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☆ LGBT rights yield to religious interests at US Supreme Court
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-01 | by ( John Kruzel | Industry Insight | Corporate Attorneys Don T Want To Pay Law Firms For Chatgpt When They Could Use It Themselves | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

"We've seen a dramatic expansion of rights for conservative religious communities that has had a detrimental impact on equality rights, certainly for LGBTQ people," said Elizabeth Platt, director of the Law, Rights and Religion Project at Columbia Law School. Smith, who said she opposes gay marriage based on her Christian beliefs, was represented by the Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative religious rights group. Still, the ruling illustrated a disparity in how the court views protections for LGBT people in contrast to the competing conservative Christian interests, Platt said. He stood out among conservatives in his espousal of sympathy both for conservative Christian causes and for what is sometimes called the "dignity interests" of marginalized groups including LGBT people. Barrett's addition gave it a 6-3 conservative margin and recalibrated how it weighed conservative Christian causes against the dignity interests of people protected by civil rights laws.

Persons: Read, Lorie Smith, Smith, Elizabeth Platt, Kristen Waggoner, Waggoner, Jack Phillips, Phillips, Platt, Anthony Kennedy, Brett Kavanaugh, Trump's, Neil Gorsuch, Friday's, Amy Coney Barrett, Kennedy, Kennedy's, Hodges, Obergefell, Barrett, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Barrett's, Rachel Laser, John Kruzel, Will Dunham Organizations: U.S, Supreme, Law, Columbia Law School . Colorado, Alliance Defending, Defending, Colorado Civil Rights Commission, FOSTER CARE, Catholic Church, Philadelphia, Republican, Trump, Americans United, and State, Thomson Locations: WASHINGTON, Denver, Colorado, U.S, Fulton, City of Philadelphia, Obergefell

The case, though framed as clash between free speech and gay rights, was the latest in a series of decisions in favor of religious people and groups, notably conservative Christians. A Colorado law forbids discrimination against gay people by businesses open to the public as well as statements announcing such discrimination. But when the Supreme Court agreed to hear the case, 303 Creative L.L.C. He was the author of every major Supreme Court decision protecting gay rights under the Constitution. But he was also the court’s most ardent defender of free speech.

Persons: Neil M, Gorsuch, Lorie Smith, Smith, Smith’s, Mary Beck Briscoe, Judge Briscoe, “, ” Judge Briscoe, Timothy M, Tymkovich, George Orwell, ’ ”, ”, Anthony M, Kennedy, Justice Kennedy, Jack Phillips, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Brett M, Kavanaugh, Amy Coney Barrett Organizations: Supreme, U.S ., Appeals, Circuit, Colorado Civil Rights Commission Locations: Colorado, Denver, “ Colorado

The liberal justices, including Biden's appointee Ketanji Brown Jackson, found themselves in the role of the dissenting minority in some of the nine-month term's biggest cases. The conservative justices invoked the "major questions" doctrine, a muscular judicial approach that gives judges broad discretion to invalidate executive agency actions of "vast economic and political significance" unless Congress clearly authorized them. In those cases, the conservative justices were unified in the majority and the liberal justices dissented. In that case, the liberal justices were joined by one conservative justice, Trump appointee Brett Kavanaugh, in dissenting on the new test. The justices on Friday agreed to decide whether a 1994 federal law that bars people under domestic violence restraining orders from possessing firearms violates the Constitution's Second Amendment.

Persons: Amy Coney Barrett, Neil M, Gorsuch, Brett M, Kavanaugh, Ketanji Brown Jackson, Sonia Sotomayor, Clarence Thomas, John G, Roberts, Jr, Samuel A, Alito, Elena Kagan, Read, Joe Biden's, Donald Trump's, Erwin Chemerinsky, Trump's, Chemerinsky, Trump, Brett Kavanaugh, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Roe, Wade, Jackson, Justice Jackson, Adam Feldman, Biden's, John Kruzel, Andrew Chung, Will Dunham Organizations: Supreme, U.S, Republican, Harvard University, University of North, University of California Berkeley Law School, U.S . Environmental, Alabama, Senate, Consumer, Thomson Locations: Washington , U.S, WASHINGTON, University of North Carolina, U.S, Texas

PinnedThe Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that the race-conscious admissions programs at Harvard and the University of North Carolina were unlawful, curtailing affirmative action at colleges and universities around the nation, a policy that has long been a pillar of higher education. The university responded that its admissions policies fostered educational diversity and were lawful under longstanding Supreme Court precedents. Seven years later, only one member of the majority in the Texas case, Justice Sotomayor, remains on the court. Justice Jackson recused herself from the Harvard case, having served on one of its governing boards. The Texas decision essentially reaffirmed Grutter v. Bollinger, a 2003 decision in which the Supreme Court endorsed holistic admissions programs, saying it was permissible to consider race to achieve educational diversity.

Persons: Edward Blum, Antonin Scalia, Elena Kagan, Justice Anthony M, Kennedy, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen G, Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor, Justice Sotomayor, Justice Kennedy, Brett M, Kavanaugh, Ginsburg, Amy Coney Barrett, Justice Breyer, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, Justice Jackson, Grutter, Bollinger, Sandra Day O’Connor Organizations: Harvard, University of North, Civil, Asian, Fair, University of Texas Locations: University of North Carolina, North Carolina, Austin, Texas

admissions programs cannot be reconciled with the guarantees of the equal protection clause,” Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. wrote for the majority. The court had repeatedly upheld similar admissions programs, most recently in 2016, saying that race could be used as one factor among many in evaluating applicants. The university responded that its admissions policies fostered educational diversity and were lawful under longstanding Supreme Court precedents. Writing for the majority, Justice Anthony M. Kennedy said that courts must give universities substantial but not total leeway in devising their admissions programs. The Texas decision essentially reaffirmed Grutter v. Bollinger, a 2003 decision in which the Supreme Court endorsed holistic admissions programs, saying it was permissible to consider race to achieve educational diversity.

Persons: “, John G, Roberts, ”, Sonia Sotomayor, Edward Blum, Antonin Scalia, Elena Kagan, Justice Anthony M, Kennedy, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen G, Breyer, Justice Sotomayor, Justice Kennedy, Brett M, Kavanaugh, Ginsburg, Amy Coney Barrett, Justice Breyer, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, Justice Jackson, Grutter, Bollinger, Sandra Day O’Connor, Clarence Thomas Organizations: Harvard, University of North, Civil, Asian, Fair, University of Texas Locations: University of North Carolina, North Carolina, Austin, Texas

☆ Melinda Gates wants more women in the AI race
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-29 | by ( Catherine Thorbecke | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

New York CNN —As Silicon Valley and beyond is gripped by the fervor of artificial intelligence, Melinda French Gates is raising the alarm that more women must be involved in developing these tech tools. AI models have long taken heat for their ability to perpetuate biases, especially around women and people of color. The new crop of generative AI tools like OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Dall-E are trained on vast troves of online data – data that often carries the same biases as humans. In her interview with Harlow, Gates also revealed that she never endorses specific candidates because she votes for both sides of the aisle. “Too often we have decisions being made for women, not by women,” Gates said.

Persons: Melinda French Gates, “, ” Gates, CNN’s Poppy Harlow, Poppy Harlow, Melinda Gates, ”, Ed, Roe, Wade, Gates, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, we’re Organizations: New, New York CNN, CNN, Republican, Democratic Locations: New York, “, United States, Harlow

☆ How ‘Undisputed’ Emerged as an Unlikely Forum for Smart Talk About Politics and Race - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-20 | by ( Matthew Walther | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

It pitted Mr. Bayless, a journalist who helped popularize the daytime sports talk format on ESPN with a show called “First Take,” against Mr. Sharpe, a Hall of Fame tight end who won two Super Bowls with the Denver Broncos and one with the Baltimore Ravens. In an early episode of the show in 2016, Lil Wayne appeared to discuss the national anthem protests led by Colin Kaepernick and other N.F.L. This is not a perspective that has much cultural purchase on NPR or CNN, but it is shared by millions of Americans. Throughout their exchange, Mr. Bayless asked occasional questions but seemed mostly content to listen. A self-described “God and country guy,” Mr. Bayless is often considered a mouthpiece for older, tradition-minded sports fans, but his own views are somewhat less predictable.

Persons: LeBron James, Michael Jordan, ”, Bayless, Sharpe, Lil Wayne, —, Covid, George Floyd, Colin Kaepernick, Mr, Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s, Justice Ginsberg Organizations: ESPN, Fame, Denver Broncos, Baltimore Ravens, YouTube, Lakers, Cleveland Browns, NPR, CNN Locations: African American, Georgia

☆ Ron DeSantis is drawing from the Trump Supreme Court playbook
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-06 | by ( Joan Biskupic | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

CNN —When Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas appeared for the first time before the Florida Federalist Society in January 2020, Florida Gov. Some of DeSantis’ state court appointees became Trump federal court appointees, and their entire approach to the bench is fueled by Federalist Society figures like Leo. WaPo: Supreme Court justice's wife received thousands in 'hidden payments' 01:49 - Source: CNNUsing the Trump playbookBy using Leo for advice on state judicial appointments, DeSantis already is following a Trump playbook. He has filled a majority of the seats on the seven-member Florida Supreme Court, some twice over. Midway through his term, he wrote on Twitter, “The Supreme Court was one of the main reasons I got elected President.”

Persons: Clarence Thomas, Ron DeSantis, Thomas, Leonard Leo, Leo, Donald Trump’s, DeSantis, “, ” Leo, Ginni Thomas, ”, ProPublica’s, Thomas ’, Harlan Crow, Octavio Jones, Roe, Wade, Sullivan, Don McGahn, Gregory Katsas, Trump, ” DeSantis, ” Thomas, Katsas, WaPo, DeSantis ’, Jesse Panuccio, ” Panuccio, Barbara Lagoa, Robert Luck, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Lagoa, Amy Coney Barrett, “ I’ve, Barrett, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, Barack Obama’s, Antonin Scalia Organizations: CNN, Florida Federalist Society, Florida Gov, Disney, Federalist Society, White, Harvard Law School, Politico, Representatives, Trump White House, Republican, Trump, Republicans, DeSantis, Tampa Bay Times, Zuma Press, GOP, New York Times, US, DC Circuit, Gov, Orlando Federalist Society, Appeals, Circuit, Florida Supreme, Twitter Locations: Florida, Iowa, ’, Washington, Georgia, America, New Hampshire

☆ Trump's rape trial defense? His accuser and her friends have Trump Derangement Syndrome
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-06 | by ( Jacob Shamsian | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +13 min

Donald Trump's lawyers have tried to undermine E. Jean Carroll, who accuses him of rape. Just moments later, Trump's lawyers rested their case as well, without presenting any evidence. Carroll and her friends, Trump's lawyers suggest, all have Trump Derangement Syndrome. According to Trump's lawyers, the whole lawsuit is a conspiracy schemed up by ardent Trump critic George Conway. AP Photo/John MinchilloTrump's attorney pointed out that Birnbach had said Trump and his allies had symptoms of Trump Derangement Syndrome.

☆ Supreme Court: New documents show how Sandra Day O'Connor helped George W. Bush win the 2000 election
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( Joan Biskupic | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +14 min

CNN —Justice Sandra Day O’Connor provided the early framework that steered the outcome in the dispute over the 2000 presidential election and ensured George W. Bush would win the White House over Al Gore, Supreme Court documents released on Tuesday show. They also demonstrate the tension among the nine justices being asked to decide a presidential election on short deadlines. The five conservative justices (O’Connor, Kennedy, Rehnquist, Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas) sided with Bush. The Florida results had been too close to call at the end of Election Day, November 7. The next day, Kennedy wrote to the chief justice, “Sandra’s memorandum sets forth a very sound approach” and said he wanted to build on it.

☆ A Hurricane-Resistant Hospital Is Coming to Coney Island
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-01 | by ( Sharon Otterman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

New York City is about to cut the ribbon on a new $923 million public hospital building, not far from the beach in Coney Island, that is designed to be practically flood-proof and that promises to elevate the level of health care for hundreds of thousands of people in South Brooklyn. The new Ruth Bader Ginsburg Hospital building, which opens Tuesday, was born out of a crisis. During Hurricane Sandy in 2012, Coney Island Hospital, the former name of the campus where the new building is, flooded. When it came time to restore the facility, city hospital leaders convinced the Federal Emergency Management Agency that constructing a new building would cost the same as repairing and retrofitting the old one. With nearly $1 billion from the agency, the city’s public hospital system was able to construct a fortress, designed to withstand even a once-in-a-century flood.

☆ I was the first woman to be hired as a pilot by a major US airline in 1973. When I first started, they called me 'the little girl' and a uniform for women didn't even exist.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( Bianca Giacobone | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

When American Airlines hired her in 1973, Bonnie Tiburzi was the only woman among 214 new hires. This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Bonnie Tiburzi, the first woman to fly with American Airlines as a pilot in 1973. A Boeing 727 jet in American Airlines livery similar to the one Tiburzi would have operated. Look like a female pilotWhen Tiburzi first started working for American Airlines, there was no uniform for female pilots. After 26 years with American Airlines, I retired in 1999.

[1/2] U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg delivers remarks during a discussion hosted by the Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, D.C., U.S., September 12, 2019. A rare meeting of the Supreme Court Bar, comprised of attorneys admitted to practice law before the court, featured speeches from people who worked closely with Ginsburg including U.S. Trump also appointed conservative Justices Neil Gorsuch in 2017 and Brett Kavanaugh in 2018. Appointed to the Supreme Court by Democratic President Bill Clinton in 1993, she provided key votes in landmark rulings securing equal rights for women, expanding gay rights and safeguarding abortion rights. Ginsburg was the second woman ever named to the court, after Justice Sandra Day O'Connor.

☆ Jimmy Carter, the 39th U.S. president, is in hospice care
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-18 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

Former President Jimmy Carter speaks to the congregation at Maranatha Baptist Church before teaching Sunday school in his hometown of Plains, Georgia on April 28, 2019. Former President Jimmy Carter, who at 98 years old is the longest-lived American president, has entered home hospice care in Plains, Georgia, a statement from The Carter Center confirmed Saturday. Jason Carter, the couple's grandson who now chairs The Carter Center governing board, said Saturday in a tweet that he "saw both of my grandparents yesterday. That's a staggering drop from when The Carter Center began leading the global eradication effort in 1986, when the parasitic disease infected 3.5 million people. I would not deserve to be your president," Carter said often as he campaigned.

WASHINGTON — Conservative Justice Brett Kavanaugh said the Supreme Court is not as divided as members of the public might think, praising his liberal colleagues and highlighting rulings in which the justices were not divided on ideological lines during a recent public appearance. Kavanaugh had special praise for the late liberal Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the recently retired liberal Justice Stephen Breyer and Breyer’s successor, liberal Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, saying she “has hit the ground running" and is "thoroughly prepared." Ginsburg and Breyer "couldn't have been better at welcoming me to the court," Kavanaugh said, referring to his nomination by then-President Donald Trump in 2018. Kavanaugh this week appeared eager to counter any perceptions that the court is usually divided on ideological lines, pointing out several cases in which he had joined liberal justices in 5-4 decisions. Statistics compiled for the SCOTUSblog legal website showed, however, that in the previous court term only 29 percent of the decisions were unanimous, lower than at any time in the past two decades.

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to hear an evangelical Christian mail carrier's employment discrimination claim in a case that could force employers to do more to accommodate the religious practices of their workers. Postal Service could have granted his request that he be spared Sunday shifts based on his religious belief that it is a day of worship and rest. Based on his request for an accommodation, his managers arranged for other postal workers to deliver packages on Sundays until July 2018. Upon resigning, he sued the Postal Service for failing to accommodate his request. In the earlier ruling, the court said that employers are not required to make accommodation if it would impose even a minimal burden.

Sentencing Commission unanimously voted to publish for public comment a proposed amendment to federal sentencing guidelines relied upon by judges nationally that would limit them from considering a defendant's "acquitted conduct." The vote came a day before U.S. Supreme Court justices were scheduled to meet privately to consider hearing, among other cases, four different appeals by criminal defendants urging them to end to this common judicial practice. The U.S. Supreme Court in 1997 held that a jury's verdict of acquittal does not prevent a judge at sentencing from considering conduct underlying the acquitted charge. Some U.S. lawmakers and defense lawyers have criticized the practice as unfair and a potential violation of defendants' civil rights. Some members of the judiciary including current Supreme Court justices have questioned it.

☆ 2022 was the year the Overconfidence Man fell back to earth
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-29 | by ( Maureen Tkacik | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +22 min

Naturally, Elon Musk, the platonic ideal of the peculiar self-aggrandizing, self-parodying personality type that thrived during the Trump years and peaked during the pandemic, tops this list. By 2022, the media had pronounced him variously the next Warren Buffett, J.P. Morgan and Charles Koch. "bye bye @trussliz Congrats to lettuce", tweeted Putin's one-time stand-in Dmitry Medvedev, to which Elon Musk could not resist replying, "pretty good troll tbh." Elon Musk speaks at the 2020 Satellite Conference and Exhibition in March 2020. Elon MuskIt's weird to recall now that Elon Musk once seemed like, graded on the billionaire curve anyway, a net positive for a cursed American society.

Both would be setbacks for the Biden administration. In another immigration-related case, the court has yet to rule on the Biden administration’s attempt to implement its immigration enforcement priorities. For Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar, the administration’s top advocate at the court, arguing before such a conservative court is a constant uphill battle. The government similarly failed to convince the conservative majority not to expand gun rights in another major ruling issued that month. The Biden administration can point to some hard-fought victories.

☆ John Lewis stamp: Civil rights hero to be honored next year
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-13 | by ( Shawna Mizelle | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

Washington CNN —The late civil rights trailblazer and congressman John Lewis will be honored on a new postage stamp in 2023, the US Postal Service announced Tuesday. The Georgia Democrat, who dedicated his life to activism and spent more than three decades in Congress fighting for civil rights, will be featured on a stamp using a photograph taken for a 2013 issue of Time magazine, USPS said in a statement. Lewis was widely seen as a moral conscience of Congress because of his nonviolent fight for civil rights. Sen. Jon Ossoff of Georgia, a Democrat who introduced and passed a resolution honoring the life of Lewis, has voiced support for commemorating him with a stamp. “Congressman Lewis was an American hero, civil rights icon, and revered citizen of Georgia, fully deserving of this honor,” Ossoff said in a statement last year.

Among the provisions being challenged is one that gives a preference to Native Americans seeking to foster or adopt Native American children, which those challenging the law say discriminates on the basis of race. The challengers are led by Chad and Jennifer Brackeen — a white evangelical Christian couple who sought to adopt a Native American boy — as well as the states of Texas, Indiana and Louisiana. Tribes have also warned that a ruling striking down provisions of the law on racial discrimination grounds would threaten centuries of law that treat Native American tribes as distinct entities. Both sides appealed to the Supreme Court after the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. The Supreme Court has been closely divided in two major recent cases on Native American issues.

☆ Postal Service honors the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg with a stamp
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-25 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +1 min

Postal Service is honoring the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg as “an icon of American culture” with a stamp in the new year. Postal Service stamp honoring Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Postal Service / AP“After beginning her career as an activist lawyer fighting gender discrimination, Justice Ginsburg became a respected jurist whose important majority opinions advancing equality and strong dissents on socially controversial rulings made her a passionate proponent of equal justice,” the agency said in its announcement. The newly unveiled first-class “forever” stamp of the liberal icon will be available for purchase in 2023, although officials did not mention a specific date. A first-class stamp currently costs 60 cents, a price that will rise to 63 cents on Jan. 22, 2023.

☆ Meet the 2022 Supreme Court clerks: 38 lawyers who could be tomorrow's politicians, judges, and influential strategists
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-07 | by ( Jack Newsham | Sindhu Sundar | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson's ClerksSupreme Court Nominee Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson. In the interim, Murray has had several different jobs, most recently as an associate professor at Columbia University Law School, where he focused on "constitutional law, election law, and race and the law, among other topics." Michael F. QianQian is no stranger to a SCOTUS clerkship, having worked in the chambers of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg from 2019 to 2020. She previously worked at the law firm Hogan Lovells, where she was on a team that helped a Colorado prisoner with an appeal to the Supreme Court. Before clerking for Judge Jackson, Salmanowitz clerked for Judge Paul Watford on the Ninth Circuit.

☆ Trump referred to German Chancellor Angela Merkel as 'that bitch' and sarcastically prayed for God to 'watch over' Ruth Bader Ginsburg while she was sick, book says
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-28 | by ( Kayla Gallagher | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Maggie Haberman's book, "Confidence Man" reveals the profane ways Trump spoke about other leaders. Trump would refer to German Chancellor Angela Merkel as "that bitch." In 2020, Trump sarcastically threw up his hands in prayer for Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Trump responded to her comments saying it was "a disgrace to the court" for a justice to get involved in a political campaign. Haberman sat down with the often crass ex-president three times for her 607-page book, which is scheduled for publication on October 4.

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