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☆ College use of race in admissions challenged at Supreme Court in arguments
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-31 | by ( Dan Mangan | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

"Racial classifications are wrong," the attorney Patrick Strawbridge said in his opening argument on behalf of the group Students for Fair Admissions. The Supreme Court began hearing arguments Monday in two cases that challenge the use of race-based considerations to determine who gets admitted to American colleges. Conservatives hold a 6-3 super-majority on the Supreme Court and are expected to be open to the arguments for ending affirmative action. The cases being argued are Students for Fair Admissions v. President and Fellows of Harvard, case No. 20-1199, and Students for Fair Admissions v. the University of North Carolina, case No.

☆ Clarence Thomas says 'I don't have a clue' what 'diversity' means as the Supreme Court tackles affirmative action
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-31 | by ( Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas said he didn't know what the word "diversity" meant. The Supreme Court is tackling a case challenging affirmative action in college admissions. "I've heard the word diversity quite a few times and I don't have a clue what it means. The court heard oral arguments Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA) vs. the University of North Carolina (UNC), a case centered around the school's admissions process. UNC denied SFFA's allegations, and lower courts sided with the university before the case was brought to the Supreme Court.

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.

WASHINGTON — A Georgia prosecutor on Thursday urged the Supreme Court not to block a requirement that Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., testify in an investigation into whether former President Donald Trump and his allies tried to interfere in the 2020 election. She noted that under the lower court ruling, Graham would be immune from questioning about legislative activities and future disputes could be adjudicated by the lower court. On Monday, conservative Justice Clarence Thomas, who handles emergency applications that arise from Georgia, temporarily blocked the grand jury subpoena from being enforced while the court determines its next steps. Willis is investigating a pair of post-election phone calls Graham made to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and his staff. As an influential member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Graham helped ensure that Trump was able to make three appointments to the Supreme Court.

☆ S.C. governor says marriage should be 'between a man and a woman' at debate
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-27 | by ( Matt Lavietes | Matt Lavietes Is A Reporter For Nbc Out. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster said Wednesday that he would back his state's defunct law banning same-sex marriage if the Supreme Court were to overturn its 2015 landmark gay marriage ruling. "Maybe I'm old fashioned, but I think marriage ought to be between a man and a woman — just like I think that boys ought to play in boy sports and girls ought to play in girl sports," McMaster, 75, said. Cunningham appeared shocked, replying: "It's 2022 and Governor McMaster wants to ban same-sex marriage — you just heard that tonight, folks. If the landmark decision were reversed, it would once again fall to the states to decide on the legality of same-sex marriage. Lawmakers in Congress have introduced a measure that would federally permit same-sex marriage, the Respect for Marriage Act.

The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments in the two cases on Monday, with rulings due by the end of June. Blum's goal is for the Supreme Court to overturn its own precedents allowing race as a factor in admissions. Blum raised more than $8 million from 2015 to 2020 for Students for Fair Admissions, most going to covering legal fees. No Students for Fair Admissions members served as plaintiffs or testified in court in the Harvard and UNC cases as the group lost in lower courts. The Supreme Court in January agreed to hear appeals backed by Blum in both cases.

A South Carolina judge ruled Wednesday that former Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows must testify before a special grand jury in Georgia investigating possible interference in the 2020 presidential election. Meadows, who lives in South Carolina, has tried to avoid testifying before the grand jury probe into possible election interference by then-President Donald Trump and his allies. A spokesperson for Willis said Meadows won’t appear before the grand jury until sometime after the midterm elections next month, as the investigation is in a “quiet period” around then. A federal appeals court ruled last week that Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., also must testify before the Fulton County grand jury. Trump's former White House counsel Pat Cipollone and former personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani have also testified before the grand jury.

☆ Former Trump aide Mark Meadows ordered to testify in Georgia election-meddling probe
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-26 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

A South Carolina judge on Wednesday ordered former Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows to comply with a Georgia grand jury subpoena demanding his testimony in a probe into potential criminal meddling in the 2020 presidential election. The order came a day after a lawyer for the former South Carolina congressman Meadows said the subpoena issued by the Fulton County grand jury should be blocked for multiple reasons. The grand jury is investigating efforts by former President Donald Trump and his allies to get Georgia election officials to effectively reverse the victory in that state by President Joe Biden. Georgia authorities had to ask a judge in South Carolina to compel Meadows to comply with the subpoena because he is not a resident of Georgia. He said that South Carolina law related to securing the attendance of witnesses for another state in a criminal proceeding would not apply to the one issued for his client.

☆ Clarence Thomas temporarily shielded Lindsey Graham from testifying before a Georgia grand jury investigating attempts to overturn the 2020 election
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-25 | by ( Lauren Frias | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Justice Thomas briefly froze an order calling on Sen. Lindsey Graham to testify in a Georgia 2020 election probe. Last week, Graham filed an emergency application to block his testimony before an Atlanta grand jury. Graham was one of the lawmakers who asked the state's top election official to question absentee ballots, per a WaPo report. But last week's appeal to the Supreme Court wasn't Graham's first attempt to avoid testifying before the Atlanta grand jury. In a 23-page order filed in September, a federal judge rejected Graham's immunity claim, saying she was "unpersuaded by the breadth of Senator Graham's argument."

☆ Former Trump aide Mark Meadows asks South Carolina judge to block Georgia grand jury subpoena in election-meddling probe
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-25 | by ( Dan Mangan | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Former Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows asked a South Carolina judge to block a subpoena demanding his testimony before a Georgia grand jury investigating possible criminal interference in the 2020 presidential election. Meadows' request Monday afternoon came hours after U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas temporarily delayed a similar subpoena that the same grand jury issued to Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. Meadows, a former Republican congressman, resides in South Carolina. Bannister said the subpoena was moot because it had required Meadows' appearance before the grand jury on Sept. 27. The grand jury in this case does not have the power to criminally charge individuals but can recommend charges.

☆ Justice Clarence Thomas Blocks Georgia Subpoena of Sen. Lindsey Graham
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-24 | by ( Jess Bravin | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

Sen. Lindsay Graham (R., S.C.) says he is shielded from cooperation with a Georgia grand jury by the Constitution’s Speech or Debate Clause. WASHINGTON—Justice Clarence Thomas on Monday temporarily blocked a Georgia grand jury from compelling Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham to testify in its probe of efforts to subvert President Biden’s 2020 election victory in the state, while the Supreme Court considers the South Carolina lawmaker’s claim that he has congressional immunity from the investigation. The district attorney in Fulton County, Ga., which includes the state capital of Atlanta, has been investigating alleged efforts by former President Donald Trump and his allies to steal victory from Mr. Biden by pressuring election officials to alter the vote count. Mr. Graham, who like Mr. Trump denies wrongdoing, telephoned Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger following the election.

☆ Justice Clarence Thomas temporarily blocks Lindsey Graham's testimony in Georgia election interference probe
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-24 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Lawrencehurley_Pic.Jpg | Lawrence Hurley | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

Conservative Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas on Monday temporarily put on hold a requirement that Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., testify in a Georgia prosecutor's probe of alleged interference in the 2020 election by former President Donald Trump and his allies. The decision by Thomas, who handles emergency requests that arise from Georgia, freezes the litigation while the justices weigh Graham's plea that the Supreme Court quash the subpoena. Thomas had previously asked lawyers for the Fulton County District Attorney's Office to respond to Graham's request by close of business on Thursday. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected Graham's attempt to avoid answering questions about two phone calls he made to Georgia election officials after the 2020 election because, he argued, his actions were protected under the U.S. Constitution’s speech and debate clause. It does not mean the justices will grant Graham's request once the briefing is completed.

Thomas granted the Republican senator's request to halt the lower court's decision pending a further order to come, either from him or the Supreme Court. Graham, a Trump ally, filed the emergency application on Friday after a federal appeals court denied his request to block the questioning. Graham has argued that his position as a senator provides him immunity from having to appear before the grand jury. Testimony from Graham could shed further light on Trump allies coordinating to reverse the election results. Trump continues to appear at rallies repeating his false claims that the 2020 election won by Democrat Joe Biden was stolen from him through widespread voting fraud.

☆ Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas temporarily blocks Sen. Graham's subpoena from Georgia grand jury
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-24 | by ( Dan Mangan | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Associate Justice Clarence Thomas during the formal group photograph at the Supreme Court in Washington, DC, US, on Friday, Oct. 7, 2022. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas on Monday temporarily blocked a subpoena demanding testimony from South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham from a Georgia grand jury investigating election interference by former President Donald Trump. The hold on the subpoena came three days after Graham's attorneys asked Thomas to delay the senator's appearance before the grand jury, which is investigating possible criminal interference in Georgia's presidential election in 2020. On Thursday, a panel of judges on the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals unanimously rejected a request by Graham to temporarily block the subpoena. The conservative justice said the subpoena would be delayed pending further order by Thomas or the Supreme Court.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., asked the Supreme Court on Friday to halt a subpoena compelling him to testify in a Georgia county prosecutor’s criminal probe of potential interference in the 2020 election. Graham’s request comes a day after a federal appeals court ordered him to testify in the grand jury investigation that has already ensnared Trump allies such as Rudy Giuliani. "Without a stay, Senator Lindsey Graham will soon be questioned by a local Georgia prosecutor and her ad hoc investigative body about his protected 'Speech or Debate' related to the 2020 election," the filing says. The grand jury in Georgia was convened earlier this year to assist Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis' investigation into possible 2020 election interference by former President Donald Trump and others. The grand jury wants to question Graham about the circumstances of two phone calls he made to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and his office after the election.

Senator Lindsey Graham asked the Supreme Court on Friday to halt a lower court's order compelling him to testify to a special grand jury in Georgia investigating whether then-President Donald Trump and his allies attempted to overturn 2020 election results in the state. Graham, a Republican from South Carolina, filed the emergency application after a federal appeals court on Thursday denied his request for protection from testifying. The appeals court on Thursday said Graham must testify before the grand jury, but he can choose to dispute individual questions. Testimony from Graham, an ally of Trump, could shed further light on Trump allies coordinating to reverse the results. Trump continues to appear at rallies repeating his false claims of fraud in his election loss to Democrat Joe Biden.

☆ Rep. Abigail Spanberger, a moderate Democrat from the battleground state of Virginia, faces off against first-time House hopeful Yesli Vega
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-21 | by ( Warren Rojas | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Rep. Abigail Spanberger is running against Republican Yesli Vega in Virginia's 7th Congressional District. Virginia's 7th Congressional District candidatesSpanberger, who previously worked for the Central Intelligence Agency and the US Postal Inspection Service, currently serves on the House Foreign Affairs Committee and House Agriculture Committee. Vega is one of the conservative candidates backed by E-PAC, the women-centric recruiting effort run by Trump-aligned House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik. Voting history for Virginia's 7th Congressional DistrictThe Old Dominion's 7th Congressional District includes a big chunk of central Virginia, stretching from the exurbs of the nation's capital to the outskirts of the state capital, Richmond. The National Republican Congressional Committee has so far spent more than any other group.

☆ Obama says 'a lot of voters' got 'complacent' when Roe v. Wade was the law of the land
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-16 | by ( John L. Dorman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Former President Obama said "a lot of voters" became "complacent" when Roe v. Wade was the law. Obama remarked on Roe and the Supreme Court during a recent episode of "Pod Save America." Roe v. Wade. Obama successfully nominated two justices to the Supreme Court during his presidency — Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan — who were part of the minority of justices who sought to keep Roe in place. In 2017, then-President Donald Trump would go on to successfully nominate conservative Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court, and later selected Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett.

“We’re going to bring a focus, particular focus, on the former president’s state of mind and his involvement in these events as they unfolded,” a committee aide said. Ginni Thomas, who advocated for Trump to remain in power, embraces the lie that the 2020 election was stolen. “What we’re going to be doing is taking a step back,” the aide said of Thursday’s hearing. The panel is working under a time crunch as it gathers and publicizes evidence prior to issuing a final report. If Republicans win control of the House in November’s elections, as most prognosticators predict, the committee will be disbanded in January.

☆ Federal appeals court pauses Texas social media law’s enforcement amid looming Supreme Court petition
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-13 | by ( Brian Fung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

Washington CNN Business —A federal appeals court has agreed to suspend enforcement of Texas’ social media law restricting content moderation, in the face of a looming request by tech industry groups for the Supreme Court to review the case. Some justices, including conservatives Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, have explicitly cited the role and power of social media platforms as reasons the Court should step in. Last month, Florida’s attorney general called on the Supreme Court to review a social media law in that state that is similar to Texas’ legislation. The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals had earlier blocked Florida’s law, saying it was likely unconstitutional. That finding created a split with the Fifth Circuit’s decision to uphold Texas’ law, making it even more likely for the Supreme Court to take up the matter.

The Jan. 6 committee's ninth and likely final investigative hearing Thursday will feature new testimony and evidence, including Secret Service records and surveillance video. ET, will not include any live witnesses, a committee aide said. All nine committee members are expected to lead segments of the hearing. That’s a departure from this summer when each of the eight hearings featured only a few panel members at a time. Part of the committee's charge is to issue legislative recommendations to prevent another Jan. 6 attack, and some panel members Thursday will present on the ongoing threats to democracy that remain.

☆ Justice Clarence Thomas confesses he's a Prince fan during a spirited debate over Andy Warhol's artwork and copyright law
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-12 | by ( Oma Seddiq | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

The Supreme Court heard a case involving pop artist Andy Warhol's iconic silkscreen prints of musician Prince. At issue is whether Warhol violated copyright law by relying on a photographer's image of Prince for his art. The Andy Warhol Foundation has asked the Supreme Court to overturn that ruling. "If you called Andy Warhol as a witness, what would he say?" "And this is a work of art sending a message about modern society," he said of Warhol's.

Oct 11 (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday weighed the constitutionality of a California law banning the sale of pork from pigs confined in spaces with too little space to move freely that industry groups have said impermissibly regulates out-of-state farmers. The law was approved by voters as a ballot initiative in 2018 to bar sales in California of pork, veal and eggs from animals whose confinement failed to meet minimum space requirements. "As I read California's law, it's about products being sold in California," conservative Justice Clarence Thomas said. The Supreme Court took up the case after the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. President Joe Biden's administration has sided with the pork producers, saying in a Supreme Court brief that states cannot ban products "that pose no threat to public health or safety based on philosophical objections."

☆ Next Jan. 6 committee hearing will reveal 'pretty surprising' new material, Rep. Zoe Lofgren says
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-11 | by ( Kevin Breuninger | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

The committee's ninth public hearing will touch on the "close ties between people in Trump world and some of these extremist groups," Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., said in a CNN interview. "There's some new material that, you know, I found as we got into it, pretty surprising." Later that same week, the committee interviewed Virginia Thomas, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, for about 3.5 hours. Thomas was not videotaped during her interview with the committee, Lofgren said over the weekend in an MSNBC interview. The committee also faces an end-of-the-year deadline to submit a final report to the president and Congress containing its findings.

Under Pennsylvania law, voters are required to write the date on the outer envelope of a mail-in ballot. In his appeal, Ritter argued that mail-in ballot rules improve election administration and deter fraud. Alito wrote that the 3rd Circuit ruling "could well affect the outcome" of elections this year. Pennsylvania Republican legislators echoed Ritter's warning. Pennsylvania Republican legislators in a filing to the Supreme Court said the 3rd Circuit's ruling threatened an orderly election in November.

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