Daily Supreme Court News Briefing - June 3, 2024

🗽A well informed citizenry is the best defense against tyranny.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 3, 2024

People Power United declares the Supreme Court has become unhinged.

In response to recent Supreme Court shenanigans, People Power United - a progressive grassroots group - issued the following statement:

“The Supreme Court has become unhinged. There is no power like that of the people, and People Power United stands ready to protect our communities against any and all injustices,” said Laurie Woodward García of People Power United.

People Power United will continue to oppose such harm to our community and champion civil rights for all.

Daily Supreme Court News Briefing

Ethics

USA Today: Alito flew an upside-down American flag. What if a liberal Supreme Court justice did that?

• Rex Huppke argues that if a liberal justice flew a Black Lives Matter flag outside their home, the right would be up in arms about it. They say Alito flying an insurrectionist flag should be a much bigger deal and represent a dark undercurrent in our politics. 

LA Times: Column: The Supreme Court’s all-important Jan. 6 decisions will be tainted

Reproductive Rights

NBC: Texas Supreme Court rejects challenge to state's abortion ban over exceptions for pregnancy complications

• NBC reports that on Friday the Texas Supreme Court, which is made up entirely of Republican justices, “rejected a challenge to the state's abortion ban — a response to a lawsuit filed last year by a group of women who had serious pregnancy complications.” 

Also covered by: WSJ

Judicial Nominations

Bloomberg: Republicans Vow to Block Future Biden Judicial Nominees (2) 

• Tiana Headley reports that a group of ten Republican judges have vowed not to vote for any more of President Biden's judicial nominees, "effectively blocking the appointment of new district judges in Florida, Ohio, Wisconsin, and other states six months before Election Day." 

Trump 

HuffPost: Trump Calls On Supreme Court To Intervene After Historic Conviction

• Nick Visser reports that in a social media post on Sunday, Donald Trump explicitly called on the Supreme Court to help overturn his conviction. 

Salon: "I've never seen that": Legal scholars say Trump has opening to turn to Supreme Court for help

• Marina Villeneuve reports that some legal scholars, including Prof. Rick Hasen, say that there are a number of questions Donald Trump could take to the Supreme Court to get them to intervene in his conviction. She outlines possible avenues he could take. 

Media

Fox News: Liberal media use conspiracy theories to attack these Supreme Court justices

• Tim Graham criticizes MSNBC and Elie Mystal for their “character assassination” and use of “conspiracy theories” to discredit Alito and Thomas. 

National Review: The Media’s Coordinated Campaign to Destroy the Supreme Court

General

Politico: Thurgood Marshall Was My Mentor. He’d Be Furious with the Court Today.

• Professor Sheryll Cashin writes about Thurgood Marshall, her mentor, and how he would be ashamed of the current Supreme Court. She says that on the 70th anniversary of Brown v. Board, American “schools remain separate and unequal.” 

Politico: Using Math to Analyze the Supreme Court Reveals an Intriguing Pattern

• Sarah Isgur and Dean Jens analyze data about how often the 9 Supreme Court justices group together in rulings, saying that “the chart indicates that while the more ideological judges are likely to rule in concert with their ideology, you can expect the more institutionalist justices, like Roberts, to be thinking about the consequences of their decisions on the credibility of the court and the impact on the political system.”

Washington Post: The First Amendment gives the NRA a right to be wrong about the Second

1. The editorial board argues that the Supreme Court was right to rule in favor of the NRA and free speech. 

Rolling Stone: Supreme Court Architect Demands Justices Shield Big Oil From Historic Climate Trial 

• Charisma Madarang And Andrew Perez report that “Leonard Leo’s dark money network is publicly campaigning for the Supreme Court to quash Honolulu’s climate-related damages case.” 

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People Power United champions progressive values and power to the people.