Trump And Democrats Pressure Biden To Release SCOTUS List | Justice Breyer On Threats To Our Democracy
September 17, 2020
ICYMI
|The Supreme Court will start off its new term the same way it ended the last one: by holding oral arguments via telephone due to the pandemic and allowing the public to listen in live. SCOTUS has also noted that it will monitor public health guidance to determine how to handle November and December argument sessions. Robert Barnes with The Washington Post writes, “The court’s reluctance to set rules beyond its opening two-week set of hearings indicates justices are hopeful about returning to in-person arguments. But even when that happens, groups are asking the justices not to abandon live audio of their proceedings, and perhaps to expand it.”
SHOWED YOU MINE NOW SHOW ME YOURS
|Bill Barrow with the Associated Press reports on JOE BIDEN resisting calls to release a list of potential Supreme Court picks. He previously pledged to name the first Black female justice to the high court, and folks on the left and the right are eager for him to suggest just who that might be. Barrow notes, “Trump, meanwhile, is eager to comb through a list to find possible nominees who would bolster his false depiction of Biden as an extreme liberal…But some of Biden’s allies say a list won’t provide the same payoff for him and could hurt him by distracting voters from Trump’s handling of the coronavirus and give the president fuel to suggest Biden’s choices are too far left.”
NO WHINERS IN THIS HOUSE
|Karen Sloan with The National Law Journal covers an appearance from JUSTICE STEPHEN BREYER today in which he delivered Constitution Day remarks to the George Washington University community. And apparently the justice had some choice words for those concerned about threats to our democracy — “Stop complaining and start participating,” he said.
BAD MATH
|Hansi Lo Wang with NPR reports the Trump administration made moves this week to appeal SCOTUS and try to revive the president’s attempt to exclude unauthorized immigrants from the census count. Citizens and noncitizens — regardless of immigration status — have been included in the census numbers since the first U.S. census in 1790.
SCOTUS VIEWS
Why Trump’s Supreme Court Fantasy List Is Bad for Real Life
The New York Times“What does it mean that we now practically elect our Supreme Court justices? True, they’re supposed to be nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate, not elected, but that’s becoming a quaint anachronism like other parts of the Constitution — the emoluments clause, say, or the idea that laws come from votes in Congress rather than executive orders.”
OTHER NEWS
Pennsylvania Supreme Court Strikes Green Party Presidential Ticket From Ballot, Clearing The Way For Mail Ballots To Be Sent Out
The Washington Post“The Pennsylvania Supreme Court on Thursday blocked the Green Party presidential ticket from state ballots, allowing state and local election officials to resume preparations for Nov. 3 and begin mailing ballots to voters. The court ruled that presidential contender Howie Hawkins and his running mate, Angela Walker, did not qualify for the ballot because the party did not submit signed filing papers in person, as required by state rules. It’s the second such ruling in a week. On Monday, the Wisconsin Supreme Court found deficiencies in the Green Party’s ballot petition in that state, excluding the party from the ballot.”