US Supreme Court

Highly Qualified Ketanji Brown Jackson Makes Republican Senate Critics Look Ridiculous!

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The Senate Judiciary Committee hearing going on today in Washington DC is a mockery of the process, as Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson is making her Republican critics look ridiculous.

Particularly outrageous are Senators Josh Hawley of Missouri, Ted Cruz of Texas, Mike Lee of Utah, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, and Tom Cotton of Arkansas.

These Senators had no issue with the qualifications of Amy Coney Barrett, whose qualifications and intellect were far less than those of Jackson.

Clearly, racism is rearing its ugly head, as the concept of an African American woman becoming the first ever on the Supreme Court, after 108 white men have been on the Court, and four white women, and two African American males, and one Hispanic woman.

Ketanji Brown Jackson Supreme Court Hearing Next Week In Senate Judiciary Committee

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Hearings in the Senate Judiciary Committee will be conducted this week on the nomination of Ketanji Brown Jackson by President Joe Biden for the Supreme Court vacancy created by the soon to be retired Justice Stephen Breyer.

Jackson has been on the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit since last year, previously serving on the Federal District Court for DC since 2013.

It is expected that only a few Republicans will support her nomination, but it will be enough to promote her confirmation, as all 50 Democrats are expected to support her.

Another barrier will be broken when Jackson becomes the first African American female justice, long overdue!

Nomination Of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson To Supreme Court A Homerun! :)

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President Joe Biden has hit a homerun with the nomination of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court vacancy created by the soon to be retirement of Justice Stephen Breyer.

Jackson has exceptional credentials, and already has been approved by a bipartisan vote last year to sit on the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, where other justices have been members, including Chief Justice John Roberts and Associate Justice Clarence Thomas.

Jackson has excellent educational credentials, as well as impressive judicial and legal experience.

But of course, the white supremacists and racists are attacking her appointment, since Jackson will be the first black female Justice in American history to sit on the Supreme Court, a long overdue development.

Her appointment will not affect the right wing conservative balance on the Court, but her age of 51 means she will be likely to serve on the Court for a generation or more, and will witness, hopefully, a more balanced Supreme Court down the road!

Jackson has demonstrated her understanding of the issues of disabiled people, workers, immigrants, freedom of speech, and the concept that a President is NOT a King, regarding Donald Trump!

This is another of the great developments that the Presidency of Joe Biden has brought the nation!

The Supreme Court Reputation Reaching An All Time Low

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The US Supreme Court is in a crisis, as its reputation in public opinion polls, and among Supreme Court “watchers”, is reaching an all time low, not matched since the late 1920s and early 1930s.

The Court has never been as right wing in substance as it is now, since a century ago, and even going further back to the late 19th century Gilded Age era.

The Supreme Court’s reputation was glowing in the time of the Warren Court (1953-1969) and even moving forward to the Burger Court (1969-1986), and still having an image of balance in the era of the Rehnquist Court (1986-2005).

This was due to the reality that many Republican appointees to the Court, including the following, avoided hardline conservativism:

Eisenhower–Earl Warren, William Brennan
Nixon–Warren Burger, Harry Blackmun
Ford–John Paul Stevens
Reagan–Sandra Day O’Connor, Anthony Kennedy
HW Bush–David Souter

These eight Justices made a massive difference in enunication of Supreme Court opinions.

Sadly, George H W Bush’s appointment of Clarence Thomas, and George W. Bush’s selection of Samuel Alito, veered the Court far to the right, and Donald Trump’s three appointments—Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, Amy Coney Barrett—have continued that trend.

The fact that Thomas and Kavanaugh have been connected to accusations of sexual harassment, and that Alito, Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, and Barrett were chosen by Presidents who lost the national popular vote, and that Gorsuch took a seat that was meant for Barack Obama’s nominee, Merrick Garland, and that Barrett was confirmed for the Court less than two weeks before the national election—only adds to the fury and disgust felt about the Supreme Court!

This has, reportedly, disturbed Chief Justice John Roberts (2005- ), whose historical reputation is being damaged, as he has moved, personally, from being conservative to attempts to create a moderate balance on the Court. Sadly, it is not working, so there are some rumors that he might retire from the Court after 17 years as its leader, as that is about the norm for most of the 17 Chief Justices in Amerian history, with the exception of John Marshall (1801-1835) and his successor, Roger Taney (1836-1864).

That would be a major step forward, to retire, and allow Joe Biden to pick a Chief Justice, which has not happened for a Democratic President since Harry Truman in 1946!

Pure Lies And Mistruths About Joe Biden’s Cognitive Abilities From Right Wing Media And Trumpites!

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Right wing news media, including Fox News Channel, OANN, and Newsmax; and numerous talk show hosts on these channels, and Trumpites as well, have been spreading lies and mistruths about President Joe Biden’s cognitive abilities.

The claim made is that Biden has Alzheimers or some other form of Dementia, and that he is unfit to serve as President.

Considering the mental instability displayed by Donald Trump for the past six and a half years since he announced his campaign for President, this is an indication of the psychological trick of “projection”, claiming that one’s own shortcomings are actually those of a rival.

Joe Biden has been outstanding in his public speeches and his recent press conference, and shows command of the material he has to master.

Biden has handled the Ukraine Crisis well, up to this point, and has accomplished major domestic reforms, despite having a 50-50 Senate.

Leaving Afghanistan was never going to be an easy proposition, but one must recall that Donald Trump made an agreement to withdraw in May 2021, not August 2021, and without any participation in the withdrawal process by the Afghan government, only with the Taliban. So who gives Trump and his minions the ability to criticize what was perpetrated by Trump himself?

Considering the pressures Joe Biden has faced on so many issues at the same time, he has accomplished a great first year record, and there is still hope for some kind of further “Build Back Better” legislation.

And the influence on the judicial branch has been very significant in the first year, and now, Biden will have a very important Supreme Court nominee soon, that will honor the reputation of the Supreme Court, which has lost a lot of its stature, due to the horrendous appointments of Donald Trump, that have undermined the dignity of the Supreme Court.

So while Joe Biden is not perfect, but who is, his cognitive abilities, and his public and private actions show every indication of a continuation of a great four year term in the White House!

Justice Stephen Breyer Retirement Brings First African American Female Justice In Future!

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Associate Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, with 28 distinguished years on the Supreme Court, announced today in a meeting with President Joe Biden, that he will retire at the end of the Supreme Court term in late June.

Breyer is a very distinguished jurist, appointed by Bill Clinton in 1994, and adding stature and common decency to the Court in the past three decades.

However, Breyer will be 84 this August, and clearly, to insure a Biden appointment to the Court, because of the possibility of a Republican controlled Senate in 2023, it was urgent for him to leave the Court now.

Breyer will be the 22nd longest serving Justice when he leaves the Court, out of a total of 115 Justices in the Supreme Court’s history, so will be in the top 20 percent of all time service.

Biden will appoint an African American woman to be the first on the Supreme Court, a pledge he made when he was running for President, just as Ronald Reagan pledged to pick the first woman for the Court, who turned out to be Sandra Day O’Connor in 1981.

Diversity on the Supreme Court is essential, and will bring youth to the Court, even though the balance of power is still with conservative Republicans with their 6-3 advantage.

It is, however, a moment to celebrate Stephen Breyer, and celebrate another barrier to advancement in the judicial branch, long overdue!

The Supreme Court Has Lost All Dignity, Respect, And Legitimacy, And The John Roberts Led Court Will Face Historic Repudiation!

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The Supreme Court of the United States was created in 1789 to judge the constitutionality of all laws and actions, and promote the rule of law.

In recent decades, it has become a weapon of right wing extremism, and has lost all dignity, respect, and legitimacy, and is in the worst constitutional crisis in a century!

The conservative movement to promote an extremist Court will cause a repudiation in history, as they have done great damage in the past generation in such cases as Bush V Gore in 2000 (interfering in the Presidential Election of that year); Citizens United in 2011 (that allowed corporations to be considered people); Shelby County V. Holder in 2013 (gutting of the Voting Rights Act of 1965); and now are almost certain to do in the abortion case before the Court (Dobbs V Jackson Women’s Health Organization).

Never has the Supreme Court taken away a right once granted, as in the case of Roe V Wade, alloing abortions in the first two trimesters of a pregnancy, and including the factors of rape, incest, and the life of the mother.

It is unseemly, and reprehensible, that women are being informed that religious fanatics can interfere with their personal rights to control their own bodies, and it will lead to many self mutilations and suicides by women desperate to end an unwanted pregnancy, often brought about by violence perpetrated by men!

The Chief Justice, John Roberts, will see his reputation as the 17th person to hold that position, sullied and repudiated in history, if he cannot convince at least one other conservative Justice to join him and the three Democratic appointments to uphold Roe V Wade!

The move to add membership to the Court, and promote term limits in the future, will be encouraged to occur, as the Supreme Court has lost whatever halo it has had over the past generations!

Republicans And Conservative Supreme Court Will Suffer By Attack On Abortion Rights!

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The Republican Party and the majority Conservative Supreme Court will suffer massively by their attack on Abortion Rights!

Vast numbers of Americans, and particularly women, will not sit idly by and allow a woman’s right to choose to be taken away without a massive negative reaction at the polls in 2022 and beyond!

It will be like the California Republicans who passed legislation in the form of Proposition 187 in 1994 under Republican Governor Pete Wilson to deny undocumented immigrants any rights to health care and education, with that legislation delayed and then declared unconstitutional, but with the Republican Party having committed suicide in the process.

So the California Republican Party, except for a few Congressional seats and a small number of state legislative seats, have been in the wilderness for the past quarter century, insuring that California is strongly Blue.

The Supreme Court under Chief Justice John Roberts will lose all credibility, and will damage the instition of the judiciary long term.

The Roberts Court will not go down as an outstanding, fair minded Court as with Chief Justice Earl Warren (1953-1969), and respect for the Court will decline rapidly.

If John Roberts has his scruples, he needs to work behind the scenes to convince Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett to reject the extremist view of Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito!

By all rights, both men should recuse themselves from the Roe V Wade challenge, as they should never have been allowed on the Court with their extremist views!

Both Thomas, appoinated by George H. W. Bush, and Samuel Alito, appointed by George W. Bush, were and are outside the mainstream of American constitutional law!

Roe v Wade Under Attack On Supreme Court With Case Heard On Wednesday

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Nearly half a century has passed since the Supreme Court decision in Roe v Wade on January 22, 1973.

Women have had the right to determine their own future, and yet, now, the majority of the Supreme Court are Republican and conservative appointments, and could end abortion rights completely in at least 12 states.

This would include making women criminals if they had an illegal abortion, or had even a miscarriage, and would not allow even for rape or incest or life of the mother.

The thought that this could happen in the 21st century in a nation supposedly advanced like the United States’ reputation is shocking and rprehensible, and will harm poor and minority women the most, as wealthy white women will always be able to fly out of states that ban abortion and accomplish their goals of ending unwanted pregnancies safely!

The concern over the unborn fetus ends when a child is born, as the same Republican and conservative forces have no concern about the life of poor women and their newborn babies!

There is hope that possibly one or more of the six Republican justices–Chief Justice John Roberts, likely, and Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who was backed by Republican Senator Susan Collins of Maine for the Court membership, when he said he believed Roe V Wade was settled law–will save basic abortion rights, but the future is uncertain!

Also, Amy Coney Barrett, new to the Court, could surprise, but seen as highly unlikely!

Neil Gorsuch seems unlikely, also, to leave Roe V Wade alone, and as far as Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, both clearly are a “lost cause”, sadly!

Voting Rights Extension 2006: 98-0 In Senate! Voting Rights Extension 2021–Rejected By Republicans!

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Today is the 10th Anniversary of the dedication of the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial in Washington DC.

It is very clear what Martin Luther King Jr. would say if he was alive today–total anger at what the Republican Party, the party of Abraham Lincoln, has done–to work to destroy the 15th Amendment to the Constitution, and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 under Lyndon B. Johnson, and reaffirmed as recently as 2006, under President George W. Bush, when the US Senate voted 98-0 to renew it, with full backing of the Republican President and his party unanimously.

But now, in the age of Donald Trump and a Republican Party morphing into the old segregationist Southern Democratic Party from Reconstruction times to the 1960s, we are stunned to see not one Republican Senator—not even Mitt Romney, nor Ben Sasse, nor Lisa Murkowski, nor Susan Collins—willing to vote to overcome the filibuster tactic. This vote was just to consider and discuss and debate a Voting Rights Act to restore the damage done by the US Supreme Court in 2013 in Shelby County V Holder, and by many Southern and Western states legislatures since then, to restrict the right to vote, the bedrock of a democracy!

The Republican Party has lost its credibility completely as a serious alternative conservative party, and now is just a bunch of power seeking, phony so called “religious’ people, who are out to promote white supremacy, nativism and misogyny! They are out to promote election subversion and voter suppression and deny the right to vote to millions of Americans!

The party will not recover long term if it does not abandon Donald Trump now, and there is no sign of that occurring!