HAPPY ELECTION DAY | SCOTUS Makes First Ruling Of New Term | Kavanaugh’s First Death Penalty Case

November 6, 2018

While a blue wave rises, the size of which still yet to be determined, business at the Supreme Court presses on per usual. And in keeping with much of the midterm coverage in recent days, the top issue is immigration. The Department of Justice has once again petitioned the Supreme Court to intervene in pending cases over the future of DACA, skipping ahead in the normal judicial process and wanting SCOTUS to intervene before lower courts have finished weighing in on the program. In its filing, the department said that allowing the cases to continue to move through the normal appeals process would cause an “untenable and unnecessary” delay in the administration’s efforts to eliminate the policy.

A majority of justices today seemed sympathetic to the pleas of a Missouri man on death row arguing the state’s method of legal injection will cause him needless suffering due to a medical condition. It’s possible that the way SCOTUS rules on this case could come down to the newb, BRETT KAVANAUGH. In his first death penalty case, it seemed as though Kavanaugh could break with his conservative colleagues and side with the court’s four liberals.

The Supreme Court handed down its first ruling of the new term today, ruling unanimously in favor of two Arizona firefighters who claimed they were fired because of their advanced age. JUSTICE RUTH BADER GINSBURG wrote the opinion and noted that the Age Discrimination Act covers state and local governments without regard to the number of workers they employ.

Monday, REP. STEVE KING said he hopes after today’s elections Republicans will have a 7-2 majority on the Supreme Court and that he hopes JUSTICES ELENA KAGAN and SONIA SOTOMAYOR will “elope to Cuba.”

CBS News takes a look at the work JUSTICES SONIA SOTOMAYOR and NEIL GORSUCHare doing to promote better civic education and engagement. Gorsuch was quoted as saying, “It’s important if we the people are going to run our government, that we know what it is, how it works, and how we can participate in it.”

If you haven’t already, hop to it and get to the polls! We’ll be back tomorrow with more SCOTUS news and analysis once results are in and we have an idea of what the next two years might look like under a new Congress.