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I mentioned it in passing in my Friday column, but I was struck — disturbed, really — by one specific point made by Justice Samuel Alito during Thursday’s oral arguments in Trump v. United States. Alito began innocuously enough: “I’m sure you would agree with me that a stable democratic society requires that a candidate who loses an election, even a close one, even a hotly contested one, leave office peacefully if that candidate is the incumbent.”“Of course,” answered Michael Dreeben, the lawyer arguing the case for the Department of Justice. “Now,” Alito continued, “if an incumbent who loses a very close, hotly contested election knows that a real possibility after leaving office is not that the president is going to be able to go off into a peaceful retirement but that the president may be criminally prosecuted by a bitter political opponent, will that not lead us into a cycle that destabilizes the functioning of our country as a democracy?”The implication of Alito’s question is that presidential immunity for all official acts may be a necessary concession to the possibility of a politically motivated investigation and prosecution: Presidents need to be above the law to raise the odds that they follow the law and leave office without incident.
Persons: Samuel Alito, Alito, , Michael Dreeben, , ” Alito Organizations: Trump v ., Department of Justice Locations: Trump v, Trump v . United States
Self-pardoning wasn't on the table at Thursday's Supreme Court hearing. The Supreme Court has never ruled on whether such a move would be permissible. The purpose of the hearing was for the Supreme Court to hear arguments over whether Trump should be immune from criminal prosecution for his conduct as president. He told Michael Dreeben, the lawyer representing Smith's team, that the question might be crucial as the Supreme Court deliberates the scope of presidential immunity. In order to obtain a pardon, he would have to be convicted and serve at least five years of a sentence.
Persons: Alito, , Donald Trump, could've, Trump, — Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch —, Jack Smith's, Smith, Gorsuch, he'll, We've, it's, Michael Dreeben, haven't, Gerald Ford, Richard Nixon, Dreeben, Joe Biden, Stormy Daniels Organizations: Thursday's, Trump, Service, NBC, Mar, DC Circuit, Justice Department's, Justice Department Locations: New York, Manhattan, Georgia
But a majority of Supreme Court justices appear ready to hand the former president an immediate victory. Still, the Supreme Court justices do not appear likely to dismiss the former president's claims quickly, raising the likelihood that Trump may not face trial for trying to overturn the 2020 election before November. He drew his arguments from an earlier Supreme Court case that mapped the line for presidential immunity in civil matters. The Supreme Court weighs Trump's immunity claim. It is possible that the Supreme Court could rule that a more detailed review of Trump's conduct is best left to a lower court.
Persons: Donald Trump, , Trump, Jack Smith, Trump's, you've, Brett Kavanaugh, Sauer, Kavanaugh, Tanya Chutkan, Smith, Joe Biden, it's, John Sauer, Jabin, Samuel Alito, Alito, Amy Coney Barrett, Barrett, Michael Dreeben, Dreeben, Ketanji Brown Jackson, Jackson, John Roberts, Jackon, Justice Alito, Roe, Wade, Anthony Kennedy's, Hodges, Neil Gorsuch Organizations: Service, Trump, Washington, Getty Locations: DC, Dobbs v, Obergefell
The court’s far-right wing, perhaps in an attempt to keep those two justices on their side, framed the case as a federal overreach into state power. Turner, Idaho’s attorney, shot back that mental health could essentially open a loophole. Conservatives have long opposed allowing exceptions to strict abortion bans for mental health. Justice Samuel Alito, a fellow conservative, picked up on that same theme, repeatedly pressing Prelogar to explain whether the Justice Department views mental health as a way around Idaho’s abortion ban. That is exactly the kind of political influence that the Supreme Court, especially under Roberts, has generally tried to avoid.
Persons: Biden, Elizabeth Prelogar, Roe, Wade, Brett Kavanaugh, John Roberts, Amy Coney Barrett, Prelogar, ” Prelogar, , Roberts, Barrett –, Barrett, teed, Joshua Turner, Sonia Sotomayor, Turner, Elena Kagan, , Alito, CNN Sotomayor, , Clarence Thomas, EMTALA, Neil Gorsuch, , Samuel Alito, ” Alito, , Joe Biden, Donald Trump, Trump, – Gorsuch, Kavanaugh Organizations: CNN, Justice, Labor, Liberal, Republican, Supreme, Department, Wade, Idaho, energizing Democratic, Food and Drug Administration, GOP Locations: Idaho, Wisconsin
The Supreme Court declined on Tuesday to hear a challenge to new admissions criteria at an elite public high school in Virginia that eliminated standardized tests, clearing the way for the use of a policy intended to diversify the school’s student body. As is its custom, the court gave no reasons for turning down the case. Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. issued a dissent, joined by Justice Clarence Thomas, that was harshly critical of an appeals court’s ruling in the case upholding the new criteria and rejecting the challengers’ argument that they unlawfully disadvantaged Asian Americans. The Supreme Court’s “willingness to swallow the aberrant decision below is hard to understand,” Justice Alito wrote. G. Roberts, quoted an earlier ruling that stated, “what cannot be done directly cannot be done indirectly.”
Persons: Samuel A, Alito Jr, Clarence Thomas, , Alito, , John, G, Roberts Organizations: Harvard, University of North Locations: Virginia, University of North Carolina
“One of the themes we’ve heard from Chief Justice Roberts and others is essentially this message of: Just trust us. In recent months, Justices Elena Kagan and Amy Coney Barrett have publicly supported the adoption of an ethics code. The most glaring defect of the new code is its complete lack of any enforcement power. And yet the absence of any discipline or enforcement was the central flaw that led to calls for an ethics code in the first place. “A justice should not allow family, social, political, financial or other relationships to influence official conduct or judgment.” Well, sure.
Persons: we’ve, Justice Roberts, ” Alicia Bannon, Elena Kagan, Amy Coney Barrett, , bender, What’s, , Thomas, Alito Organizations: Brennan Center for Justice, Times
CNN —Justice Samuel Alito is the tip of the spear for conservatives challenging the Biden administration during oral arguments at the Supreme Court. Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar is the Biden administration’s top lawyer at the court, defending the policies that are the source of much of Alito’s consternation. “I think our best example historically is the Customs Service,” Prelogar responded. The Biden administration was backing admissions practices that considered students’ race as a factor in admissions to achieve campus diversity. “No, Justice Alito,” Prelogar said.
Persons: Samuel Alito, Biden, He’s, Elizabeth Prelogar, Alito, Prelogar, Ronald Reagan, George H.W, Bush, George W, Sandra Day O’Connor, ” Prelogar, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Elena Kagan, Robert Mueller, Joe Biden, , ” Alito, , , John Roberts, Roberts, I’m, It’s, ” Alito interjected, ’ Jeffrey Wall, Trump, , Wall, We’re, Justice Alito, Juliet, Friar Laurence, Brett Kavanaugh, Ketanji Brown Jackson, Friar, Taylor Swift, Friar Lawrence, “ I’m Organizations: CNN, Supreme, Princeton, Yale Law School, Department of Justice, Emory University, Harvard Law School, Miss, ahs, Senate, Republicans, Democrats, Consumer Financial, Federal Reserve System, Customs Service, Biden, FDA, OSHA, Occupational Safety, Health Administration, Harvard, University of North, America, United States, Fair, Shakespeare Theatre Company, Verona Locations: Trenton , New Jersey, New Jersey, Boise , Idaho, Miss Idaho, University of North Carolina, America, , Verona, Washington
The Supreme Court on Friday allowed Biden administration officials to continue to contact social media platforms to combat what the officials say is misinformation, pausing a sweeping ruling from a federal appeals court that had severely limited such interactions. The justices also agreed to hear the administration’s appeal in the case, setting the stage for a major test of the role of the First Amendment in the internet era — one that will require the court to consider when government efforts to limit the spread of misinformation amount to censorship of constitutionally protected speech. Three justices dissented from the court’s decision to lift the restrictions on administration officials while the case moves forward. “Government censorship of private speech is antithetical to our democratic form of government, and therefore today’s decision is highly disturbing,” Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. wrote, joined by Justices Clarence Thomas and Neil M. Gorsuch. Justice Alito criticized the majority for acting “without undertaking a full review of the record and without any explanation” and allowing the administration to continue its interactions until the court finally rules, “an event that may not occur until late in the spring of next year.”
Persons: Biden, Samuel A, Alito Jr, Clarence Thomas, Neil M, Gorsuch, Alito,
Justice Alito’s First Amendment
  + stars: | 2023-10-01 | by ( James Taranto | David B. Rivkin Jr. | ) www.wsj.com   time to read: 1 min
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Persons: Dow Jones, alito
WASHINGTON (AP) — Justice Samuel Alito on Friday rejected demands from Senate Democrats that he step aside from an upcoming Supreme Court case because of his interactions with one of the lawyers, in a fresh demonstration of tensions over ethical issues. Alito attached an unusual statement to an otherwise routine list of orders from the court. “There is no valid reason for my recusal in this case,” Alito wrote in a four-page statement. The committee approved an ethics code for the court on a party-line vote, though it is unlikely to become law. The case in which he is involved was never mentioned; nor did we discuss any issue in that case either directly or indirectly.
Persons: Samuel Alito, Alito, ” Alito, Clarence Thomas, Dick Durbin, John Roberts, David Rivkin, Rivkin, Leonard Leo, Leo, Brett Kavanaugh, Organizations: WASHINGTON, , Democrats, Committee, Federalist Society, Senate Democrats Locations: Alaska
U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. poses during a group portrait at the Supreme Court in Washington, U.S., October 7, 2022. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsSept 8 (Reuters) - U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito on Friday rejected a push by Senate Democrats to have him recuse from a tax case that involves an attorney who interviewed him for a newspaper article and helped him "air his personal grievances." Alito, in a statement attached to a routine order issued by the court in the case, Moore v. United States, said, "There is no valid reason for my recusal in this case." "Mr. Rivkin's access to Justice Alito and efforts to help Justice Alito air his personal grievances could cast doubt on Justice Alito's ability to fairly discharge his duties in a case in which Mr. Rivkin represents one of the parties," the senators stated. The case in which he is involved was never mentioned; nor did we discuss any issue in that case either directly or indirectly."
Persons: Samuel A, Alito Jr, Evelyn Hockstein, Samuel Alito, Alito, Moore, Dick Durbin, John Roberts, Alito recuses, Charles, Kathleen Moore, David Rivkin Jr, Alito's, Rivkin, Andrew Chung, Grant McCool Organizations: Supreme, REUTERS, Democrats, Democratic, Thomson Locations: Washington , U.S, United States, New York
In mid-2023, Justice Samuel Alito met twice with a lawyer who later wrote two op-eds defending him. The attorney, David Rivkin Jr., is closely connected to a case the court agreed to hear in June. On Friday, Alito said he's refusing to recuse himself from the upcoming case. Get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in business, from Wall Street to Silicon Valley — delivered daily. "No provision in the Constitution gives them the authority to regulate the Supreme Court — period."
Persons: Samuel Alito, David Rivkin Jr, Alito, he's, Samuel Alitodeclined, rehearings, Moore, who's, , Roe, Rivkin, John Roberts, Alito's Organizations: Service, Wall Street Journal, Supreme, Democratic Locations: Wall, Silicon, States
Supreme Court Ethics Fight Spills Into Public View
  + stars: | 2023-09-08 | by ( Kaia Hubbard | Sept. | At P.M. | ) www.usnews.com   time to read: +2 min
A simmering dispute between branches of government over Supreme Court ethics reform boiled over Friday when Justice Samuel Alito publicly rejected a senator’s call to recuse himself from an upcoming case due to a perceived conflict of interest. After Alito was interviewed for a report in the opinion pages of The Wall Street Journal and expressed the view that Congress has no authority over the high court, Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois in August urged Chief Justice John Roberts to take steps to ensure that the prominent conservative justice recuse himself from cases concerning legislation that regulates the high court. He also asked for Alito’s recusal in the case of Moore v. United States – a major tax case in which the petitioners are represented in part by one of the authors of the report in the Journal. Durbin, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, has been among lawmakers leading a push for ethics reform at the high court that has come to a head amid bombshell reports in recent months questioning the ethics of some justices. He argued along with committee Democrats that, in this situation, the writer’s “access to Justice Alito and efforts to help Justice Alito air his personal grievances could cast doubt on Justice Alito’s ability to fairly discharge his duties” in the tax case.
Persons: Samuel Alito, Alito, Democratic Sen, Dick Durbin of, John Roberts, Alito’s, Moore, Durbin, , Durbin’s, ” Alito, Organizations: Street, Democratic, Dick Durbin of Illinois, United, Committee, Senate Locations: United States
But Justices Thomas and Samuel A. Alito Jr. requested 90-day extensions, according to the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, which collects and publishes the forms. Mr. Crow treated the justice on a series of lavish trips, including flights on his private jet, island-hopping on his superyacht and vacationing at his estate in the Adirondacks. Mr. Crow also bought the justice’s mother’s home in Savannah, Ga., and covered a portion of private school tuition for the justice’s great-nephew, whom he was raising. Other wealthy friends have hosted Justice Thomas, including David L. Sokol, the former heir apparent to Berkshire Hathaway. In the years that followed, Mr. Singer repeatedly had business before the court.
Persons: Thomas, Samuel A, Alito Jr, Thomas’s, Harlan Crow, ProPublica, Crow, David L, Berkshire Hathaway, Anthony Welters, underwrote, Prevost, ” Justice Alito, Paul Singer, Singer Organizations: Administrative, U.S . Courts, Sokol, Locations: Texas, Savannah , Ga, Berkshire, Washington, Alaska
A few days later, at a judicial conference in Portland, Ore., Justice Kagan took the opposite view, though she cautioned that The Journal had not reproduced the question that had prompted Justice Alito’s answer. “Of course Congress can regulate various aspects of what the Supreme Court does,” she said, ticking off a list of ways in which lawmakers can act. It can increase or shrink the size of the court, and it has over the years done both. Indeed, the Constitution provides that the court has appellate jurisdiction “with such exceptions, and under such regulations as the Congress shall make.”All of this is unsurprising, Justice Kagan said. She did not offer an opinion on the narrower question of whether Congress may impose a code of ethics on the justices, but she said the court remained free to act.
Persons: Justice Kagan, Alito’s, Locations: Portland ,
A new ProPublica report found Clarence Thomas has accepted more undisclosed gifts from billionaires. On Thursday, ProPublica released an investigation that revealed new information on the gifts billionaires have given Thomas over the years. Months later, the Supreme Court in June indeed struck down the student-debt relief, with Thomas voting in the majority. Last month, Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee passed a bill that would create a code of ethics for Supreme Court justices, but it's unlikely the bill will pass under a Republican-controlled House. Can Congress do various things to regulate the Supreme Court?
Persons: Clarence Thomas, David Sokol, Thomas, Justice Alito, ProPublica, Sokol, Joe Biden's, Biden's, Harlan Crow, Sam Alito, Paul Singer, Alito, Elena Kagan, We're Organizations: Service, Nebraska, Berkshire, Supreme, Republican, Street, Liberal Locations: Wall, Silicon, Wyoming, Berkshire Hathaway, Nebraska, Jackson Hole , Wyoming
Justice Samuel Alito recently blasted proposed SCOTUS ethics roles in an interview with WSJ. Senate Democrats say he violated the court's ethics rules by doing that. Get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in business, from Wall Street to Silicon Valley — delivered daily. Rivkin, the senators note, is representing one of the parties in a tax case currently pending before the court, Moore v. United States. Both Rivkin and a spokesperson for the Supreme Court did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.
Persons: Samuel Alito, SCOTUS, They're, Sen, Dick Durbin, John Roberts, Alito, Jon Ossoff, David Rivkin —, Rivkin, Alito's, Moore Organizations: Democrats, Service, Democratic, Wall Street, Committee, Wall Locations: Wall, Silicon, Georgia, United States
CNN —When the Supreme Court left for its summer recess in June, the justices were at a stalemate on adopting a formal ethics code. Chief Justice John Roberts has been seeking unanimity among the nine justices for firm ethics standards, CNN has learned, but such agreement has eluded him. He told the WSJ writers that he was speaking out to defend himself and the Supreme Court because “nobody else” would. “Even assuming that trip is somehow relevant to present concerns about Supreme Court ethics, the connection is highly attenuated, focused on ‘an object remote’ from purported ‘legitimate concerns’ about ethics standards,” Rivkin wrote. A separate Associated Press investigation recently focused on liberal Justice Sonia Sotomayor’s use of Supreme Court staff to coordinate and promote the sale of her books.
Persons: John Roberts, Samuel Alito’s, Alito, , , ” Alito, David B, Rivkin Jr, Rivkin, Leonard Leo, Brett Kavanaugh, Leo, – Alito, Paul Singer, Singer, ” Rivkin, Clarence Thomas, Harlan Crow, Crow, Thomas ’, Thomas, Sonia Sotomayor’s, , Roberts, Sen, Murphy, Democratic Sen, Chris Murphy, ” Murphy Organizations: CNN, Democratic, Supreme, WSJ, Republicans, Wall Street Journal, Federalist Society, Democrats, Republican, Associated Press, Congress, House, CNN’s Locations: Alaska, Georgia, CNN’s “ State, Connecticut
Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito spoke to The Wall Street Journal about congressional oversight. "No provision in the Constitution gives them the authority to regulate the Supreme Court," he said. "Congress did not create the Supreme Court," Alito said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal. No provision in the Constitution gives them the authority to regulate the Supreme Court — period." "Dear Justice Alito: You're on the Supreme Court in part because Congress expanded the Court to 9 Justices," Lieu tweeted.
Persons: Samuel Alito, Alito, Ted Lieu, Lieu, Sen, Sheldon Whitehouse, David B, Rivkin, Moore, SCOTUS, Harlan Crow, Clarence Thomas, Crow, gifting, Thomas, Thomas —, , ProPublica, Paul Singer Organizations: Wall Street, Service, Democratic, Twitter, GOP, Dallas Morning News, Democrats Locations: Wall, Silicon
Sen. Bernie Sanders released a lengthy statement condemning the Supreme Court's ruling on student debt. Sanders also called on the Biden administration to immediately implement a "Plan B" to help borrowers. A slew of Democratic lawmakers issued statements on Friday condemning the Supreme Court's decision and urging the Biden administration to take additional action to get borrowers relief. She said the court's role is to stay away from making policy and policy judgments; but, in cases like this, the court instead makes itself the arbiter of policy. "In my view, if right-wing Supreme Court justices want to make public policy they should quit the Supreme Court and run for political office.
Persons: Sen, Bernie Sanders, Sanders, Biden, , Joe Biden, Alito, Cortez, Samuel Alito, Biden's, Brown, Elena Kagan Organizations: Service, Democratic, US Department of Education, . Nebraska, GOP Locations: Vermont, .
Rep. Ocasio-Cortez condemned the Supreme Court's ruling striking down Biden's student debt plan. She also accused the Supreme Court of corruption. "Justice Alito accepted tens of thousands of dollars in lavish vacation gifts from a billionaire who lobbied to cancel the student loan forgiveness," Ocasio-Cortez tweeted. The New York Democrat noted that the SCOTUS ruling does not strip away Biden's ability to pursue student-loan forgiveness. Schumer and other Democrats similarly accused Supreme Court justices of hypocrisy and corruption by receiving gifts from billionaires, while denying millions of needy Americans debt relief.
Persons: Cortez, , Alexandria Ocasio, Joe Biden's, Samuel Alito, Alito, Brown, Biden, SCOTUS, Donald Trump, Chuck Schumer, MAGA, Schumer Organizations: New, New York Democrat, Biden, Service, US Department of Education, . Nebraska, GOP, Department of Education, Higher, Democratic, MAGA Republican Locations: New York, Alexandria, Cortez, .
In June 2022, Justice Samuel Alito's wife leased a plot of land in Oklahoma to an oil and gas company. Alito in several rulings before the court has been part of majority decisions to reduce the scope of the EPA. There are thousands of oil and gas leases across Oklahoma, where the energy sector is a critical economic driver. But the oil and gas lease troubles many environmentalists given Justice Alito's role in weakening the scope of the Environmental Protection Agency in several cases that have come before the court. And last year, the Supreme Court in West Virginia v. Environmental Protection Agency limited the federal agency's ability to control the level of carbon emissions from power plants.
Persons: Samuel Alito's, Alito, , Samuel Alito, Martha Ann Bomgardner Alito, Alito's, Jeff Hauser, Paul Thomas Anderson, Joe Biden Organizations: EPA, Service, Citizen Energy III, Energy III, Environmental Protection Agency Locations: Oklahoma, Sackett v, West Virginia
Lower court judges are bound by Supreme Court precedent, but they have some tools at their disposal. They can also give the historically permissive “rational basis” standard of review from the Dobbs opinion some teeth by more closely assessing abortion restrictions and the state’s purported rationales. Lawyers will need to bring cases raising novel issues so that judges can protect abortion rights in new ways. Even if cases and briefs in federal courts lose in the short term, having abortion cases in the pipeline is essential. The Supreme Court will not always look as it does today.
Persons: Biden, Dobbs, Roe Organizations: eventual Locations: Dobbs
ProPublica’s Fishing Expedition for Justice Alito
  + stars: | 2023-06-22 | by ( The Editorial Board | ) www.wsj.com   time to read: 1 min
Journal Editorial Report: The week's worst and best from Kim Strassel, Kyle Peterson and Dan Henninger. Image: Richard B. Levine/Zuma PressThe political assault on the Supreme Court continues, and the latest Justice in the grinder is Samuel Alito . ProPublica reports that the Justice went on a fishing trip to Alaska with a billionaire in 2008 and didn’t report it on his annual Court disclosure form. As usual, this is a non-scandal built on partisan spin intended to harm the Justice and the current Court majority.
Persons: Kim Strassel, Kyle Peterson, Dan Henninger, Richard B, Levine, Samuel Alito, ProPublica Organizations: Zuma Locations: Alaska
Opinion | Does Justice Alito Hear Himself?
  + stars: | 2023-06-22 | by ( Jesse Wegman | ) www.nytimes.com   time to read: +3 min
And appearances count, perhaps nowhere more than at the Supreme Court, which is the final arbiter of many of the most fraught issues of American life. Justice Alito is hardly the first member of the current court to face charges of serious ethical lapses. Justice Thomas has mostly kept his mouth shut, though he did issue a brief statement after the ProPublica article about him. Justice Alito, by choosing to speak up at length and in a forum that he knew would be both friendly and prominent, muscled his opinion into public view. For instance, Justice Alito defended his decision not to report Mr. Singer’s freebie because it was “personal hospitality,” which he believed, like his colleague Justice Thomas, did not need to be reported.
Persons: Alito, Clarence Thomas, Ginni, ProPublica, Thomas’s, Harlan Crow, Thomas, Justice Alito, Singer’s, Justice Thomas, Singer, he’d Organizations: Supreme, Trump White House Locations: Alaska
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