September 27, 2017
SCOTUS STAYS EXECUTION
|The Supreme Court granted a last-minute stay last night for a man, Keith Tharpe, who was set to be executed in Georgia for the 1991 murder of his sister-in-law. The decision pauses his execution while his lawyers argue that he shouldn’t be put to death because “racism played a pivotal role” in his sentencing. One of the jurors admitted that race played a role in his decision — the juror told lawyers he favored the death penalty because Tharpe is black, noting he sometimes wonders “if black people even have souls.”
BOUT TIME
|At long last, a whole year since its opening, the Museum of African American History now has a display honoring JUSTICE CLARENCE THOMAS. Tony Mauro with The National Law Journal reports on the new display which also features JUSTICE THURGOOD MARSHALL. Mauro writes, “Before the addition, the only reference to Thomas, the second African-American justice in history, was in a display about ANITA HILL, who accused Thomas of sexual harassment during his confirmation hearing in 1991.”
TODAY IN HISTORY
|While we’re talking Thomas, let us note that on this day in 1991, the Senate Judiciary Committee deadlocked 7-7 on the nomination of CLARENCE THOMAS to the high court.
ED BOARD OVERTURE
|The Editorial Board for USA Today says DONALD TRUMP’S third travel ban still doesn’t have any charm. “If Travel Ban 3 was a movie, critics would call it an improvement over the previous two releases but still not very good.”
SPEAKING OF MOVIES
|The new Supreme Court term starts next week and it promises to feature blockbuster cases and a president hoping to bend the branch to his will. Richard Wolf with USA Today previews the new term for us and points to a comment from JUSTICE RUTH BADER GINSBURG to effectively prepare us for what we can expect: “There’s only one prediction that’s entirely safe of the upcoming term, and that is it will be momentous.”
HOW MUCH IS TOO MUCH
|Next week, justices will consider whether there can be too much politics in the political task of drawing electoral districts — a question the Supreme Court has never before answered. Mark Sherman and Scott Bauer with The Associated Press preview this case, the implications of which could lead to massive changes in how we elect our leaders.
NO MATTER HOW YOU SLICE IT
|Partisan gerrymandering isn’t the only big-ticket item coming up on the SCOTUS docket — cakes are making headlines too. And big shocker here, Reuters reports that “no matter how you slice it,” JUSTICE ANTHONY KENNEDY holds the key vote in the big cake case out of Colorado. “How the court rules on the baker case and others this term could help shape Kennedy’s legacy even as some of his former law clerks have speculated he could retire next summer.”
ICYMI, BAD BOY ROY IS BACK
|Last night, former Alabama Supreme Court chief justice ROY MOORE won the race to be the state’s newest U.S. senator. He’s a former justice because you may remember Bad Boy Roy got into some trouble and was twice removed from judicial office — first, when he disobeyed a federal judge’s order to remove a Ten Commandments monument from the lobby of a state judicial building, and second, when he urged state judges not to enforce the Supreme Court’s decision legalizing gay marriage. The Associated Press put together a list of things to know about the new Alabama senator.
EVERYTHING'S COMING UP CORRUPT
|The Editorial Board of The New York Times addresses a federal appeals court decision to overturn the 2015 corruption convictions of former Albany powerhouse DEAN SKELOS and his son. The ruling is all too reminiscent of another corruption case involving former Assembly speaker SHELDON SILVER. NYT: “In both the Silver and Skelos cases, the appeals courts concluded that the trial judges’ instructions to the jurors were flawed in light of a United States Supreme Court decision in 2016 that narrowed the definition of what kinds of misconduct could support corruption charges…The Supreme Court decision, and the reversals of the Silver and Skelos verdicts that flowed from it, haunts the efforts to clean up Albany by putting people like Mr. Silver and Mr. Skelos behind bars.”
RBG ON SEXISM, AMERICA'S FUTURE AND COLIN KAEPERNICK
|The most notorious of justices, RUTH BADER GINSBURG, sat down with Charlie Rose of CBS last night to discuss everything from the new term, to her outlook on America’s future, to some of her past comments about COLIN KAEPERNICK. When Rose asked her about her vision for America’s future, Ginsburg replied that she’s worried, but hopeful. “I’m encouraged by the number of people, especially young people, who are expressing themselves in opposition. Reminding us of our most basic values: our freedom. And if we surrender that then we really are indistinguishable. It’s a real concern of mine.”