Tag Archives: Supreme Court

CNN reports: Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is delivering his final remarks on the Senate floor right now on Amy Coney Barrett’s nomination. But in what is unusual for the majority leader, he is delivering his speech largely to his GOP conference. He is turning to them and gesturing to them frequently. And like they did yesterday for the procedural vote, …

Politico reports: The Senate cleared a key procedural hurdle Sunday for Amy Coney Barrett’s nomination for the Supreme Court, bringing the 48-year-old judge one step closer to confirmation to the high court. In a 51-48 vote, the Senate kicked off 30 hours of debate on Barrett’s nomination, setting up a final confirmation vote for Monday evening, just eight days before …

CNN reports: Sen. Lisa Murkowski announced Saturday that she will ultimately vote yes on Amy Coney Barrett’s confirmation to the Supreme Court of the United States. “I believe that the only way to put us back on the path of appropriate consideration of judicial nominees, is to evaluate Judge Barrett as we would want to be judged — on the …

“If elected what I will do is I’ll put together a national commission of — bipartisan commission of — scholars, constitutional scholars, Democrats, Republicans, liberal, conservative, and I will ask them to over 180 days come back to me with recommendations as to how to reform the court system because it’s getting out of whack, the way in which it’s …

Reuters reports: The Republican-led Senate Judiciary Committee is set to vote on Thursday on President Donald Trump’s nomination of Amy Coney Barrett to a lifetime U.S. Supreme Court post, with Democrats boycotting the proceedings after fiercely opposing her confirmation. Barrett, a federal appeals court judge whose confirmation would expand the top U.S. judicial body’s conservative majority to 6-3, was poised …

From the Public Religion Research Institute: The vast majority of Americans (70%) favor allowing gay and lesbian couples to marry legally, compared to 28% of Americans who oppose it. Majorities of Democrats (80%) and independents (76%), as well as half of Republicans (50%), support same-sex marriage. White evangelical Protestants stand out as the only major religious group in which a …

“In the end, this may wind up again in the Supreme Court and the legislature’s asserting itself and the legislature’s saying, ‘No. I am a delegate in the Pennsylvania legislature, I am a — a state senator in the Pennsylvania legislature. I have an obligation to the Federal Constitution under Article II. I am obliged by that Federal Constitution under …

The Hill reports: Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) posted a video on Twitter Monday which showed two women confronting him in an airport over the nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court. One woman can be heard at the beginning of the video loudly telling the senator, “Look me in the eye.” Graham asks the woman where she …

The Associated Press reports: The Supreme Court will allow Pennsylvania to count ballots received up to three days after the election, rejecting a Republican plea. The justices divided 4-4 Monday, an outcome that upholds a state Supreme Court ruling that allowed election officials to receive and count ballots until Nov. 6, even if they don’t have a clear postmark. Republicans, …

Reuters reports: The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday agreed to decide the legality of one of President Donald Trump’s hardline immigration policies that has forced tens of thousands of migrants along the southern border to wait in Mexico, rather than entering the United States, while their asylum claims are processed. The justices will hear a Trump administration appeal of a …

The Guardian reports: Speaking on Fox News Sunday, Pete Buttigieg, who married his husband Chasten in 2018, indicated that the court’s 2015 decision that made same-sex marriage legal was among a number of rulings a strong conservative majority could look to overturn. Republicans are seeking to seat Barrett before the 3 November general election. The Senate judiciary committee will vote …

CNN reports: Joe Biden said he is “not a fan” of court-packing, but whether he ultimately seeks to push for more seats on the Supreme Court depends on how Senate Republicans handle the confirmation process of Amy Coney Barrett. “It depends on how this turns out,” Biden said. Pressed on what that means, he said, “if there’s actually real, live …

ABC News reports: The Senate Judiciary Committee is poised to take the first steps toward approving Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett Thursday as the last day of confirmation hearings begin. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham scheduled a procedural vote for Thursday at 9 a.m. Barrett’s nomination is expected to be brought up for a vote at that meeting …

Reuters reports: President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett on Wednesday said it is an “open question” as to whether Trump could pardon himself while adding that the top U.S. judicial body “can’t control” whether a president obeys its decisions. Trump has said he has the “absolute power” to pardon himself, part of his executive clemency authority. Asked …

The Washington Post reports: Barrett said Wednesday that she believed two Supreme Court decisions outlawing racial discrimination were correctly decided but declined to say the same for other landmark opinions involving gay rights and access to contraceptives. Those responses came under questioning from Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), who asked her whether Brown v. Board of Education, which outlawed the “separate …

The New York Times reports: During the first round of questioning in her Supreme Court confirmation hearing, Judge Amy Coney Barrett faced a wide variety of meaningful inquiries about her background in a predominantly civil marathon on Tuesday. But with many of the more technical questions asked, committee members will now begin shorter, 20-minute rounds in which they may look …

NPR reports: The Trump administration can end counting for the 2020 census after the Supreme Court approved a request for now to suspend a lower court order that extended the count’s schedule. The high court’s ruling, following an emergency request the Justice Department made last week, is the latest turn in a roller coaster of a legal fight over the …

NBC News reports: Attorneys for President Donald Trump have asked the Supreme Court for an emergency application to stay — or put on hold — the recent decision by an appeals court to let Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance get Trump’s tax documents pursuant to a grand jury subpoena. Trump’s attorneys are asking for the stay pending the filing of …

The Guardian reports: Moments ago, Amy Coney Barrett was asked about Antonin Scalia’s criticism of the ruling that established the right for same-sex couples to marry. Again relying on the “Ginsburg rule,” Barrett declined to offer an opinion on Scalia’s criticism. But she said, “I have never discriminated on the basis of sexual preference and would not ever discriminate on …

Bloomberg Law reports: Democrats will get their first crack at questioning Amy Coney Barrett on Tuesday during her U.S. Supreme Court confirmation hearing, where they plan to focus on how she might move the court in a more conservative direction on issues such as health care and abortion. Asking their pointed questions for American voters to hear, and drawing whatever …