SCOTUS ALLOWS CLIMATE SUITS TO PROCEED | An “Overlooked Consequence” Of Partisan Gerrymandering
October 23, 2019
HEATIN' UP
|The Supreme Court today allowed cases against oil companies to move forward, rejecting appeals from BP Plc, Chevron Corp., Suncor Energy Inc., Exxon Mobil Corp., and other companies seeking to freeze proceedings that accuse the industry of creating a public nuisance by producing and selling planet-warming fossil fuels. The high court gave no reason for its decision, though it did note that JUSTICE ALITO did not participate in the case — likely because of a financial conflict.
IT ALL COMES BACK TO THIS
|Reis Thebault with The Washington Post reports that one big-time consequence of the Supreme Court’s ruling on gerrymandering is the proliferation of stricter abortion laws. He reports on the case of Michigan, in which a battle to limit access to the abortion procedure was just made easier this week thanks to SCOTUS. Because of the ruling on Monday in which justices gave Michigan Republicans a victory when they threw out a lower court’s ruling that the state’s political district maps were illegally gerrymandered, those Republicans will remain in majority power and will likely usher in tighter abortion regulations. Thebault writes, “The age-old practice of hyperpartisan redistricting, experts say, has led to more-extreme laws countrywide — none more visible this year than those dealing with abortion.”
COMPARING WISH LISTS
|Kathleen Parker with The Washington Post notes that as the 2020 election looms large, one issue seems to be animating folks on both sides of the aisle: the Supreme Court. She addresses the call from the “Demand Justice” organization for Democratic presidential candidates to release their Supreme Court shortlists, as well as the shortlist Demand Justice itself recently released. “Demand Justice’s shortlist seems way off base. Only eight of the 32 people listed are currently judges, and the group opposes nominees with any corporate experience. The list is heavy with activists — public defenders, public-interest lawyers, academics and plaintiff lawyers. Here’s the problem: When people have a judicial background, there’s a record by which to judge their philosophy and judicial temperament, roughly defined as respect for the law, for other judges and for the litigants. And while the folks at Demand Justice don’t seem to share these concerns, they’re right to want to see the Democratic candidates’ lists. One would hope the Democratic nominee would favor experienced judges whose records can be assessed — and whose philosophy closely reflects the wisdom of the notorious RBG.”
IF I HAD A MILLION DOLLARS
|Speaking of RBG, the justice received this week a prestigious $1 million “thinkers” award. Richard Wolf with USA Today reports the 2019 Berggruen Prize for Philosophy & Culture is given annually to “thinkers whose ideas have profoundly shaped human self-understanding and advancement in a rapidly changing world.” The $1 million prize will go to charitable or non-profit organizations of her choice.
HARDER BETTER FASTER STRONGER
|Monday night in front of an audience at Berkeley Law, JUSTICE GINSBURG said that even after she was diagnosed for the fourth time with cancer, she never stopped working out. Ariane de Vogue and Chandelis Duster with CNN report that the justice reiterated something she’d shared before: that her cancer has left her with a “zest for life that you haven’t had before. You count each day as a blessing.”
OTHER NEWS
Celebrated Supreme Court Lawyer Neal Katyal Is Releasing His First Book, And It’s About Impeachment
Vanity Fair“Onstage at Vanity Fair’s New Establishment Summit Tuesday, in a conversation with musician and activist John Legend, he announced that he had signed a contract to release his first book. Impeach: The Case Against Donald Trump, written with Sam Koppelman will be released by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt on November 26. In the book, Katyal, who is a partner at Hogan Lovells and a professor at Georgetown University Law Center, discusses the legal context of impeachment and argues that the Ukraine scandal more than qualifies as an impeachable offense, adding that President Trump’s lack of accountability for his actions might be fatal to American democracy.”
Courts Dent Gig Companies' Shield Against 'Existential' Threat
Bloomberg Law“The mandatory arbitration contracts that have stopped drivers for app-based companies like Uber Technologies Inc. and GrubHub Inc. from claiming in court that they’re employees, and not independent contractors, may be on shaky ground thanks to a combination of high-level rulings. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled this year that contractors as well as employees can be covered by an exemption for transportation workers in the federal law that requires the enforcement of arbitration pacts. At least one federal appeals court has ruled that drivers transporting passengers or delivering goods qualify for that exemption, as long as they’re involved in interstate commerce.”