Sen. Joe Manchin (I-WV) announced he was “proud to introduce legislation” with Sen. Peter Welch (D-VT) “that would establish 18-year term limits for Justices of the United States Supreme Court.”
Justices Decline to Hear Case on Diversifying Schools
“The Supreme Court on Monday declined to decide whether three elite Boston public schools violated the Constitution with a zip-code based admissions policy intended to ensure racial diversity,” CNN reports.
“The appeal landed at the high court more than a year after a landmark 6-3 ruling ended affirmative action at universities and prompted school officials to experiment with ‘race neutral’ policies – such as those based on geography – to promote diversity but fend off court challenges.”
CBS News: Supreme Court turns away case over Boston high school admissions criteria.
Gorsuch Recuses From Case That Could Benefit Billionaire
“Justice Neil Gorsuch has recused himself from a case that is set to be argued in days after ethics watchdogs and Democratic lawmakers urged him to step aside because the outcome will likely affect the financial interests of a billionaire to whom he has longstanding ties,” the New York Times reports.
“The terse disclosure, made in a letter from a clerk to the Supreme Court to lawyers involved in the case, did not specify a reason, saying only that the decision was ‘consistent with the code of conduct.’ But the announcement, issued late Wednesday, was unusual for a case that the court agreed to take in June.”
Justices Appear Inclined to Uphold Transgender Law
“Members of the Supreme Court’s conservative majority seemed ready on Wednesday to uphold a Tennessee law denying transition care to transgender youth, with some of them saying that judgments about contested scientific evidence should be made by legislatures rather than judges,” the New York Times reports.
Democrats Bring Knives to Gunfights
Jonathan Last: “Let me propose a norm that should absolutely be broken: Sonia Sotomayor should retire today and her replacement should be confirmed by the Senate immediately.”
“Would that be irregular? Yes. Would it be difficult to execute? Yes. Would it carry a political cost for Democrats? Possibly.”
“But is such a maneuver permitted by the law? Absolutely. And the fact that Democrats have made no attempt to push Sotomayor out over the last month is an actual, real-life case of bringing a knife to a gun fight.”
McConnell Cries Foul After Judges Cancel Retirements
“Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) vented his displeasure Monday after two Democratic-appointed federal judges reversed their decisions to retire in what appear to be efforts to stop President-elect Trump from nominating their successors,” The Hill reports.
“McConnell called the unusual decisions to forgo retirement following Trump’s sweeping victory last month a ‘partisan’ gambit that would undermine the integrity of federal courts.”
Federal Judge Slams Biden Over Pardon Claims
“The federal judge presiding over Hunter Biden’s criminal case for tax evasion bashed President Joe Biden’s claim that the charges were politically motivated and even suggested the sweeping pardon he issued may have been defective,” Politico reports.
“In an order Tuesday evening, U.S. District Judge Mark Scarsi ultimately agreed to end the tax-related criminal proceedings against Hunter Biden in Los Angeles, but only after delivering a series of sharp rebukes to the president.”
Who Judges the Justices?
New York Times: “In private meetings and memos, the justices made new rules for themselves — then split on whether they could, or should, be enforced.”
Justices Take Up Case Testing Power of Agencies
“The Supreme Court agreed Friday to wade into a fight over Congress’ ability to delegate power to federal agencies — opening the next chapter in a decadeslong effort by conservatives and business interests to reduce the power of the federal government,” CNN reports.
“The appeal, filed by the Biden administration, comes months after the high court handed down a blockbuster ruling limiting the power of federal agencies to interpret vague federal laws on workplace conditions, environmental protections and consumer safeguards.”
Trump Won’t Make as Big an Impact on the Judiciary
Donald Trump is unlikely to make as big of an imprint on the federal judiciary as he did in his first term, the Washington Post reports.
If the Senate confirms President Biden’s remaining nominees, Trump will enter office with just 36 judicial vacancies left to fill.
Alito Plans to Remain on Supreme Court
“Justice Samuel Alito has no plans to step down from the Supreme Court, tamping down speculation among legal activists that the 74-year-old jurist was readying to retire so that President-elect Donald Trump could fill his seat with a younger conservative,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
Will the Supreme Court Stand Up to Trump?
Stephen Vladeck: “Based on Mr. Trump’s first four years in the White House, it stands to reason that there will be at least some cases in which his behavior goes too far for a majority of the current court — just as there have been cases in which even this court has pushed back against the excesses of Republican governors or conservative lower courts. If the court rules against Mr. Trump and he tells the justices to pound sand, what will happen then?”
The Supreme Court Is One of the Few Checks on Trump
“A U.S. Supreme Court transformed by Donald Trump now sits as one of the few potential checks on his authority as he returns to the White House,” Bloomberg reports.
“The president-elect has vowed to impose a 10% to 20% tariff on all imported goods, execute a mass deportation of undocumented immigrants and undo what the court left of Joe Biden’s environmental initiatives. But Trump hasn’t always gotten his way and he may need the court’s help to fulfill those ambitions.”
Sotomayor Is Expected to Remain on Supreme Court
“Despite calls from some liberal activists for Justice Sonia Sotomayor to step down while Democrats can fill her seat before political power changes hands in January, she has no plans to retire from the Supreme Court,“ the Wall Street Journal reports.
Said one person close to Sotomayor: “This is no time to lose her important voice on the court. She just turned 70 and takes better care of herself than anyone I know.”
NBC News: Bernie Sanders says he does not support urging Justice Sonia Sotomayor to step down.
Should Alito and Thomas Be Pushed to Retire?
“With Republicans set to regain control of the White House and the Senate, the spotlight has turned to the Supreme Court and whether the two oldest justices may step down, paving the way for President-elect Donald Trump to lock down a conservative supermajority for years,” the New York Times reports.
“But the open speculation about the justices, Clarence Thomas, 76, and Samuel A. Alito Jr., 74, has prompted fissures in the conservative world, eliciting a striking rebuke from Leonard Leo, a leader of the Federalist Society and arguably the most powerful figure in the conservative legal movement.”
Said Leo: “No one other than Justices Thomas and Alito knows when or if they will retire, and talking about them like meat that has reached its expiration date is unwise, uninformed and frankly just crass.”
Senate Democrats Eye Major Push to Confirm Biden Judges
“Senate Democrats are weighing a major push in the coming weeks to confirm as many of President Biden’s judicial nominees as they can in the lame-duck session of Congress, before their power to reshape the federal courts ends with the Republican takeover of the White House and the Senate in January,” the New York Times reports.
“About 30 nominees are currently in the confirmation pipeline.”
Leaker of Justice’s Health Info Gets Two Years
A former medical worker who was convicted of illegally accessing Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s hospital records as she underwent cancer treatment in 2019 was sentenced Thursday to two years in prison after a judge excoriated his “truly despicable conduct” and “stunning lack of empathy,” the Washington Post reports.
Democrats Agonize Over Sotomayor
Playbook: “Two months from now, Republicans will be in control of the U.S. Senate. They’ll have at least 53 seats. And as soon as Donald Trump is sworn in on Jan. 20, they’ll be revving up the old conveyor belt of conservative judicial nominees, tilting the courts further in their favor for decades.”
“For Democrats, this is a hair-on-fire moment. And though the discourse in the media is presently dominated by recriminations about how this all happened, another arguably more urgent conversation is blowing up largely outside of public view: whether to push for 70-year-old Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor to step down while Dems still have the power to approve her replacement.”
“This isn’t simply some flight of fancy happening among progressive activists online. It’s a conversation members of the Senate are actively engaged in.”
