone
November 15, 2016
ARE YOU FIRED UP?!
|“We are already hearing from Republicans and Democrats in leadership positions that it is incumbent on Americans to normalize and legitimize the new Trump presidency. We are told to give him a chance, to reach across the aisle, and that we must work hard, in PRESIDENT OBAMA’S formulation, to make sure that Trump succeeds. but before you decide to take Obama’s advice, I would implore you to stand firm and even angry on this one point at least: The current Supreme Court vacancy is not Trump’s to fill. This was President Obama’s vacancy and President Obama’s nomination. Please don’t tacitly give up on it because it was stolen by unprecedented obstruction and contempt. Instead, do to them what they have done to us. Sometimes, when they go low, we need to go lower, to protect a thing of great value.” Slate’s Dahlia Lithwick says the Supreme Court was stolen by Republicans, and Democrats can’t let them get away with it.
THERE SHE GOES, THERE SHE GOES AGAIN
|We hear from Dahlia Lithwick once more with a piece in The Guardian about the damage DONALD TRUMP’S judges will do to everything from our climate to civil rights to police controls. Even though Trump will likely inherit a Supreme Court vacancy, Lithwick writes, “None of this begins to match the importance of four years of Trump judges in the lower federal courts and the federal appeals courts, an area in which PRESIDENT OBAMA has had a massive impact in recent years, even if it went largely unnoticed by the press and the electorate.”
EVEN THE BEST MADE PLANS
|So who exactly can we expect as a SCOTUS nominee under DONALD TRUMP? Joan Biskupic with CNN gives us the rundown on how this shakes out, providing us a profile of his future Supreme Court nominees. She notes though, that even if Trump and his administration sticks to the classic GOP blueprint of a SCOTUS nominee, they still might not like what they get. See the 1990 selection of DAVID SOUTER whom PRESIDENT H.W.’S chief of staff called a “home run” for conservatives…whose final score added up to one of the most liberal records in decades.
IVY OUT, HEARTLAND IN
|For The New York Times, Adam Liptak notes the two lists DONALD TRUMP produced of his list of potential Supreme Court nominees breaks with the tradition of having conservative justices from Harvard or Yale and who served on federal appeals courts in the Northeast or California. “If the list has a main theme, it is that there are plenty of good judges who went to law school at places like Notre Dame, Marquette, the University of Georgia and the University of Miami.”
EYES ON YOU
|“One of the most intriguing candidates on the list includes avid Twitter user and Texas Supreme Court Justice DON R. WILLETT.” Patrick Gregory with Bloomberg BNA reports.
INTO THE WILD
|Eight of DONALD TRUMP’S 21 potential Supreme Court nominees will be out on the town this weekend at the Federalist Society’s annual national convention in Washington. These eight judges will moderate panel discussions, most of which are devoted to the legacy of the late JUSTICE ANTONIN SCALIA. Marcia Coyle with The National Law Journal reports.
WATCHA SAY
|“Despite 25 years of writing opinions, U.S. Supreme Court JUSTICE CLARENCE THOMAS is probably best known by the public for his silence during oral argument.” Tony Mauro with The National Law Journal reports on five questions the Supreme Court justice actually asked at oral argument. Whoa five – who else is overwhelmed by such a large number?
IS THIS REAL LIFE?
|Never afraid to share her opinion, or disappointment for that matter, the Notorious JUSTICE RUTH BADER GINSBURG acknowledged Monday that DONALD TRUMP will be the one to fill JUSTICE ANTONIN SCALIA’S empty seat. “There is an existing vacancy, and President Trump will fill it.”
THE END OF AN ERA
|A Trump presidency could very well mean the end of Roe v. Wade as it stands in America today, with the result being a patchwork map with some states protecting abortion access while other impose bans.
BACK TO WORK
|In January, JUDGE MERRICK GARLAND will return to work work work work work, but odds are it won’t be at the Supreme Court. CNN’s Ariane de Vogue reports, “Senate Republicans torpedoed Garland’s nomination to the Supreme Court by refusing to hold a hearing on him for months, and DONALD TRUMP’S victory killed it outright…But as Garland takes his seat again as the chief judge of the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, he will be remembered by liberals as the nominee whose seat on the Supreme Court was stolen by Republican senators. Those senators forever changed the Supreme Court nomination process.”
ED BOARD OVERTURE
|The Editorial Board of the Los Angeles Times hasn’t given up hope on the nomination of JUDGE MERRICK GARLAND, and it doesn’t think we should either. The Board writes, “We know what you’re thinking.” It ain’t gonna happen. But if the Senate has any consideration for their own long-term political success, LAT thinks GOP senators might wise up still. Because the consequences of not doing so would be far worse for Republicans in the end – Democrats could filibuster until the end of time, taking the “extraordinary step” of killing the filibuster doesn’t bode well for a future Republican president with a Dem-controlled Senate, and no matter what, senators have an inherent respect for their constitutional duty. Right. And because 2016 is the year in which everything went as planned…
OTHER NEWS
Could a Trump Administration Overturn Roe v. Wade?
New York MagazineLess than ten years after Roe was decided, President Reagan entered the White House with an anti-abortion agenda, appointing three Supreme Court justices he thought would overturn Roe. Then, in 1992, Reagan nominee Justice Kennedy affirmed Roe in Planned Parenthood v. Casey and the whole agenda went out the window.
Trump's Threat to Abortion Rights Isn't Immediate
BloombergIt’s going to take some time for Trump to get enough Supreme Court appointments to overturn Roe, or more precisely Planned Parenthood v. Casey, the 1992 decision that formally upheld Roe while replacing its doctrinal framework.
Shifting Stance of Trump's DOJ May Impact Voting Rights Litigation
The National Law Journal“Although the general election is in the rear-view mirror, battles over voting rights in Texas appear set to remain on federal court dockets for at least the rest of the year. And the shift from the Obama administration to a Republican executive branch led by the President-elect Donald Trump may have a significant impact on those battles.”
The Kids Suing the Government Over Climate Change Are Our Best Hope Now
Slate“After a week that sent advocates of a habitable Earth reeling, new hope has emerged that could make way for substantial climate action in the near term—even during a Trump administration: The children and young adults suing the federal government for their right to a stable climate can now proceed to trial, an unprecedented move in the American legal system.”