SANDRA DAY O’CONNOR TO RETIRE FROM PUBLIC LIFE | SCOTUS Stops Wilbur Ross Deposition | Age Isn’t Just A Number
October 23, 2018
OUR SCOTUS TRAILBLAZER
|The first woman to ever serve on the Supreme Court, former JUSTICE SANDRA DAY O’CONNOR, announced today that she is in the early stages of what is likely Alzheimer’s disease. She says she will be retiring from public life. O’Connor served on the high court from 1981 to 2006 as a key swing vote, often bridging the gap between conservatives and liberals on the court.
QUESTION? WE HAVE A QUESTION
|The Supreme Court yesterday temporarily blocked a court order that would have required Secretary of Commerce WILBUR ROSS to give a deposition in a lawsuit challenging the addition of a question concerning citizenship to the 2020 census. The government had asked the Supreme Court to block questioning of Ross as part of a lawsuit filed by several states, including New York, and civil rights groups seeking to stop the administration from adding the citizenship question to the decennial count. It is one of six legal challenges to the question, which Ross announced March 26 would be added to the survey to help enforce the Voting Rights Act. The states and groups say it will intimidate some from participating in the census which would result in inaccuracies. The Trump administration had urged SCOTUS to stop the deposition arguing Ross’s motivations for adding a question to the census about citizenship were legally irrelevant.
WHAT DO KIDS KNOW ANYWAY
|In The Washington Post, Brady Dennis reports on the Supreme Court’s decision to intervene on the case being mounted by young activists trying to get the federal government to roll back its support of fossil fuel extraction and pro-carbon emissions policies that pollute our air and contribute to climate change. But Dennis notes, “An order late last week from CHIEF JUSTICE JOHN ROBERTS JR. handed a notable, if temporary, victory to the federal government, which has for years tried unsuccessfully to halt a landmark suit by 21 young people who argue that the failure of U.S. leaders to combat climate change violates their constitutional right to a clean environment.”
AGE ISN'T JUST A NUMBER
|And in The New York Times, John Schwartz introduces us to the environmental lawyer representing the young people in the unprecedented climate case. He notes that the age of the plaintiffs is central to their argument: “For older Americans, the potentially catastrophic effects of climate change are somebody else’s problem. But today’s children will be dealing with disaster within their lifetimes; the youngest of the plaintiffs, Levi Draheim, will be just 33 in 2040, the year by which a United Nations scientific panel now expects some of the biggest crises to begin.”
SCOTUS VIEWS
The Supreme Court's 30 Years War Is Finally Over
The Washington Post“For six decades the court has been assigning to itself an ever larger and more powerful role in the nation’s life. It has gone from being the umpire of disputes — the metaphor popularized by Roberts in his confirmation hearing — to a role more closely resembling that of a commissioner of a major sports league. Commissioners such as the National Football League’s Roger Goodell and the National Basketball Association’s Adam Silver are less arbitrators of disputes than czars of their domains. And that is what the court has morphed into: the commissioner of the United States Politics League. This must end.”
The Far-Reaching Threats Of A Conservative Court
The New York Times“With the start of the Supreme Court’s new term, many people are wondering whether the conservative majority, which has taken a further step to the right with the appointment of Brett Kavanaugh, will overturn Roe v. Wade. But that’s not where the action is. As two cases argued before the court this month illustrate, the real question is whether it will undermine the system of government that has protected the public from abusive business practices since the New Deal.”
OTHER NEWS
An Oregon Bakery Fined For Turning Away A Lesbian Couple Is Appealing To The Supreme Court
The Oregonian“The owners of a shuttered Gresham bakery fined by the state after refusing to make a wedding cake for a lesbian couple want to take their case to the U.S. Supreme Court. Lawyers for Aaron and Melissa Klein, the former owners of Sweet Cakes by Melissa, filed a petition Monday asking the high court to overturn the state’s order to pay $135,000 in emotional damages to the couple they turned away.”
The Supreme Court Stepped In To Stall A Climate Lawsuit. That's Really Weird.
Vox“And again, it is extremely unusual for the Supreme Court to step in to block a legal proceeding in a lower court. But then this is an unusual case. The plaintiffs essentially are arguing that a safe climate is a civil right, so the implications for climate change policy are huge. Though the case is in uncharted legal territory, it has survived several legal challenges and motions to dismiss, and lower federal courts have allowed it to proceed.”