US Supreme Court

Abortion Rights Gain Massive Victory In Kansas, Making It An Issue In November Elections!

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In the wake of the shocking Supreme Court decision in Dobbs V Jackson Women’s Health Organization in June, reversing Roe V Wade and abortion rights, yesterday Kansas, a strong Republican and conservative state, chose to continue to keep abortion rights in the state constitution.

The vote was 59 percent to 41 percent, and the turnout was twice the normal amount in a midterm primary in Kansas, 900,000 votes, instead of about 450,000 votes.

This gives hope that abortion rights will be a major issue in November, and help Democrats keep control of Congress and win many state election contests.

Women, young people, and educated suburbanites are seen as outraged by the Supreme Court taking away a right granted 49 years ago, and hopefully, abortion rights will be protected after the election, as pro choice people are going to fight tooth and nail in every state, as they just did in the “Sunflower State”!

The Situation Facing Attorney General Merrick Garland

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There seems to be enough grounds to have Donald Trump prosecuted by the Justice Department and Attorney General Merrick Garland for the events leading up to the January 6, 2021 US Capitol Insurrection.

But indictment is the first step, while trial and conviction are much more complicated.

The charges that could be used to indict Donald Trump include:

Obstruction of an official proceeding of Congress, the Electoral College vote by the Vice President of the United States

Seditious Conspiracy against the US government

Conspiracy to defraud the US Government, making fraudulent statements

The first two seem the most likely to move forward, but there is no certainty that such a case would be won in Court, and the Supreme Court, controlled by right wing conservatives, could rule in an appeal in favor of Donald Trump.

But if the thought is that prosecution would not succeed is the ultimate decision, then it sends a message to future Presidents that they can escape accountability.

It would set a standard that there are two systems of justice, so there are ramifications of prosecuting, including political turmoil, but also of choosing NOT to prosecute!

Joe Biden Must NOT Appoint Mitch McConnell Lackey To Federal District Court Lifetime Appointment!

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Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is the single most significant figure to have brought about the horrendous extreme right wing Supreme Court, which has reversed abortion rights, extended gun rights, and undermined the Environmental Protection Agency in recent Court decisions.

Now, there is evidence that President Biden was ready to appoint a Mitch McConnell lackey, Chad Meredith, to a Federal District Court Judgeship for the Eastern District of Kentucky, but the Court’s decision in Dobbs V. Jackson Women’s Health Organization caused a delay in that announced appointment.

The Democratic Governor of Kentucky, Andy Beshear, has publicly complained at the idea of picking Chad Meredith, who is described as a version of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas on the abortion issue and so many others, and many other Democrats are protesting the idea of his appointment, supposedly to insure that McConnell does not block other Biden nominations in the last two years of his term in office.

Biden should rescind any such deal, as Mitch McConnell is unreliable, manipulative, deceitful, and making any so called deal with him is like dealing with the devil!

If Biden allows this nomination, he will lose the support of many Democrats and undermine his own Presidency, and this author and blogger will be furious with him, and wonder if it is time to move on and look elsewhere for the Democratic Presidential nomination contest in 2024!

Assault Weapons Massacres An Epidemic With No Solution!

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America has become the murder-massacre capital of the world, and Congress and the Supreme Court seem unconcerned to take action against assault weapons, which should only be available to police and the military.

There is absolutely no need for any citizen to own and use AR-15s and AK-47s and other assault weapons, as they are not needed to go hunting, only to obliterate the flesh of unfortunate victims, often by people who are mentally deranged and/or have anger that is uncontrollable!

Every day, and often every part of a day, we have multiple Americans in all locations imaginable being murdered, as no other civilized nation on earth experiences!

There are so many cases of a few to large numbers of people becoming victims, that only the most extreme cases as Buffalo New York, Uvalde Texas, and now Highland Park Illinois, over the past two months gain widespread attention!

The Growing Battle Of Blue Vs Red States: Gavin Newsom Vs Ron DeSantis

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The battle between Democratic (Blue) states and Republican (Red) states is on, as we start to look to the upcoming Midterm 2022 Elections and the beginnings of the 2024 Presidential Election scene.

The odds are growing that, in the end, neither Donald Trump nor Joe Biden will end up as the nominees of their parties.

So innumerable Democrats and Republicans are “testing the waters”, and the battle for the future of the nation, after the shocking right wing extremism of the Supreme Court in the term recently ended, has begun.

So we see California Governor Gavin Newsom taking on the fight against the right wing as exemplified by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.

Both could, in theory, be opposing each other two years from now, and Newsom is taking a very aggressive approach toward the disgraceful record of Ron DeSantis on so many issues!

Supreme Court Most Right Wing Since 1931!

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The last time the US Supreme Court was as right wing in its decisions as it has been in 2022 is 1931, 91 years ago!

The nation is in danger from a Court which is promoting anti abortion, pro gun rights, promoting expansion of religion in public places, and making it harder to address climate change!

The conservative majority is advocating “Originalism”, which threatens the entire constitutional decisions from the New Deal onward, and there is concern that the next Supreme Court term will be even more controversial and confrontational than the present one has been!

Supreme Court Declares War On Environmental Protection Agency

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Republican President Richard Nixon signed into law the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency in 1970, and goes down as one of the best environmental Presidents.

Fifty years later, the Right Wing Extremist Supreme Court has declared war on the EPA, and it indicates the beginning of a direct attack on the “Administrative” state and the “Regulatory” state for the long term.

With the growing global warming and climate change crisis worldwide, the United States is being prevented from curbing carbon pollution from coal and oil.

This is short term and long term suicide for the US and the planet, and can only be curbed, as things stand, by adding members to the Court under a Democratic President.

We are in a constitutional crisis with an extremist, runaway Court out of control, and promoting only what is good for the wealthy upper class, while the middle and lower classes will face the dangers of the damage the Supreme Court is engaged in!

Retirement Of Stephen Breyer And Swearing In Of Ketanji Brown Jackson To Supreme Court

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Yesterday marked the end of 28 years of devoted service of Associate Justice Stephen Breyer on the Supreme Court, and the swearing in of new Associate Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson to replace him.

We now have the third African American in Supreme Court history, and the first woman, following Thurgood Marshall and Clarence Thomas.

Jackson will be, as Breyer had become, a member of the minority liberals on the Court, and it will likely be very frustrating to work with the most extreme right wing Court in a century, and with no likelihood of a move toward the political center.

Let us all wish Breyer a long retirement, and Jackson a successful few decades on the Supreme Court!

Senators Susan Collins And Joe Manchin Were Bamboozled By Supreme Court Nominees!

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It is now clear that Republican Senator Susan Collins of Maine and Democratic Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia were bamboozled by Supreme Court nominees Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett.

All three claimed that they understood that Roe V. Wade was established law, and that they had no intention of conspiring to reverse abortion rights.

This is a major embarrassment for both Collins and Manchin, and sullies their reputations long term, although it seems clear that they are arrogant personalities, who really do not care about public opinion, which is overwhelmingly pro choice on abortion.

The three Supreme Court Justices, by all ethics and morality, should be forced off the Supreme Court for lying under oath before the US Senate Judiciary Committee, but of course they will face no such action.

And all three were chosen by a President, Donald Trump, who lost the popular vote by 2.85 million, and who was put into office by Russian collusion, confirmed by a Republican Senate majority in 2010 to be reality.

The Supreme Court has lost any respect or reputation, and clearly has become a right wing extremist group wishing to destroy much more than abortion rights!

A move to add members to the Court seems urgent, but can only happen as a long shot at this point, so the nation is a victim of right wing extremism, very disconcerting!

Two Republican Majority Courts Supported Abortion Rights, But Not Now In 2022!

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In the case of Roe V. Wade (1973), decided by 7-2, Abortion Rights for women was made federal law, with five of the seven votes being Republican appointments:

Harry Blackmun (Nixon)
Warren Burger (Chief Justice) (Nixon)
William Brennan (Eisenhower)
Potter Stewart (Eisenhower)
Lewis Powell (Nixon)

In Planned Parenthood V. Casey (1992), a later case on abortion, with some limits, the decision was 5-4, with all 5 in the majority being Republican appointments:

Sandra Day O’Connor (Reagan)
Anthony Kennedy (Reagan)
David Souter (HW Bush)
Harry Blackmun (Nixon)
John Paul Stevens (Ford)

All of these Republican appointed Justices were considered to be “conservatives” in their time frame, although Blackmun, Brennan, and Stevens came to be seen as “liberals’ over time, and O’Connor, Kennedy, and Souter came to be seen as “moderates”.

The definition of “conservative” has changed dramatically in the past half century, so all of the Republican Justices would be seen by right wing Republicans in 2022 as “RINOS”, Republicans In Name Only!

In 2022, in Dobbs V. Jackson’s Women Health Organization, all six Republicans voted to end abortion rights, although Chief Justice John Roberts wanted only further limitations on abortion, and therefore dissented while joining the other five Republicans.

These appointments were by two Presidents who lost the popular vote when they were elected by the Electoral College, along with Clarence Thomas appointed by George H W Bush.

Thomas and Brett Kavanaugh both had charges of sexual impropriety brought against them, while Neil Gorsuch gained a place on the Court that was meant for Barack Obama appointee Merrick Garland, and Amy Coney Barrett replaced the recently deceased Ruth Bader Ginsburg just a week before an election in which Donald Trump lost by 7 million votes to Joe Biden, who should have been allowed that appointment.