Tag Archives: Supreme Court

SCOTUS To Hear Challenge To Social Media Moderation

NBC News reports: The Supreme Court on Friday waded into the divisive issue of online censorship by agreeing to decide the constitutionality of laws in Florida and Texas that seek to prevent social media companies from banning users for contentious rhetoric. The laws, backed by Republicans, have been characterized by their supporters as hitting back at alleged censorship of conservative …

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Elena Kagan Calls For SCOTUS “Code Of Conduct”

USA Today reports: Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan says she hopes colleagues will adopt an ethics “code of conduct,” while a new report details a relationship between Justice Clarence Thomas and conservative political activists. New ethics rules would “go far in persuading other people that we were adhering to the highest standards of conduct,” Kagan said during a Friday speech …

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Thomas Secretly Attended Koch Bros Donor Summits

ProPublica reports: On Jan. 25, 2018, dozens of private jets descended on Palm Springs International Airport. Some of the richest people in the country were arriving for the annual winter donor summit of the Koch network, the political organization founded by libertarian billionaires Charles and David Koch. A long weekend of strategizing, relaxation in the California sun and high-dollar fundraising …

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QAnon Ginni Plotted Windfall From SCOTUS Ruling

Politico reports: The Supreme Court’s decision in the 2010 Citizens United case transformed the world of politics. It loosened restrictions on campaign spending and unleashed a flow of anonymous donor money to nonprofit groups run by political activists. In the months before the ruling dropped in January of that year, a group of conservative activists came together to create just …

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Justice Alito Refuses Lawmakers’ Demand To Recuse

Courthouse News reports: Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito released a sharp statement on Friday, rebutting a request from lawmakers to step down from an upcoming tax case after he gave an interview with an attorney involved in the matter. In July, Alito sat for an interview with David Rivkin Jr. and James Taranto to discuss the workings of the court. …

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Senate Dem Files Ethics Complaint Against Samuel Alito

Congress Minutes reports: Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse wrote to Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts Monday to lodge an ethics complaint against Justice Samuel Alito and ask Roberts to investigate. “On the Senate Judiciary Committee, we have heard in every recent confirmation hearing that it would be improper to express opinions on matters that might come before the Court,” Whitehouse (D-R.I.) …

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Thomas Discloses Three Trips Paid For By Harlan Crow

The Hill reports: Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has disclosed three trips he accepted from billionaire Harlan Crow last year, according to documents made public Thursday. Thomas has denied any wrongdoing in accepting the trips, two of which were to Dallas and one to Keese Mill, N.Y. His new financial disclosure form also includes supplemental information about a 2014 real …

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Rogues Gallery Attests To Thomas’ Moral Character

The Huffington Post reports: The group of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas’ former clerks who signed on to a letter this week defending the justice from “attacks on his integrity, his character [and] his ethics” included one individual whose integrity has been drawn into serious question: John C. Eastman. Eastman is accused of undermining the core of American democracy — …

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USPS To Unveil Ruth Bader Ginsburg “Forever” Stamp

Via press release from the United States Postal Service: The United States Postal Service is proud to announce the dedication ceremony for a new Forever stamp honoring Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, celebrating her groundbreaking contributions to justice, gender equality and the rule of law. The Ruth Bader Ginsburg stamp features an oil painting of her in her black …

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Ex-Trump Lawyer: GA Trial Won’t Happen For Two Years

“There’s no chance in my view that Fani Willis goes [to trial] within two years. Everybody will have motions galore. And if it takes her, you know, two years — I mean, heaven forbid that Trump wins the presidency — then there will be a fight to the Supreme Court over whether she can proceed against the sitting president during …

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House Dems Call For DOJ Probe Into Clarence Thomas

Axois reports: A group of leading House Democrats on Friday called for the Justice Department to open an investigation into Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. Calls by Democratic lawmakers for the court to conduct an internal inquiry into Thomas’ lavish donor-funded trips, as well as their efforts to conduct their own probe, have been met with stonewalling. “We write to …

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REVEALED: More Unreported Gifts To Clarence Thomas

ProPublica reports: During his three decades on the Supreme Court, Clarence Thomas has enjoyed steady access to a lifestyle most Americans can only imagine. A cadre of industry titans and ultrawealthy executives have treated him to far-flung vacations aboard their yachts, ushered him into the premium suites at sporting events and sent their private jets to fetch him — including, …

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Experts: Supreme Court Unlikely To Halt Trump Trials

The Hill reports: Legal experts say the Supreme Court is unlikely to intercede in the criminal cases against former President Trump to stave off convictions on multiple felony counts, even though Trump appointed three of the six justices on the conservative-leaning court. The experts The Hill spoke with are more divided, however, on the question of whether the Supreme Court …

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Questions Arise Over Clarence Thomas’s $267,000 RV

The New York Times reports: His Prevost Marathon cost $267,230, according to title history records obtained by The New York Times. And Justice Thomas, who in the ensuing years would tell friends how he had scrimped and saved to afford the motor coach, did not buy it on his own. In fact, the purchase was underwritten, at least in part, …

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Trump Calls On SCOTUS To “Intercede” In His Case

Posted this morning to Trump’s Truth Social account: CRAZY! My political opponent has hit me with a barrage of weak lawsuits, including D.A., A.G., and others, which require massive amounts of my time & money to adjudicate. Resources that would have gone into Ads and Rallies, will now have to be spent fighting these Radical Left Thugs in numerous courts …

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Alito: Congress Lacks Power To Impose Ethics Code

The Associated Press reports: Justice Samuel Alito says Congress lacks the power to impose a code of ethics on the Supreme Court, making him the first member of the court to take a public stand against proposals in Congress to toughen ethics rules for justices in response to increased scrutiny of their activities beyond the bench. “I know this is …

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Musk To Appeal SEC’s Tesla Ruling To Supreme Court

Reuters reports: Elon Musk plans to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to consider whether the Securities and Exchange Commission overstepped its authority in enforcing a consent decree that he has called a “muzzle” on his free speech. Musk would be appealing a decision by the 2nd U.S. Circuit of Appeals in Manhattan to uphold the decree, which arose from his …

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Alabama Gov Signs House Map In Defiance Of SCOTUS

Reuters reports: Alabama’s Republican-controlled legislature on Friday passed a new congressional map that increased the number of Black voters in one of the state’s districts, but Democrats said the plan defied a U.S. Supreme Court ruling intended to protect minority voters’ rights. Civil rights groups have already vowed to challenge the new map in court, a month after the Supreme …

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Supreme Court Declines To Halt Execution By Alabama

The Birmingham News reports: Alabama has executed James Barber for the 2001 beating death of a 75-year-old Madison County woman. The execution early Friday morning at Holman Correctional Facility near Atmore came after the U.S. Supreme Court denied a request by Barber, 64, to stop the lethal injection execution because he claimed the previous two attempts on other inmates in …

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Senate Judiciary Panel Advances SCOTUS Ethics Bill

ABC News reports: The Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday — for the first time — voted to advance legislation that would require the U.S. Supreme Court to adopt a binding code of ethics, to adhere to more stringent disclosure requirements and explain recusal decisions to the public. The vote was 11-10 along party lines, with all Democrats in support and …

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