DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ Supreme Court upholds domestic violence gun restriction
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-21 | by ( Lawrence Hurley | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Activists rally outside the U.S. Supreme Court before the start of oral arguments in the United States v. Rahimi second amendement case in Washington on Tuesday, November 7, 2023. The Supreme Court on Friday upheld a federal law that prohibits people subjected to domestic violence restraining orders from having firearms, taking a step back from its recent endorsement of a broad right to possess a gun. The court on an 8-1 vote ruled in favor of the Biden administration, which was defending the law — one of several federal gun restrictions currently facing legal challenges. He argued that he cannot be prosecuted under the federal gun possession restriction in light of what the Supreme Court concluded. But the case before the justices concerns his separate prosecution by the Justice Department for violating the federal gun possession law.

Persons: Biden, John Roberts, Clarence Thomas, Hunter Biden, Joe Biden's, Ketanji Brown Jackson, Joe Biden, Zackey, Rahimi's, Rahimi Organizations: U.S, Supreme, New York State, Justice Department, Circuit, Appeals Locations: United States, Washington, Texas, Arlington , Texas, New Orleans

☆ Supreme Court Allows Suit Over Arrest Said to Be Politically Motivated
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-20 | by ( Adam Liptak | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

A former Texas city councilwoman may pursue a lawsuit claiming that officials had abused their power by arresting her in retaliation for exercising her First Amendment rights, the Supreme Court ruled on Thursday. The court’s five-page opinion was unsigned, which is unusual in argued cases. Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. issued a 16-page concurring opinion, writing only for himself. The unsigned opinion said an appeals court had taken “an overly cramped view” of the evidence required to prove a retaliatory arrest. The appeals court should have considered, the opinion said, objective evidence presented by the councilwoman, Sylvia Gonzalez, that the criminal law under which she had been charged had never been used in the county in similar circumstances.

Persons: Samuel A, Alito Jr, Clarence Thomas, Sylvia Gonzalez Locations: Texas

☆ Supreme Court Upholds Trump-Era Tax Provision
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-20 | by ( Abbie Vansickle | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld a tax on foreign income that helped finance the tax cuts President Donald J. Trump imposed in 2017 in a case that many experts had cautioned could undercut the nation’s tax system. The vote was 7 to 2, with Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh writing the majority opinion. Justice Amy Coney Barrett wrote a concurring opinion, joined by Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr., and Justice Clarence Thomas dissented, joined by Justice Neil M. Gorsuch. The question before the justices appeared narrow at first glance: Is the tax in question allowed under the Constitution, which gives Congress limited powers of taxation? In the majority opinion, Justice Kavanaugh wrote that the tax fell within the authority of Congress under the Constitution.

Persons: Donald J, Trump, Brett M, Kavanaugh, John G, Roberts, Amy Coney Barrett, Justice Samuel A, Alito Jr, Clarence Thomas, Neil M Organizations: Chief

☆ Texas councilwoman can sue over arrest she claims was politically motivated, Supreme Court rules
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-20 | by ( John Fritze | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

In an unsigned opinion, the high court said a federal appeals court took an “overly cramped view” of an earlier precedent that control when people may sue for First Amendment retaliation claims. Normally, a person alleging retaliatory arrest must demonstrate police had not proven probable cause. In its opinion Thursday, the court ruled that Gonzalez should be allowed to present her evidence that she was arrested as retaliation for her actions. “Probable cause defeats a retaliatory arrest claim.”Prosecutors ultimately dropped the charges against Gonzalez. The Supreme Court did not immediately respond to a request for comment about Alito’s absence.

Persons: Clarence Thomas, Sylvia Gonzalez, Gonzalez, –, Thomas, “, ” Thomas, ”, Samuel Alito Organizations: CNN, Supreme, ” Prosecutors, Appeals Locations: Texas, Castle Hills , Texas

☆ Justices uphold Trump tax on overseas investments in win for Biden
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-20 | by ( John Fritze | Tami Luhby | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld a Trump-era tax on overseas investments, rejecting an argument from a Washington state couple in a case that could have jeopardized existing tax provisions and torpedoed Democratic talk of a wealth tax. Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote the majority opinion and Justice Clarence Thomas wrote a dissent. In reading his opinion from the bench, Kavanaugh repeatedly stressed that the opinion was “narrow” and did not implicate the raging debate over a wealth tax. “Those are potential issues for another day, and we do not address or resolve any of those issues here,” Kavanaugh wrote in Thursday’s opinion. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Ron Wyden of Oregon and Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont have also unveiled tax proposals that would hit the wealthiest Americans.

Persons: Brett Kavanaugh, Clarence Thomas, Kavanaugh, Charles, Kathleen Moore, Moores, Donald Trump, Joe Biden, ” Kavanaugh, “, ” Biden, Biden, Democratic Sens, Elizabeth Warren of, Ron Wyden, Independent Sen, Bernie Sanders, Paul Ryan, Moore, Samuel Alito, Alito, Charles Moore Organizations: CNN, Trump, Democratic, Government, Oregon, Independent, Capitol, Moores Locations: Washington, India, trillions, Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Vermont

☆ The Supreme Court’s approach on ‘history and tradition’ is irking Amy Coney Barrett
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-19 | by ( Devan Cole | John Fritze | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

Though Justice Clarence Thomas’ decision in a major trademark case last week was unanimous, it prompted a sharp debate led by Justice Amy Coney Barrett over the use of history to decide the case. “There definitely is the potential formation here of an alternative or several alternative approaches to history that ultimately draw a majority,” Wolf said. “What we could be seeing is a more nuanced approach to using that history,” said Elizabeth Wydra, president of the progressive Constitutional Accountability Center. But in a striking concurrence that captured support from both liberal and conservative justices, Justice Elena Kagan asserted that the court’s historic analysis need not end with the late-18th century. Barrett’s concurrence said the dispute could have been dealt with based on the court’s past precedent with trademark law and stressed that just leaning on the nation’s trademark history wasn’t good enough.

Persons: Clarence Thomas ’, Amy Coney Barrett, Barrett, Thomas, “, ”, Tom Wolf, Brennan, ” Wolf, Trump, Thomas ’, Antonin Scalia, Elizabeth Wydra, ” Wydra, Ilya Somin, there’s, Bruen, Sonia Sotomayor, … Bruen, –, Elena Kagan, Kagan, Brett Kavanaugh, Sotomayor –, Wolf, Roe, Wade, Vidal, . Elster, Sotomayor, ” Thomas, Kavanaugh, John Roberts, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch, Ketanji Brown Jackson, Barrett’s Organizations: Washington CNN, Brennan Center for Justice, New York, Trump, George Mason University, “, Inc, CNN, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Locations: New, Bruen, United States

☆ The trips Justice Clarence Thomas took with Harlan Crow — that we know of
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-18 | by ( Erin Snodgrass | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Read previewSupreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas is once again facing renewed scrutiny amid details about undisclosed trips he took with GOP mega-donor Harlan Crow. Advertisement"The Judicial Conference changed this provision last year, and Justice Thomas has fully complied with the new disclosure requirement," Berke said. GOP megadonor Harlan Crow has defended his relationship with Justice Clarence Thomas after a series of bombshell ProPublica reports. July 2019: Bali, IndonesiaThomas and Crow's 2019 Bali vacation was the centerpiece of ProPublica's original 2023 report. ProPublica previously reported on Thomas' trips to the gentleman's retreat.

Persons: —, Clarence Thomas, Harlan Crow, Thomas, Sen, Dick Durbin, Crow, ProPublica, Michael Zona, Committee's, Elliot S, Berke, Louis, New York ProPublica, Camp Topridge, Leonard Leo, Chris Goodney, Indonesia Thomas, Ginni Thomas, Michaela Rose, Bohemian Grove , California Thomas, Topridge, Topridge —, buddy's hideaway, Crow's, Justice Organizations: Service, GOP, Business, BI, Verizon, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Bloomberg, Getty, Washington Post, DC, Supreme Locations: Indonesia, Grove, Monte Rio , California, Montana, St, Kalispell , Montana, Dallas, New York, Crow's, Thomas, Savannah , Georgia, Georgia, Bali, Bohemian Grove , California, Bohemian Grove, Northern California, Washington, San Jose , California, New Zealand

☆ Biden delivers stark warnings about potential second Trump term at star-studded fundraiser
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-16 | by ( Arlette Saenz | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —President Joe Biden delivered a series of stark warnings about what a second Donald Trump term could hold during a star-studded Los Angeles fundraiser Saturday evening, framing the 2024 presidential election as an inflection point in American history. “What (Trump) did on January 6, and now he’s literally saying if he doesn’t win there’ll be a bloodbath — it’s outrageous. The conversation between Biden and Obama was moderated by television host Jimmy Kimmel. And rallies the world to fight for democracy and freedom.”She also made the case for the dangers of a second Trump term, saying, “Trump has told us again and again why he wants the White House. Biden interjected, “He paid none.”When Kimmel asked Biden about “Trump amnesia,” Biden said: “All you got to do is remember what it was like” during Trump’s four years, pointing to Trump’s recommendation that people inject bleach to cure Covid-19.

Persons: Joe Biden, Donald Trump, Trump, Barack Obama, Biden, Obama, Jimmy Kimmel, he’s, ” Biden, Samuel Alito, Kimmel, ” “, Roe, Wade, Clarence Thomas, “, ”, Trump outraised Biden, ” Obama, Joe, Jill Biden, “ Trump, …, Biden interjected, Covid, —, ” Kimmel, George Clooney, Julia Roberts, Barbra Streisand, Jason Bateman, Jack Black, Kathryn Hahn, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Nikki Carvajal Organizations: CNN, Trump, Biden, Republican, Delta Force Locations: Los Angeles, kilter, United States of America

☆ Supreme Court strikes down Trump-era ban on bump stocks
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-14 | by ( John Fritze | Devan Cole | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Bump stocks allow a shooter to convert a semi-automatic rifle into a weapon that can fire at a rate of hundreds of rounds a minute. The federal rule made possession of a bump stock a crime punishable by up to 10 years in prison. Both the Trump and Biden administrations, as well as gun control groups, said the way bump stocks work mean they qualify as machine guns. Trump described bump stocks at the time as converting “legal weapons into illegal machines.”ATF estimated that as many as 520,000 bump stocks were sold between 2010 and 2018. “Without this ongoing manual input, a semiautomatic rifle with a bump stock will not fire multiple shots.

Persons: Donald Trump, Clarence Thomas, Sonia Sotomayor, Trump, ” Thomas, Michael Cargill, Sotomayor, “, ” Sotomayor, Sandy Hook, Capone, Al Capone, John Dillinger, Justice Brett Kavanaugh, ensnare, you’re, ” Kavanaugh, Biden, “ That’s, Thomas Organizations: CNN, Supreme, Trump, Biden, Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, Explosives, ATF, Democratic, Republican, Court, US, Justice Department, Cargill, National Rifle Association Locations: Las Vegas, Texas, New York

☆ Alito says he's sure Congress wanted to ban a rapid-fire gun device, but overturns the rule anyway
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-14 | by ( Paul Squire | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Read previewThere's "little doubt," Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito wrote, that Congress would have considered bump stocks akin to a machine gun. AdvertisementThe Supreme Court on Friday struck down the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) rule that classified bump stocks as "machine guns." He argued it had been too broad in interpreting firearms law and that Congress never explicitly meant to ban bump stocks, challenging the law on statutory grounds, not Second Amendment protections. "A bump stock does not convert a semi-automatic rifle into a machinegun any more than a shooter with a lightning-fast trigger finger does," Thomas wrote. AdvertisementBut Alito said Congress needs to be explicit that it wants to ban bump stocks, too, by amending the law or passing a new one.

Persons: —, Samuel Alito, Alito, Trump, Michael Cargill, Clarence Thomas, Thomas, Sonia Sotomayor, it'll Organizations: Service, Las, Business, Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, Explosives, ATF Locations: Austin , Texas, Las Vegas

☆ The Supreme Court Rejected the Ban on Bump Stocks
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-14 | by ( Justin Porter | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The Supreme Court today struck down a ban on bump stocks, which enable semiautomatic rifles to fire rapidly like machine guns. The ban was enacted by the Trump administration after a deadly mass shooting in Las Vegas in 2017. The decision, by a vote of 6 to 3, split along ideological lines. Justice Sonia Sotomayor filed a dissent along with two other judges, saying the decision “puts machine guns back in civilian hands.” President Biden urged Congress to act to ban the device. The man who challenged the bump stock ban, a gun shop owner in Texas, said that the ruling was a broader victory for gun rights and that it would make it easier to challenge future attempts by the A.T.F.

Persons: Trump, Clarence Thomas, Sonia Sotomayor, ”, Biden Organizations: Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, Explosives Locations: Las Vegas, Texas

The Supreme Court justices suggested that abortion opponents had other ways to seek stricter rules for abortion drugs in the court’s unanimous ruling that rejected a group of anti-abortion organizations and doctors challenging the Food and Drug Administration’s current regulations for a widely used pill. Much of Kavanaugh’s opinion covered the various legal thresholds a plaintiff must reach to make it appropriate for courts to intervene in a dispute. He noted that federal law already protects individual health care providers who have objections to performing abortions for moral reasons. “In short, given the broad and comprehensive conscience protections guaranteed by federal law, the plaintiffs have not shown—and cannot show—that FDA’s actions will cause them to suffer any conscience injury,” Kavanaugh wrote. Justice Clarence Thomas wrote a concurrence to bring up other issues he had with the anti-abortion groups’ standing claims.

Persons: Brett Kavanaugh, ”, Kavanaugh, ” Kavanaugh, Clarence Thomas Organizations: Food, Legislative

☆ Supreme Court Ruling in Starbucks Case Curbs Labor Regulation
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-13 | by ( Santul Nerkar | Noam Scheiber | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The Supreme Court ruled in favor of Starbucks on Thursday in a challenge against a labor ruling by a federal judge, making it more difficult for a key federal agency to intervene when a company is accused of illegally suppressing labor organizing. Eight justices backed the majority opinion, which was written by Justice Clarence Thomas. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson wrote a separate opinion concurring with parts of the majority opinion, dissenting from other portions and agreeing with the overall judgment. The ruling came in a case brought by Starbucks over the firing of seven workers in Memphis who were trying to unionize a store in 2022. The company said it had fired them for allowing a television crew into a closed store, while the workers said that they were fired for their unionization efforts and that the company didn’t typically enforce the rules they were accused of violating.

Persons: Clarence Thomas, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, “ Organizations: Starbucks, National Labor Relations Board Locations: Memphis, Tennessee

☆ Supreme Court blocks ‘Trump too small’ trademark gambit
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-13 | by ( Lawrence Hurley | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

A general view of the U.S. Supreme Court building in Washington, U.S., June 1, 2024. WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Thursday rebuffed a California lawyer's attempt to trademark the phrase "Trump too small," a reference to a crude joke made about former President Donald Trump. Rubio joked about what he said were Trump's small hands, adding: "And you know what they say about guys with small hands." Elster, an employment lawyer and progressive activist, applied to register "Trump too small" — a double-entendre meant to insinuate a correspondingly small penis — with the trademark office in 2018. The case is the latest of several the Supreme Court has taken up recently concerning free speech rights in the trademark context.

Persons: WASHINGTON —, Trump, Donald Trump, Steve Elster, Clarence Thomas, Thomas, Sen, Marco Rubio, Rubio, Elster, Trump's, Biden Organizations: U.S, Supreme, WASHINGTON, U.S . Patent, Appeals, Federal Circuit, Trump Locations: Washington , U.S, California, Florida, Asian American

☆ Supreme Court rejects challenge to abortion pill mifepristone
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-13 | by ( John Fritze | Tierney Sneed | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

As those bans helped propel the demand for medication abortion, mifepristone became a logical target for the anti-abortion movement. None of those lower court rulings went into effect because the Supreme Court intervened last year and ordered that the status quo around mifepristone remain in place until the justices reviewed the case. The Supreme Court heard arguments in March. Both the FDA and several medical groups, including the American Medical Association, told the Supreme Court that mifepristone is safe. The mifepristone appeal was one of two abortion cases the high court was considering this month.

Persons: Roe, Wade, Brett Kavanaugh, “, ” Kavanaugh, Kavanaugh, ”, Clarence Thomas, mifepristone, Donald Trump, Matthew Kacsmaryk, —, –, Kacsmaryk, Biden, Steve Vladeck, Joe Biden Organizations: CNN, Food, Legislative, Trump, FDA, US, American Medical Association, Alliance for Hippocratic, University of Texas School of Law, Jackson, Health Organization, Biden Locations: Texas, mifepristone, Amarillo , Texas, Dobbs v, Idaho

☆ Clarence Thomas took more undisclosed trips paid for by GOP megadonor Harlan Crow, Senate committee chair says
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-13 | by ( Kevin Breuninger | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has omitted at least three private jet trips gifted by Republican megadonor Harlan Crow from his annual financial disclosures, a top Senate Democrat alleged Thursday. Those trips included private flights in 2017, 2019 and 2021 that Thomas failed to disclose, according to Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin of Illinois. The Senate probe of the Supreme Court "makes it crystal clear that the highest court needs an enforceable code of conduct, because its members continue to choose not to meet the moment," Durbin said in a statement. Spokespeople for Thomas and the Supreme Court did not immediately respond to CNBC's requests for comment. Thomas said in his latest disclosure that those two trips were "inadvertently omitted" at the time.

Persons: Clarence Thomas, Harlan Crow, Thomas, Dick Durbin of, Crow, Durbin, Spokespeople, ProPublica, Elliot Berke Organizations: Republican, Dick Durbin of Illinois, CNBC, Washington , D.C, D.C, Senate Locations: St, Louis , Missouri, Kalispell , Montana, Dallas , Texas, Washington ,, Savannah , Georgia, San Jose , California, Bali, Indonesia, Monte Rio , California, Crow

☆ Thomas Took Additional Trips on Harlan Crow’s Private Jet, Documents Show
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-13 | by ( Abbie Vansickle | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Justice Clarence Thomas never disclosed three trips aboard the private jet of the Texas billionaire Harlan Crow, according to documents obtained by the Senate Judiciary Committee. The documents, obtained by Democrats on the panel, list three visits that have not been previously been reported: one to a city in Montana, near Glacier National Park, in 2017; another to his hometown, Savannah, Ga., in March 2019; and another to Northern California in 2021. The purpose of each trip was not immediately clear, nor was the reason for their omission on the justice’s disclosure forms. However, all of the flights involve short stays: two were round trips that did not include an overnight stay. The revelation underlined the extent to which Justice Thomas has relied on the generosity of his friends over the years and the consistency with which he declined to report those ties.

Persons: Clarence Thomas, Harlan Crow, Thomas Organizations: Senate Locations: Texas, Montana, Savannah, Ga, Northern California

☆ Opinion | The Supreme Court’s Bump Stock Decision Will Prove Fatal
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-12 | by ( David Firestone | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

There was nothing abstract about the 6-to-3 decision issued Friday morning by the Supreme Court to permit bump stocks to be used on semiautomatic rifles. It is one of the most astonishingly dangerous decisions ever issued by the court, and it will almost surely result in a loss of American lives in another mass shooting. Bump stocks attach to the back of a rifle and use the gun’s recoil to enable shooting hundreds of bullets at a very rapid pace, far faster than anyone could shoot by pressing the trigger multiple times. Bump stock devices were banned the next year, just as all fully automatic machine guns are banned for public use, but the six conservative members of the court seemed entirely unbothered by their deadly potential. The opinion, written by Justice Clarence Thomas, parses in a ridiculous level of detail whether bump stocks truly fit the precise mechanical definition of a machine gun.

Persons: Clarence Thomas, parses, Trump Organizations: Vegas, Firearms Policy Foundation

☆ Clarence Thomas raised him 'as a son.' Now he's facing 25-plus years on weapons and drug charges.
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-11 | by ( Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

"For me, in so many ways, it's rewarding because it's brought me, again, full circle," Thomas told Lamb. Related storiesWhen neither placement prevented Martin from acting out with minor drug use and other petty crimes, the Thomases cut him off, Martin told BI. AdvertisementLast summer, according to court records reviewed by BI, Martin was arrested on charges of drug trafficking and weapons possession. Martin says he was eventually expelled from Randolph-Macon Academy for failing a drug test as a junior in high school. "I actually don't know if they know that I'm locked up — I'm not sure they'd care too much," Martin told BI.

Persons: —, Clarence Thomas, Ginni, Mark Martin, Thomas, Emma Mae Martin, Clarence, Ginni Thomas, He's, Harlan Crow, Martin, I've, Brian Lamb, it's, Lamb, Mark, ProPublica, Crow, Crow's, Myers Anderson, Anderson, SPAN Martin, Martin's, they'd, he'd, I'm, — I've Organizations: Service, Supreme, Business, BI, Detention, SPAN, Randolph, Macon Academy, Hidden Lake Academy, Lake Academy, Conception Seminary College Locations: Virginia, Jasper, South Carolina, Macon, Bali, California, Randolph, Georgia

☆ Beyoncé tickets, book advances, Bali trip revealed in new Supreme Court financial disclosures
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-07 | by ( Kevin Breuninger | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Jackson valued the four tickets at $3,711.84, according to her annual disclosure form, which covered all of 2023. Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson disclosed receiving concert tickets from pop superstar Beyoncé, one of several notable items revealed Friday in the high court's latest financial disclosure reports. The Beyoncé tickets may have been the flashiest gifts given last year to a member of the nation's most powerful court, but they were not the only ones. The most recent justice to join the high court also disclosed more income from a book than any of her colleagues last year, the filings showed. Jackson is the only justice on the court who was nominated by President Joe Biden.

Persons: Jackson, Ketanji Brown Jackson, Beyoncé, Kamala Harris, Joe Biden, Clarence Thomas, Terrence Giroux, Alger, Barbara, Thomas, Harlan Crow, Crow Organizations: Supreme, D.C, Penguin Random, Alger Association, Republican Locations: Washington, Bali , Indonesia, Monte Rio , California

☆ Clarence Thomas, in Financial Disclosure, Acknowledges 2019 Trips Paid by Harlan Crow
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-07 | by ( Abbie Vansickle | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Justice Clarence Thomas acknowledged on Friday additional luxury travel he had accepted from a conservative billionaire, amending a previous financial disclosure to reflect trips he had taken to an Indonesian island and a secretive all-male club in the Northern California redwoods. The trips, taken in 2019, were earlier revealed by ProPublica, but it is the first time that Justice Thomas has included them on his financial disclosures. Other Supreme Court justices chronicled their gifts, travel and money earned from books and teaching. The financial disclosures, released yearly, are one of the few public records available about the justices’ lives, providing select details of their activities outside the court. A steady drumbeat of revelations about ties between some of the justices and wealthy donors has only intensified interest in the reports, particularly after disclosures that Justice Thomas had accepted lavish gifts and travel from affluent friends over decades.

Persons: Clarence Thomas, ProPublica, Thomas, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, Lonnie Holley, ’ Organizations: Northern California redwoods Locations: Indonesian, Beyoncé, Alabama

Thomas received 103 gifts with a total value of more than $2.4 million between 2004 and 2023, the judicial reform group Fix the Court said in a report Thursday. Fix the Court's analysis found that Alito accepted 16 gifts worth a combined $170,095. Counting those gifts, Thomas' total two-decade haul is valued at nearly $4.2 million. The value and number of gifts Thomas received also eclipsed those accepted by eight retired or dead Supreme Court justices whose tenures overlapped his service on the court, which began in 1991. Antonin Scalia, a conservative justice who died in 2016 while on the court, accepted 67 gifts worth about $210,000 during his tenure, which began in 1986.

Persons: Clarence Thomas, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch's, Chip Somodevilla, Thomas, Alito, Harlan Crow, Sandra Day O'Connor, Antonin Scalia, William Rehnquist Organizations: Supreme, Getty, Congressional Locations: Washington ,, Grove

☆ These 38 GOP senators just voted against protecting contraception. Here's why.
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-05 | by ( Bryan Metzger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Read previewThe Senate failed on Wednesday to advance a bill designed to protect access to contraceptives nationwide. Just two Republican senators — Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska — voted with Democrats to advance the bill. Advertisement"Do people really think that even a significant minority of the Republican conference is against access to contraception?" AdvertisementBut still — if Republicans aren't against contraception, why won't they just vote for the bill? Glenn Youngkin of Virginia vetoed a bill to protect access to contraception, arguing that it violated principles of religious freedom.

Persons: —, — Susan Collins of, Lisa Murkowski, Alaska —, Chuck Schumer, Republican Sen, Thom Tillis, — Schumer, it's, Tillis, Griswold, Roe, Wade, Clarence Thomas, They've, James Lankford, Lankford, Sen, Rick Scott of, Glenn Youngkin, John Barrasso of, John Barrasso of Wyoming Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee John Boozman, Arkansas Ted Budd of, Carolina Shelley Moore Capito, West Virginia Bill Cassidy, Louisiana John Cornyn, Texas Tom Cotton, Arkansas Kevin Cramer of, Arkansas Kevin Cramer of North Dakota Mike Crapo, Idaho Ted Cruz of, Idaho Ted Cruz of Texas Steve Daines, Montana Joni Ernst, Iowa Deb Fischer, Nebraska Chuck Grassley, Josh Hawley, Missouri John Hoeven of, Missouri John Hoeven of North Dakota Cindy Hyde, Smith, Mississippi Ron Johnson, Wisconsin James Lankford, Oklahoma Mike Lee, Utah Cynthia Lummis, Wyoming Roger Marshall of Kansas Mitch McConnell, Kentucky Markwayne Mullin, Oklahoma Rand Paul of Kentucky Pete Ricketts, Nebraska Jim Risch, Idaho Mike Rounds, South Dakota Marco Rubio, Eric Schmitt, Missouri Rick Scott, Florida Tim Scott of, Florida Tim Scott of South Carolina John Thune of, Florida Tim Scott of South Carolina John Thune of South Dakota Thoms Tillis, North Carolina Tommy Tuberville, Alabama Roger Wicker, Mississippi Todd Young, Mike Braun, Indiana Katie Britt, Alabama Lindsey Graham of, Alabama Lindsey Graham of South Carolina Bill Hagerty, Tennessee John Kennedy, Louisiana Jerry Moran of, Louisiana Jerry Moran of Kansas Mitt Romney, Utah Dan Sullivan, Alaska JD Vance, Ted Budd Organizations: Service, Nine Republicans, Democratic, Republican, Business, Republicans, GOP, Oklahoma Republican, Democrats, Republican Gov, Arkansas Kevin Cramer of North, Nebraska, Kentucky, Oklahoma, South, Florida Tim Scott of South Carolina John Thune of South Dakota, North, Alabama Lindsey Graham of South Locations: — Susan Collins of Maine, Alaska, North Carolina, . Connecticut, James Lankford of Oklahoma, Oklahoma, Rick Scott of Florida, Virginia, John Barrasso of Wyoming, Arkansas, West, Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas Kevin Cramer of North Dakota, Idaho, Idaho Ted Cruz of Texas, Montana, Missouri, Missouri John Hoeven of North Dakota, Mississippi, Wisconsin, Utah, Wyoming, Nebraska, South Dakota, Florida, Florida Tim Scott of South Carolina, Florida Tim Scott of South Carolina John Thune of South, Alabama, Indiana, Alabama Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Tennessee, Louisiana Jerry Moran of Kansas, Ohio

☆ McConnell suggests 'discipline' for Dem senators pressuring Supreme Court over Alito flags
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-05 | by ( Kevin Breuninger | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., suggested Wednesday that the Supreme Court should punish at least two Democratic senators over their calls for Justice Samuel Alito to recuse himself from key cases related to former President Donald Trump. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island are bound by court rules that "provide for discipline against those who engage in conduct unbecoming an officer of the court," McConnell said on the Senate floor. But McConnell singled out Blumenthal and Whitehouse because they are members of the Supreme Court bar. They are therefore "potentially engaged in unethical professional conduct before the court," McConnell said of Blumenthal and Whitehouse, both of whom are members of the Senate Judiciary Committee. The responses from Roberts and Alito confirm that they also viewed the communication as public, Whitehouse added.

Persons: Mitch McConnell, luncheons, Samuel Alito, Donald Trump ., Richard Blumenthal of, Sheldon Whitehouse, McConnell, Alito, Blumenthal, Whitehouse, John Roberts, Leonard Leo, Roberts, Dick Durbin, Clarence Thomas, Wednesday's Organizations: Democratic, Donald Trump . Sens, Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, Trump, American, CNBC, Wall Street, Capitol, Durbin Locations: Ky, Washington, Rhode, Virginia

☆ Alito tells lawmakers he will not recuse from Supreme Court cases despite flag controversy
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-29 | by ( John Fritze | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

“The two incidents you cite do not meet the conditions for recusal,” Alito wrote in a letter distributed by the Supreme Court. Supreme Court justices rarely get into a back-and-forth with lawmakers and many members of the court do not explain their reasons for recusing – or not. Video Ad Feedback See how GOP lawmakers reacted to Judge Alito's flag controversy 01:24 - Source: CNNThe Supreme Court is weighing major cases tied to the 2020 election and the attack on the US Capitol. From Google“I had no involvement in the decision to fly that flag,” Alito wrote. Justice Alito also told Fox News the neighbor used the term “c*nt” at one point during the exchanges.

Persons: Samuel Alito, ” Alito, Alito, recusing, Alito's, Donald Trump’s, Jack Smith’s, “, –, Martha, Ann Alito, Samuel Alito's, Illinois Sen, Dick Durbin, ” Durbin, ”, ” Sen, Sheldon Whitehouse, Clarence Thomas ’, —, Sen, Richard Blumenthal, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins, John Roberts, Thomas, Hank Johnson, Alito’s, ” Johnson, Trump, Justice Alito, “ Alito, SCOTUS, Roe, Wade, CNN’s Piper Hudspeth Blackburn, Kate Sullivan, Jack Forrest, Morgan Rimmer, Tierney Sneed, Holmes Lybrand Organizations: CNN, Supreme, Trump, US Supreme, Google, ’, recusal, Democratic, Illinois Democrat, Rhode Island Democrat, Connecticut Democrat, Georgia Democrat, United States Supreme, New York Times, Fox News, Times, Republicans Locations: Alexandria, Virginia, New Jersey, Long Beach, Illinois, Connecticut, Georgia, House

Search resuls for: "Justice Clarence Thomas"

25 mentions found