With the death of RBG and the probable confirmation of a new Justice imminent…Let’s take a look at some of the landmark cases to come out of the SCOTUS over the years.
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Amy Coney Barrett, L, and Barbara Lagoa
With confirmation all but guaranteed, who are the frontrunners for the nomination?
First up is the conventional wisdom choice, Amy Coney Barrett. Barrett, 48, is a favorite of social conservatives. She currently holds a seat on the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, a position she was appointed to in 2017. She clerked for former Justice Antonin Scalia, something that President Trump noted in previous comments about her.
Barrett is a 1997 graduate of the Notre Dame law school, where she still teaches constitutional law. She is considered an originalist, and a protege of Antonin Scalia.
Next up is Barbara Lagoa, 52, a Cuban-American from Florida. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis appointed her to the Supreme Court of Florida in 2019 — she was the first Cuban-American woman to serve on the court, and is bilingual — before Trump nominated her to the Eleventh Circuit in September a year ago. She was confirmed in December. She served in private practice and as an Assistant U.S. Attorney before being appointed to Florida’s Third District Court of Appeal by then-Governor Jeb Bush.
Lagoa is a 1992 graduate of Columbia Law School, where she was the associate editor of the law review. Lagoa’s legal bona fides hold some political appeal for Trump as the election bears down — a woman of Hispanic heritage from Florida. Lagoa’s parents fled Cuba in 1966.
Related: SCOTUS Update
Before President Trump said he’d be nominating a woman, Amul Thapar, 51, was considered to be on the shortlist. He’s currently a judge on the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals. He was elevated to that seat by Trump in 2017.
While we don’t know who the nominee is going to be, it seems the confirmation is a forgone conclusion.
We already know perennial squishes Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski are “no” votes. However, even with those two defections, Mitch McConnell has the votes to confirm.
Senators Cory Gardner, Lindsey Graham, Chuck Grassley, Mike Lee and now Mitt Romney, the last potential hold out, have all issued statements in support of the nominee.
Related: RBG FALLOUT
As of today, the President plans on forwarding his nominee on Saturday. Stay tuned for a look at the frontrunners later today.
It’s been two days since Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died. Since then there have been all kinds of things happening.
Chuck Schumer, the Senate Minority leader, went directly to politics, even before condolences.
Mitch Mcconnell went on record as saying the President’s nominee will get a floor vote in the Senate a couple of hours after Schumer’s tweets.
The President said there would be a nominee this week and that it would be a woman. As of now, the front runners are 7th Circuit Court Judge Amy Coney Barrett, 11th Circuit Court Judge Barbara Lagoa and 4th Circuit Court Judge Allison Rushing. My money is on Coney Barrett, her name was floated as a potential replacement for Anthony Kennedy. That seat ultimately went to Brett Kavanaugh.
The left is falling back to its old playbook regarding this nomination. First, there were overt threats of violence, arson and unrest.
Next came the Court packing scheme. Though I think if it comes to that, they’ll pull back. FDR threatened the same thing in the late 30’s only to lose support with regular folks. The Dems lost a bunch of seats in the house and Senate over that.
The Biden Rule? Well even Joe said it doesn’t exist. And the so-called McConnell rule doesn’t apply. The issue in 2016 with Merrick Garland’s nomination was the Senate was led by Republicans and Obama was a Democrat. This time around, the White House and Senate are held by the same party.
The most recent thing they’re threatening is another impeachment. I don’t know on what grounds, other than Orange Man Bad, but the idea has been floated.
The Constitutional Suuuper Genius Alexandria Ocasio Cortez weighed in, saying we must honor RBG’s dying wish. I don’t recall dying wishes anywhere in the Constitution, or anywhere else in the US code for that matter. Ginsburg’s “dying wish” was that her seat not be filled until a new president takes office in January.
As of today, Mitch McConnell has the votes needed to confirm whoever Trump nominates. So far, Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska have both Indicated they won’t be voting for a nominee prior to the election.
The inevitable political fallout from the death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has begun already.
The left has started to melt down, comparing the Ginsburg vacancy to that of Antonin Scalia and the (failed) Merrick Garland nomination. The problem with that analogy is that the Senate in 2016 was Republican and the President a Democrat. A more apt comparison can be made with Sandra Day O’connor or John Paul Stevens. Both were confirmed in less than 40 day. And in both cases the Senate Majority and the President were of the same party.
President Trump tweeted the Republicans have an obligation to vote on a nominee without delay.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell released a statement saying whoever Trump nominates “will receive a vote on the floor of the United States Senate.”
Related: Ruth Bader Ginsburg Dead at 87
Meanwhile, those on the left are busily melting down over the potential for another Trump SCOTUS nominee. A common thread seems to be threats of riots and violence.
A mob decended on Mitch Mcconnell’s house after someone on twitter published his address. He wasn’t home at the time.
In a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court has denied a request to halt construction of the border wall over funding.
The Justices left in place a stay order that allows the Trump administration to redirect some $2.5 billion in Pentagon funds to build the president’s border wall.
In a dissenting opinion, Justice Breyer whined about the court’s refusal to lift the stay, calling it in effect “a final judgment” since the section of the wall in question may very well be constructed by the time the legal challenges are adjudicated. The court’s other liberals, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Elena Kagan, and Sonia Sotomayor also dissented.
In a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court has denied the appeal of a Nevada Church that was seeking relief of that states covid restrictions.
Nevada, as part of their covid restrictions, has capped church attendance at 50 regardless of the size of the church. Meanwhile, entertainment venues are allowed to operate at 50% capacity.
Justices Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh all issued dissenting opinions rejecting the constitutionality of the decision.
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“This is a simple case. Under the Governor’s edict, a 10-screen ‘multiplex’ may host 500 moviegoers at any time,” Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote Friday.
“In Nevada, it seems, it is better to be in entertainment than religion. Maybe that is nothing new. But the First Amendment prohibits such obvious discrimination against the exercise of religion,” he added.
The Supreme Court delivered rulings on a pair of requests for President Trump’s financial records. Both cases were remanded back to the lower courts.
In a 7-2 decision, the Supremes ruled that the request from Manhattan DA Cyrus Vance can go forward with the majority noting that blanket immunity does not apply in this case to stop the subpoena. It wasn’t a complete loss for the President though, the Court provided a roadmap on how the Trump team could challenge the subpoena going forward. This should drag the case out until after the election.
In the second case the Court ruled the lower courts did not give enough weight to the separation of powers, and remanded the case back to the lower courts for more deliberation.
This is a major setback for the House Democrats.
See also: Thursday conversation
The President had this to say about the decisions:
Regardless of how this is spun in the media, both rulings are a win for the Trump team. Neither case will be resolved prior to the November elections. And in this case, delay is as good as an outright win.
