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☆ Alito jokes about Black Santa and Ashley Madison during Supreme Court arguments
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-05 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Summer-Concepcion-Byline-Jm.Jpg | Summer Concepcion | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

Justice Samuel Alito joked about Black Santa, children in Klan robes and dating websites as the Supreme Court heard arguments Monday in a case weighing a web designer's bid to avoid working on same-sex weddings because she is a conservative evangelical Christian. David Zalubowski / AP fileEric Olson, the Colorado solicitor general, said that the Black Santa wouldn’t have to follow through with the request since KKK outfits are not protected characteristics under accommodation laws. Alito quipped, “You do see a lot of Black children in Ku Klux Klan outfits, right? Kagan, who is Jewish, jumped in to confirm that Alito was correct, which drew laughter from those in attendance. Conservative justices on the high court appeared sympathetic toward the web designer’s bid as they heard arguments for more than two hours Monday.

☆ Justice Alito weirdly jokes that 'You do see a lot of Black children in Ku Klux Klan outfits all the time' while debating a free speech case and talking about Santa photos
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-05 | by ( Rebecca Cohen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Justice Samuel Alito made a weird joke during oral arguments in a free speech case Monday. "You do see a lot of Black children in Ku Klux Klan outfits, right? Jackson's scenario was about a photography business not wanting to take photos of a mall Santa Claus with children who are not white. "No, because Ku Klux Klan outfits are not protected characteristics under public accommodation laws," Colorado Solicitor General Eric Olsen responded. "You do see a lot of Black children in Ku Klux Klan outfits, right?"

At face value, this act seems like a step forward by codifying federal same-sex and interracial marriage rights. At best, it is a preemptive Band-Aid should the Supreme Court try to overturn Obergefell v. Hodges, which cited the Fourteenth Amendment to legalize same-sex marriage. But in no way does this act federally legalize “marriage equality” across the United States. The protections to religious liberty were late additions to the bill, in order to secure the support of Senate Republicans like Utah’s Mitt Romney. Of course, the irony in this situation is that federal marriage equality isn’t even guaranteed under the Respect for Marriage Act.

REUTERS/Lucy NicholsonWASHINGTON, Nov 29 (Reuters) - U.S. Supreme Court justices on Tuesday struggled over a bid by President Joe Biden's administration to implement guidelines - challenged by two conservative-leaning states - shifting immigration enforcement toward countering public safety threats. The justices voted 5-4 vote in July not to block Tipton's ruling halting the guidelines, announced last year by Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. When the Supreme Court also declined to stay Tipton's ruling, conservative Justice Amy Coney Barrett joined liberal justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson in dissent. Prelogar called the states' claims of indirect harms insufficient to allow them to sue and urged the Supreme Court to limit the ability of states more generally to challenge federal policies in court. Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston and Andrew Chung in Washington; Editing by Will DunhamOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

The court on a 5-4 vote declined in July to put U.S. District Judge Drew Tipton's ruling hold. On Tuesday, some of the conservative justices who were in the majority in that decision signaled that they were likely to rule against the administration again. Republican state attorneys general in Texas and Louisiana sued to block the guidelines after Republican-led legal challenges successfully thwarted other Biden administration attempts to ease enforcement. When the Supreme Court declined to stay Tipton's ruling, conservative Justice Amy Coney Barrett joined liberal justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson in dissent. Prelogar called those indirect harms insufficient and urged the Supreme Court to limit the ability of states more generally to challenge federal policies.

☆ Supreme Court’s Lawyer Dismisses Ethics Allegations Against Justice Samuel Alito
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-29 | by ( Jess Bravin | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Justice Samuel Alito wrote the majority opinion in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby, which found that some firms could deny coverage of contraceptives to female employees. WASHINGTON—The Supreme Court’s staff lawyer rejected allegations that Justice Samuel Alito may have disclosed to conservative activists the outcome of a 2014 case on contraceptive access before it was published. “There is nothing to suggest that Justice Alito’s actions violated ethics standards,” Ethan Torrey , the Supreme Court’s legal counsel, wrote in a letter responding to queries from two Democratic critics of the court’s ethical practices, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island and Rep. Hank Johnson of Georgia.

The 2014 decision in the case called Burwell v. Hobby Lobby, like the June abortion decision, represented a victory for religious conservatives. The Hobby Lobby decision exempted family-owned businesses that objected on religious grounds from a federal requirement that any health insurance they provide to employees must cover birth control for women. Durbin urged passage of legislation that would create a code of ethics for the Supreme Court. Schenck, according to the Times, wrote to Roberts about his claim. Schenck said one of the Wrights then told him that Alito had authored the Hobby Lobby opinion and that it would favor the company, the newspaper reported.

☆ Targeting Justice Samuel Alito
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-23 | by ( The Editorial Board | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The political campaign against the Supreme Court continues, relentlessly, and the latest example is a claim that eight years ago Justice Samuel Alito leaked word ahead of time about a Supreme Court ruling. We’d ignore this except that Democrats and the anti-Court media are treating it like a capital offense. To call this story uncorroborated is to overstate its credibility. Rob Schenck , a pastor who has since turned against his former evangelical allies, claims he heard from a woman who heard from Justice Alito at a dinner party in 2014 about the pending opinion in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby, a religious liberty case. Justice Alito denies leaking anything, and the woman denies hearing about it.

☆ The Senate Judiciary Committee will review reports that Alito's Hobby Lobby decision was leaked to an anti-abortion leader: 'another black mark on the Supreme Court's increasingly marred ethical recor
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-21 | by ( Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Anti-abortion leaders knew about a 2014 Supreme Court decision before it was official, NYT reported. Alito's Hobby Lobby decision on contraception would be the second of two known leaks from the court. The Senate Judiciary Committee will investigate the allegations, AP reported. The Burwell v. Hobby Lobby decision held that corporations can refuse on religious grounds to pay for contraception as mandated by the Affordable Care Act. Representatives for the Senate Judiciary Committee, Senator Durbin, and the Supreme Court did not immediately respond to Insider's requests for comment.

Conservative Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito on Saturday strenuously denied any involvement in leaking the outcome of a 2014 ruling in a lengthy statement issued in response to a New York Times report. The court has a 6-3 conservative majority that strongly favors religious rights and frequently rules in favor of conservative Christian interests. Gayle Wright told the Times she did not obtain or pass along any information to Schenck, who has since become a supporter of abortion rights. Chief Justice John Roberts announced in May that he had launched an investigation of the leak but there has been no update since. Meanwhile, liberal members of the court have suggested that the court risks undermining its legitimacy by abruptly unraveling decades of precedent.

WASHINGTON, Nov 19 (Reuters) - A New York Times report of a former anti-abortion leader's claim that he was told in advance about the outcome of a major 2014 U.S. Supreme Court case involving contraceptives triggered calls on Saturday for an investigation of a court still reeling from the leak of a landmark abortion rights ruling. Rob Schenck was quoted by The Times as saying he was informed weeks before the public announcement of the 2014 ruling shortly after two conservative allies had dinner at the home of Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito and his wife. Alito said in a statement that any allegation that he or his wife leaked the 2014 decision was "completely false." Alito had called the Roe leak, which was confirmed when the ruling was announced in June, a "grave betrayal." Schenck said one of the Wrights then told him that Alito had authored the Hobby Lobby opinion and that it would be in its favor, The Times said.

☆ A former anti-abortion leader says he was told the decision of the landmark 2014 Hobby Lobby contraception case weeks before the Supreme Court ruling was formally announced: NYT
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-19 | by ( John L. Dorman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

An anti-abortion leader said he was told of the Supreme Court's 2014 Hobby Lobby ruling in advance, per The New York Times. According to Schenck, the outcome of the Hobby Lobby case was only known to a very small contingent of individuals. In the letter to Roberts, Schenck spoke of the process in which the revelation about the Hobby Lobby case played out. "As I recall, we talked about the Green family, owners of Hobby Lobby, and how they, too, would be interested in this information." Gayle Wright told The Times that she didn't pass on any information about the Hobby Lobby decision in advance.

☆ Former anti-abortion leader alleges Supreme Court leaked another landmark case, report says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-19 | by ( Ashley Capoot | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

A view of the U.S. Supreme Court building on the first day of the court's new term in Washington, U.S. October 3, 2022. Schenck said the ruling was also shared with a handful of advocates, according to the report. The Burwell v. Hobby Lobby decision was a victory for conservatives, much like the Supreme Court's recent 5-4 decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, the historic ruling that established the constitutional right to abortion in the U.S. in 1973. In Burwell v. Hobby Lobby, the court ruled that it was a violation of religious freedom for family-owned businesses to be required to pay for insurance that covers contraception. Representatives for the Supreme Court and Chief Justice John Roberts didn't immediately comment.

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Monday declined to block the release of Arizona Republican Party Chair Kelli Ward’s phone records to the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol. The justices rejected an emergency request filed by Ward, meaning that phone records associated with her T-Mobile cellphone will be disclosed to the House committee. The committee is pursuing only Kelli Ward’s records. At the Supreme Court, Ward argued that the subpoena violates her right to freedom of association under the Constitution’s First Amendment. Those actions have come under scrutiny by the Justice Department as well as the Jan. 6 committee.

☆ Supreme Court Allows Jan. 6 Committee to Obtain Arizona GOP Official’s Phone Records
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-14 | by ( Jess Bravin | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

WASHINGTON—The Supreme Court cleared the way Monday for House Jan. 6 investigators to obtain phone records from Arizona Republican Party Chairwoman Kelli Ward , rejecting her argument that her First Amendment political rights shield her from congressional investigatory powers. In a brief unsigned order, the court denied Ms. Ward’s request to stay lower-court decisions upholding the subpoena from the select committee investigating the attack on the U.S. Capitol by supporters of former President Donald Trump. Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito said they would have granted Ms. Ward’s request.

☆ Supreme Court allows Jan. 6 committee subpoena for phone records of Arizona GOP chief Kelli Ward
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-14 | by ( Dan Mangan | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Arizona Chairwoman Kelli Ward speaks during the Rally To Protect Our Elections conference on July 24, 2021 in Phoenix, Arizona. The Supreme Court on Monday rejected a request by Arizona Republican Party Chairwoman Kelli Ward to block her phone records from being subpoenaed by the select House committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. The denial sets the stage for the Democratic-controlled House committee to obtain those records from her T-Mobile account. The order rejecting Ward's and her husband Michaels' request for an emergency injunction notes that Supreme Court Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito would have granted it. Laurin Mills, a lawyer for Kelli Ward, when asked by CNBC for comment on Monday's ruling, wrote, "It is my personal practice not to comment on pending litigation."

WASHINGTON — The conservative-majority Supreme Court left its imprint on the 2022 elections, galvanizing Democrats with decisions on guns and abortion and potentially aiding Republicans with election rulings. For decades, it was the Republican Party that benefited from conservative anger over the Supreme Court's original ruling in Roe v. Wade. Using the new map, Republicans won five of the six districts Tuesday. Under the newly drawn map, Republicans won 20 of 28 seats. The Supreme Court's 2019 ruling said partisan gerrymandering claims could not be adjudicated by federal courts.

WASHINGTON — Justice Samuel Alito, who authored the Supreme Court ruling that upended abortion rights, was given a boisterous standing ovation Thursday at an event hosted by the Federalist Society, an influential conservative legal group. Alito, in brief remarks at the organization's 40th-anniversary gala near the Supreme Court, praised the influence the society has had on the legal landscape, with its members now spread throughout the federal judiciary. Barrett made brief remarks praising the society, saying she had "benefited immensely" from her association with it, and she got her own standing ovation when she took the stage. Leo got yet another standing ovation Thursday. Over the years, chapters were formed at law schools across the country, where students and conservatives would debate the law, thereby helping to connect people and expose them to conservative legal theories.

WASHINGTON, Nov 10 (Reuters) - U.S. Supreme Court Justices Samuel Alito and Amy Coney Barrett received standing ovations from members of the conservative Federalist Society on Thursday at its first annual convention since the court overturned a nationwide right to abortion. The loudest applause at the event in Washington, D.C. may have been not for the justices but for Alito's opinion in the June ruling. Other conservative members of the court backed the ruling. The conservative justices have been the subject of protests over their rulings, particularly after the abortion decision earlier this year. Leonard Leo, a long-time conservative legal activist, while serving as a Federalist Society executive helped compile a list of potential U.S. Supreme Court nominees that former President Donald Trump drew from during his tenure.

☆ Republican Sen. Mike Lee faces off against independent Evan McMullin in the Utah Senate race
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-08 | by ( John L. Dorman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Utah GOP Sen. Mike Lee is running for a 3rd term against independent candidate Evan McMullin. In the Senate, Lee serves on the Judiciary Committee, the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, the Joint Economic Committee, and the Special Committee on Aging. Utah independent Senate candidate Evan McMullin. Republicans have won every presidential race in the state since 1968, often with landslide margins, and the last Democrat to win a Senate race in the state was Frank Moss in 1970. In the 2020 presidential election, Trump defeated now-President Joe Biden in Utah by 20 points (58%-38%), a significant drop from Romney's sweeping victory (73%-25%) over Obama in 2012.

[1/3] A man rides a scooter past the front of the U.S. Supreme Court building in Washington, U.S. September 30, 2022. conservative Justice Samuel Alito asked Malcolm Stewart, a lawyer for the Department of Justice representing both commissions. The Supreme Court's conservative justices have signaled skepticism toward expansive regulatory power and the duty of judges, under Supreme Court precedent, to give deference to that authority. She told Stewart that of the three factors relevant to the case under a Supreme Court precedent, "two factors are pretty darn bad for you." Axon sued the FTC in 2020 in federal court in Arizona following an investigation by the agency into its 2018 acquisition of Vievu, a rival body-camera provider.

☆ The Public Has a Right to Know Who Leaked the Dobbs Draft
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-31 | by ( Alan M. Dershowitz | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Justice Samuel Alito stated last week that the leak of his draft opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization endangered the justices’ lives: “It gave people a rational reason to think they could prevent that from happening by killing one of us.” A man who was found heavily armed outside the home of Justice Brett Kavanaugh two weeks before the court decided Dobbs has been charged with attempted murder. The leak constituted “a grave betrayal of trust,” Justice Alito added. So why hasn’t the perpetrator been identified and punished?

☆ Alito appeared to reference Elizabeth Warren when he asked about 'family lore' on Native American ancestry during Supreme Court affirmative action case
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-31 | by ( Rebecca Cohen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Samuel Alito appeared to reference Sen. Elizabeth Warren during the Supreme Court's affirmative action case. The Supreme Court is hearing a case challenging affirmative action in college admissions. "It's family lore that we have an ancestor who was an American Indian," Alito offered. Park agreed that in that instance, it would not make sense for a student to say they are of American Indian heritage. Alito replied: "I identify as an American Indian because I've always been told that some ancestor back in the old days was an American Indian."

☆ Supreme Court's conservative majority seems open to eliminating affirmative action in university admissions process: 'Why do you have these boxes?'
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-31 | by ( Oma Seddiq | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

The Supreme Court heard two high-profile challenges to race-conscious university admissions processes. The court's conservatives appeared open to ending race as a factor in university admissions. Thomas, the second Black person to ever serve on the bench, has long been critical of race-conscious admissions policies. They cannot adopt race-conscious admissions and sit back reflexively and let that play out forever into the future," Prelogar said. "At present, it's not possible to achieve that diversity without race-conscious admissions, including at the nation's service academies."

According to Harvard, around 40% of U.S. colleges and universities consider race in some fashion in admissions. The Supreme Court has been upheld such policies, most recently in a 2016 ruling involving a white woman who sued after the University of Texas rejected her. Ruling in favor of the plaintiffs could require the court to overturn its 2016 ruling and earlier decisions. 'DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION'The lawsuits accused UNC of discriminating against white and Asian American applicants and Harvard of discriminating against Asian American applicants. Circuit Court of Appeals found that Harvard's use of race was "meaningful" and not "impermissibly extensive" because it prevented diversity from plummeting.

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