SCOTUS DISMISSES TRAVEL BAN, HAWAII STILL SWINGING | Gorsuch Shaking Things Up | On This Day, Anita Hill Testified
October 11, 2017
BYE BYE BABY, BABY GOODBYE
|Yesterday, the Supreme Court dismissed the case against the earlier version of the TRUMP travel ban as moot because it has expired, and now replaced. The high court vacated the decision of the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals that ruled the president’s earlier temporary travel ban was unconstitutional. JUSTICE SONIA SOTOMAYOR dissented and said SCOTUS should not set aside the lower court’s ruling. However, it may be the battle over the ban isn’t over entirely. The underlying dispute has yet to be settled, with advocacy and immigrant rights groups currently challenging the latest travel ban which was no time limit.
NO I WON'T BACK DOWN
|With superb timing, lawyers representing the state of Hawaii asked a judge yesterday to stop the current version of DONALD TRUMP’S travel ban which will take effect next week. Hawaii is seeking a nationwide block on the ban and has been fighting the iterations of this policy nonstop since February.
TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS
|In a friend-of-the-court brief filed with the Supreme Court Tuesday, 76 businesses—including tech giants, financial institutions and sports teams—urged the justices to create uniform federal protections for gay, lesbian and transgender employees. Companies on the brief included Uber, American Airlines, Starbucks, Facebook, Google, the Miami Heat and Estée Lauder.
I'M SHOOK
|CNN’s Ariane de Vogue reports newcomer JUSTICE NEIL GORSUCH “has shaken relations at the high court with actions that show—depending on one’s view—a degree of arrogance or independence.” She notes that the thing to watch for is whether Gorsuch’s staunch conservatism, along with the personal tensions that seem to be brewing, will push the other conservative justices to the left.
WELCOME BACK
|Marcia Coyle with The National Law Journal writes former Obama administration U.S. Solicitor General DONALD VERRILLI will return to the Supreme Court in an upcoming gay rights challenge, advocating on behalf of the challengers to a Mississippi law that allows religious objectors to refuse service to gay, lesbian and transgender individuals. Coyle reports on the SCOTUS return and the case that brings Verrilli back.
MOVIE NEWS & REVIEWS
|The upcoming film Marshall gets the Vox treatment with a review from Alissa Wilkinson. She notes that the biggest problem with the film is that the character of THURGOOD MARSHALL isn’t even the main the protagonist. Rather, it’s Sam Friedman played by JOSH GAD. Friedman is the Jewish insurance lawyer who gets roped into helping on a criminal case that turns him into a civil rights firebrand. Read the full review and go see the film which comes out Friday.
TODAY IN HISTORY
|On this day in 1991, ANITA HILL testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee and accused nominee CLARENCE THOMAS of sexually harassing her. Thomas responded to the accusations by calling the committee proceedings a “high-tech lynching.”