Kids — and specifically, public school students — don’t have the same free speech rights adults do. In 1969, the Supreme Court ruled that public schools could punish students for disruptive speech (read the decision here) because, as Vox put it (here), “Teachers and school ad[...]
Posts Tagged ‘Supreme Court’
Barrett confirmation getting shakier but it’s not earthquake-shaky yet
This article contains news with liberal commentary. It’s too soon to play a requiem mass for Trump’s pending Supreme Court nomination, but with 3 GOP members of the Senate Judiciary Committee now Covid-19 positive, the situation is getting interesting. It’s more complicated than ju[...]
A Democratic strategy: Count votes, and if necessary, threaten massive retaliation.
If Trump wins reelection and the GOP keeps the Senate, the math is very simple: Game over. In every other scenario, it’s a lot more complicated. To grapple with this, let’s divide the coming days and weeks into three discrete periods: (Period 1) The 45 days before the election, (Period 2[...]
September 18th, 2020 - 6:06 pm § in Law and Courts, Politics
Quick and dirty situation report: The Democrats’ options now
Democratic hopes that Justice Ruth Bader Ginbsburg would survive Trump’s presidency have vanished. Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell has already declared the “Merrick Garland rule” inoperative. He won’t wait for the election results to ram through a Trump-appointed replacemen[...]
August 3rd, 2020 - 12:41 pm § in Donald Trump, Politics
Democrats issue Supreme Court threat
“Democrats are warning Republicans not to fill a possible Supreme Court vacancy this year after denying President Barack Obama the chance in 2016, saying it would embolden a push on the left to add seats to the court,” NBC News said on Monday, Aug. 3, 2020, under the headline, “Dem[...]
December 31st, 2019 - 2:08 pm § in Politics
Biden said he’d appoint Obama to the Supreme Court
While campaigning in Iowa this weekend, Joe Biden told an audience he would nominate Barack Obama for the Supreme Court, if Obama was willing to serve in that capacity. Personally, I like the idea. Vote Democrat and get President Biden and Justice Obama. Vote Republican and you’re stuck with T[...]
May 17th, 2019 - 2:40 pm § in Politics
What if the Supreme Court revisits Roe v. Wade?
For over half a century now, overturning Roe v. Wade has been the Holy Grail of the religious right. In the interim, religion-driven rightwing fanatics have bombed and torched abortion clinics, murdered abortion doctors, and harassed abortion clinic workers and patients in God’s name. I have n[...]
February 25th, 2019 - 2:44 pm § in Uncategorized
Can Facebook censor users?
The Supreme Court is signaling the First Amendment doesn’t apply to private companies like Facebook and Twitter. This should come as no surprise to anyone who can read. It says: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;[...]
October 30th, 2018 - 7:53 pm § in America, Donald Trump
Should children of illegals born in the U.S. be citizens?
Under current law, they are, based on a Supreme Court interpretation of the 14th Amendment dating back to the 19th century. But some conservatives want to challenge that interpretation. Their argument that the 14th Amendment doesn’t necessarily confer citizenship upon everyone born on U.S. soil ha[...]
October 7th, 2018 - 11:46 pm § in Politics
A modest Supreme Court proposal
Democrats should shrink the court to 7 justices, with seat retention based on seniority. This would get rid of Trump’s appointees with simple congressional majorities and the signature of a Democratic president. Now that the Supreme Court has been seized by reactionaries, and we face the prosp[...]