Category Archives: Supreme Court Issues

Supreme Court Rules For Coporations In Hobby Lobby

You can read the ruling in pdf form here, and Ginsburg’s mammoth, strongly-worded dissent here. Sarah Kliff sums up the ruling in three sentences: 1. A federal law called the Religious Freedom Restoration Act was written to protect individuals’ religious … Continue reading

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Utah Has Legal Same-Sex Marriage (for now)

Well, that was unexpected. From Scotusblog: Directly applying the Supreme Court’s decision striking down the federal Defense of Marriage Act to a state’s ban on same-sex marriage, a federal judge in Salt Lake City ruled Friday that Utah’s voter-approved state constitutional … Continue reading

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Section 1311: How The Supreme Court Could Still Trash Obamacare

I think it’s likely that, in the future, “section 1311” be as familiar a phrase to my people1 as “hanging chad.” Michael Cannon and Jonathan Adler are leading the charge on this issue on the right. They write: To advance … Continue reading

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North Carolina Republicans To Challenge Voter Registrations Of Students At Black University

This is how Republicans are trying to win elections. The Watauga County Board of Elections voted Monday to eliminate an early voting site and election-day polling precinct on the campus of Appalachian State University. The Pasquotank County Board of Elections … Continue reading

Posted in Elections and politics, Race, racism and related issues, Supreme Court Issues | Comments Off  

A Qualified Victory In The Supreme Court: DOMA and Prop 8

I spent most of the past two days either in transit or kept busy and away from the internet, which proves to be lousy timing, as I’ve been unable to post about either the SCOTUS’s heartbreaking evisceration of the Voting … Continue reading

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Oral Arguments In Windsor: DOMA May Be Toast

Audio is here, and the transcript is here (in pdf form). From Lyle Denniston at SCOTUSblog: If the Supreme Court can find its way through a dense procedural thicket, and confront the constitutionality of the federal law that defined marriage … Continue reading

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SCOTUSblog Predicts A Modest Victory For Prop 8 Opponents In The Supreme Court

UPDATE: Towelroad has an audio recording of today’s oral arguments, and also a transcript. Tom Goldstein of the highly respected SCOTUSblog was in the audience for the Supreme Court’s oral arguments today in the Proposition 8 case, and came away … Continue reading

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Olson and Boies’ Supreme Court brief against Prop 8

For discussion, I’m posting the entire introduction to Olson and Boies’ Supreme Court brief, which is excellent. I especially like, and agree with, their point that it is the opponents of marriage equality who are “redefining marriage” with their “cramped … Continue reading

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Excellent article on the “standing” issues in the two same-sex marriage cases

Linda Greenhouse, the amazingly good Supreme Court reporter, has a detailed explanation of what the “standing” issues in the two same-sex marriage cases are. If you’ve been confused on this question, I highly recommend reading her article.

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Postscript Regarding Employers Trying To Use Health Insurance To Force Their Beliefs on Employees

Back in March, I argued that employers don’t have any moral right to prevent workers from using employer-provided insurance to buy birth control, any more than employers have the right to prevent workers from using employer-provided paychecks to buy birth … Continue reading

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