Phil Roeder via Wikimedia Commons

What you need to know…

Phil Roeder via Wikimedia Commons

The Supreme Court has several crucial opinions to hand down in the coming weeks before its current term expires.

The rulings present both Republicans and Democrats with opportunities and risks in a high-stakes election year. They could easily return the spotlight to the subject of future Supreme Court vacancies amid the homestretch of the presidential election and motivate one side, the other, or both!

Regardless, here are the cases you need to know about: 

(H/T The Hill)

Trump’s Taxes and Financial Records

Gage Skidmore via Wikimedia Commons

While listening to oral arguments on the validity of disputed subpoenas to review President Trump’s financial records, the nine Supreme Court justices appeared split along ideological lines. Conservatives expressed concerns over the risk of granting Congress too vast of powers and the prospect of presidential harassment. Liberals, in contrast, voiced their opposition to unnecessarily restricting lawmakers.

According to the transcripts, the Justices appeared more closely aligned on the issue of making President Trump’s tax returns public. While Trump’s lawyer argued that presidents deserve blanket immunity from the criminal process, the Justices struggled to reconcile that with previous rulings against Presidents Nixon and Clinton.

Protections for Gay and Transgender Employees

Larsinio at English Wikipedia via Wikimedia Commons

Two cases before the Court will decide if civil rights laws as written protect LGBT employees from workplace discrimination.

The cases hinge on the wording of Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex.

Social conservatives argue that Congress didn’t foresee the definition of the word “sex” to evolve to include one’s sexual orientation or gender identity. Legal protections for LGBT employees could be drastically changed depending on how the majority of the Court views interpreting statutory language.

Deportation Protection for DREAMers

CBP Photography via Wikimedia Commons

The Trump administration expects the Supreme Court will deliver a narrow victory for the president by giving him the authority to end protections afforded the 700,000 or so DREAMers, as classified under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.

But no one expects Trump to end the program immediately. The consensus inside the Beltway remains that Trump will use a legal victory as leverage to strike an immigration deal on favorable terms. However, Democrats, ever hopeful that the White House and Senate will be in their hands come November, might stall.

Resolution may not come from the Court, but rather the ballot box after voters decide who was victorious in the court of public opinion.

Louisiana’s Abortion Law

อธิษฐ์ พิชัยรัตน์ via Wikimedia Commons

The first significant Supreme Court case in the Trump-era centering on abortion focuses on Louisiana’s Unsafe Abortion Protection Act. If allowed to resume, the law could put two of the state’s three abortion clinics out of business.

The issue is whether or not the Act constitutes an undue burden by requiring doctors who perform abortions to admit patients to local hospitals. They argue “admitting privileges” are challenging to obtain. 

In 2016, the Court ruled 5-3 against a similar Texas law with then-Justice Anthony Kennedy joining the liberal bloc. Chief Justice John Roberts voted with the rest of the conservatives. Under Trump, the Court has shifted further right with Roberts closest to its ideological center.

Four years later all eyes are on Roberts. Although he sided in favor of Texas’ remarkably similar law, the Chief Justice has a penchant for institutionalism and may decide to vote in line with prior Supreme Court rulings.

Electoral College

Gage via Wikimedia Commons

A group of “faithless electors” from Colorado and Washington have taken their case to vote for whomever they want rather than the winner of their state’s popular vote to the Supreme Court. 

Their lawyers intend to make the Electoral College so unpalatable public opinion turns against it forever. While the Justices appeared uneasy by the prospect of unleashing electors to vote their conscience (Samuel Alito said it could lead to “chaos”), it remains unclear how the court will rule on the states’ ability to regulate their electors.

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Michael Brigham has written for American Action News since the summer of 2019. His areas of expertise include foreign affairs, government, and politics, but regardless of the subject matter, he has a nose and an insatiable appetite for news. In his free time, he enjoys reading nonfiction, watching a mix of comedies and true crime documentaries, and spending time away from the swamp hiking in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains.

Comments

  1. Just one more effort at HUNTING for a crime. It used to be that the only way the government could come after info on you was if they had evidence of a crime. NOT SO when the Democrats are desperate to regain control.
    Folks, it is time for a revolution. To remove those traitors from office (including bureaucrats) who refuse to obey the constitution and the laws of the land.

  2. Was this not what happened that brought Rome down? Yes protection of evil, perverted vile people who would destroy the goodness of children. Yes, the Bible predicts this.
    In the LAST DAYS MEN WILL GLORY IN THEIR SHAME.

    1. I get paid over $98 per hour working from home with 2 kids at home. I just got paid $ 8460 in my previous month It Sounds unbelievable but you wont forgive yourself if you don’t check it….………Click Here    

  3. Dreamers???? I am sorry for them. HOWEVER, there are consequences for breaking laws. Even if it was your parents. It is not up to us to correct the problem caused by the lawbreakers.

    1. i thought trump offered not 800,000 but 3 million illegals a pathway for citizenship but was rejected a few years ago in budget negotiations by the democrats because he wanted money for the wall?he just can’t win!

  4. John Roberts? Probably a relative who I will not claim. Will he stay conservative? I doubt it. He has repeatedly moved left and I believe he does so because they have BLACKMAILED him and now he is sold out. Too bad. His “catholic” faith will not save his soul. “Do not be deceived. God is not mocked. Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reao…….” Yes he sold out on Obamacare. IF it were a tax, it was still illegal because it originated in the Senate. He also refused to hear cases on our gun rights.
    Pray for him. God can move him back to the RIGHT or can REMOVE him.

  5. IF the court moves against the electoral college, it will be the END OF AMERICA. That is tantamount to just flat destroying the Constitution. NO, I don’t put it past John Roberts. He was able to declare that Obamacare was a law and not an infringement on our rights to buy a product. He also put the government into BUSINESS that was against the Constitution.
    What is Roberts? He is a pawn now of ONE WORLD ORDER.

  6. 1. Too many communist traitors on the court, perhaps send them on a hunting trip to Texas!
    2. Queers don’t need any special workplace rules, this is just so they can shove their demonic way of life in the faces of fellow decent employees and business owners!
    3. Get rid of all the democrats wet backs!
    4. Uphold Louisiana’s right to govern itself, not by communist decree!
    5. The electoral college is here to stay, get over it communist!

  7. The BIG one will be the removal of the court-created, unconstitutional doctrine of Limited (actually UNlimited) Immunity for cops, allowing them to break the law if they were “ignorant” of the law. How’s that work for you and me? I wish that ALL “immunity” for public servants be removed, judges and prosecutors especially. Another thing, didn’t the court JUST rule that providing incentives for illegal immigrants to stay was a felony (https://americanpoliticaldaily.com/supreme-court-rules-it-is-illegal-to-encourage-illegal-aliens-to-stay-in-usa-is-aoc-going-to-prison/). BTW, Epstein didn’t kill himself and building 7 didn’t fall (in its own footprint and at free-fall speed) from office fires.

  8. The Electoral Vote is absolutely NEEDED. If anyone does not understand how it works just type in your search engine, DuckDuckGo (preferred) or Google and WikiPedia will give you a good explanation….

  9. Regarding the Electoral College issue, this should be a no-brainer for ALL the justices. Unless the electors names appear on the ballot, they have never been intended to be independent actors. The citizens of the various states vote for the persons whose names appear on the ballot. To allow unfettered free choice to electors would be disenfranchising all the voters.

  10. Why bother voting at all if a handful of electors can vote however they want. You people make no sense.

  11. Now if you noticed most of the court was taken back when Trump’s lawyer said the constitution prohibits a President from being investigated while in office. That should be an indication where some are going. This is not an Autocratic Government where the President has blanket immunity from every thing else that the rest of the citizens have to endure.

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