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☆ Early divisions signal bitter internal conflicts as Supreme Court turns toward final decisions
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-25 | by ( John Fritze | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

Even as the court is sometimes finding wider-than-expected majorities for relatively limited outcomes, the nine justices are regularly in conflict over the meaning of decisions. A number of lower-profile cases have also sparked deep doctrinal divisions, even when the final vote count is lopsided. “It does seem, at least anecdotally, unusual to have this many separate opinions in cases with relatively lower stakes,” said Steve Vladeck, CNN Supreme Court analyst and professor at the University of Texas School of Law. The Supreme Court earlier this month tossed out an appeal from anti-abortion doctors challenging expanded access to the abortion pill mifepristone. Among them, Justice Sonia Sotomayor slammed the court’s majority opinion for its reliance on history to decide the trademark dispute.

Persons: ”, Steve Vladeck, “, dinged, councilwoman, Brett Kavanaugh, ” Kavanaugh, Donald Trump, Jack Smith’s, yank Trump, Trump, Amy Coney Barrett, Samuel Alito, Kavanaugh, ” Barrett, Aziz Huq, Huq, Moore, John Roberts ’, hasn't, Neil Gorsuch chimed, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, ” Alito, Clarence Thomas, Alito, it’s, Sylvia Gonzalez, Florida GOP Sen, Marco Rubio, Sonia Sotomayor Organizations: CNN, University of Texas School of Law, Trump, Capitol, University of Chicago, New York, Police, Florida GOP, Republican Locations: Moore, Texas, Trump, concurrences

☆ Opinion | Gay Marriage Was a Big Missed Opportunity
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-24 | by ( Omar G. Encarnación | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

It’s a strange time for gay rights in America. As the country nears the 10th anniversary of the legalization of gay marriage nationwide, support for same-sex unions has risen to 70 percent of the American public. Even Obergefell v. Hodges, the 2015 Supreme Court ruling that legalized gay marriage, is under attack. Clearly, marriage equality was not enough to bring full equality to L.G.B.T.Q. But the gay marriage campaign was a major missed opportunity to expand L.G.B.T.Q.

Persons: Anita Bryant’s, Hodges, Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas, Roe, Wade Organizations: Republican, Congress Locations: America

☆ Our contributors rewatched the 2020 Biden-Trump debates for clues. Here’s what they predict will happen Thursday
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-24 | by ( Cnn Opinion | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +27 min

Kate Bedingfield served as White House communications director in the Biden administration and was the deputy campaign manager on Biden’s 2020 presidential campaign. That contentious exchange during the 2020 debate put Biden on the defensive. A President Trump might make their decisions about retirement that much easier. David Urban, a CNN political commentator, served as an adviser to then-President Trump’s 2020 re-election campaign. On Thursday, President Biden needs to do it again.

Persons: isn’t, Joe Biden’s, Donald Trump’s, —, Stephanie Griffith, Scott Jennings, Trump, Donald Trump, Joe Biden, Biden, counterpunched Biden, CNN Trump masterfully, ” Scott Jennings Trump, mightily, George W, Bush, Sen, Mitch McConnell, Sophia A, Nelson Stephanie Honikel, Chris Wallace, Wallace, Trump’s, it’s, Nelson, It’s, Kate Bedingfield, Donald Trump Kate Bedingfield, Shermichael Singleton, Bill Clinton’s, James Carville, “, Democratic Barack Obama, they're, aren’t, “ It’s, David Axelrod, people’s, ” Biden, jibing Trump, ”, Barack Obama, Obama, David Urban, Amy Coney Barrett, Amy Coney Barrett's, Roe, Wade, Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, Reagan, Clinton, ” David Urban, Dobbs, Lady Jill Biden, Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas, Bakari Sellers, Abraham Lincoln, chokeholds, Emmett Till, HBCUs ? Biden, Hilary Krieger Organizations: CNN, White, Biden, Scott Jennings CNN, Trump, Democratic, Republican, RunSwitch Public Relations, Capitol, GOP, Republican Government Reform, White House, NBC, Marist, Fox News, Global, Senate, United, Appeals, Federalist Society, American, United State Supreme Court, National Guard, South Carolina House of, Strom Law, CNN Opinion’s Locations: Cleveland , Ohio, Nashville , Tennessee, New York, Louisville , Kentucky, Charlottesville , Virginia, “, White, Charlottesville, Michigan, Scranton, Claymont, America, United States, Pennsylvania, HBCUs

☆ Clarence Thomas' originalist interpretations go too far, even for fellow conservatives
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-23 | by ( Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert | Lloyd Lee | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. AdvertisementLegal experts who spoke to Business Insider said Thomas's latest decision highlighted how inconsistent and even ridiculous this method of interpretation can be. The Supreme Court of 1888 decided that the Constitution was broad enough to cover inventions the Founding Fathers never dreamed of. Gross noted that he expected the outcome the Supreme Court ultimately reached, though he was surprised Justice Samuel Alito, another strict originalist, didn't join Thomas' dissent. AdvertisementRepresentatives for the Supreme Court did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.

Persons: —, Clarence Thomas, Thomas, Antonin Scalia, John P, Gross, wouldn't, originalists, Carolyn Shapiro, Shapiro, Amy Coney Barrett, Barrett, SCOTUS, Samuel Alito, didn't, Scalia Organizations: Service, Business, University of Wisconsin Law School, Public, originalism, Chicago, Kent College of Law's Institute, AP, CNN Locations: United States

☆ Opinion | Clarence Thomas and John Roberts Are at a Fork in the Road
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-23 | by ( David French | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Two years ago, when the Supreme Court decided New York State Rifle and Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen, it created a jurisprudential mess that scrambled American gun laws. On Friday, not only did the cleanup begin, but the Supreme Court cleared the way for one of the most promising legal innovations for preventing gun violence: red flag laws. Before Bruen, lower courts had struggled to establish a uniform legal test for evaluating gun restrictions, and the Supreme Court hadn’t provided any clarity. Justice Clarence Thomas wrote the majority opinion in a 6-to-3 decision split along ideological lines. Under a fair reading of Thomas’s opinion, lower courts would be hard pressed to uphold any gun restriction unless you could point to an obvious historical match.

Persons: Brett Kavanaugh, hadn’t, Clarence Thomas Organizations: Supreme, New York State, Inc, ” Locations: Bruen

☆ Supreme Court upholds law barring domestic abusers from owning guns in major Second Amendment ruling
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-21 | by ( John Fritze | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —The Supreme Court upheld a federal law Friday that bars guns for domestic abusers, rejecting an argument pressed by gun rights groups that the prohibition violated the Second Amendment. The 8-1 decision lands as the nation continues to grapple with gun violence and mass shootings. A roiling political debate over firearms has left Washington unable to pass new gun laws. The decision could help shore up similar federal gun regulations that have been challenged since the Supreme Court vastly expanded gun rights in 2022. Rahimi’s lawyers claimed that the Supreme Court’s blockbuster decision two years ago meant that the law on domestic violence orders could not be squared with the Constitution.

Persons: John Roberts, Roberts, ” Roberts, ”, Steve Vladeck, Clarence Thomas, “, ” Thomas, Zackey Rahimi, Thomas, Biden, Joe Biden’s, Hunter, ” Biden, Alito, Samuel Alito Organizations: CNN, University of Texas School of Law, New York, Government, Appeals, Supreme Locations: Washington, State, New, Texas, Bruen, New Orleans

☆ Supreme Court Upholds Law Disarming Domestic Abusers
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-21 | by ( Adam Liptak | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

The Supreme Court ruled on Friday that the government may disarm a Texas man subject to a domestic violence order, limiting the sweep of its earlier blockbuster decision that vastly expanded gun rights. That decision, issued in 2022, struck down a New York law that put strict limits on carrying guns outside the home. The new case, United States v. Rahimi, explored the scope of that new test. Only Justice Clarence Thomas, the author of the majority opinion in the 2022 decision, dissented. Writing for the majority, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. said that Second Amendment rights had limits.

Persons: Clarence Thomas, John G, Roberts Jr Locations: Texas, New York, United States

That sent lower courts scurrying into historical analyses to figure out if modern gun laws had some connection to the 18th Century. Roberts’ opinion said that lower courts were misunderstanding what the majority had said in that ruling. But Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, a member of the court’s liberal wing, suggested it was the high court’s fault for not providing clarity for lower courts to follow. One deals with a Pennsylvania man’s challenge to a federal law prohibiting felons, including those who are non-violent, from possessing firearms. Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar presented that argument with an eye toward several other challenges pending to similar federal gun prohibitions that involve non-violent criminal activity.

Persons: John Roberts, Zackey Rahimi, ” Roberts, Donald Trump, Roberts, Ketanji Brown Jackson, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, Kavanaugh, Amy Coney Barrett, ” Barrett, ” Thomas ’, Bruen, Clarence Thomas, Thomas, Elie Honig, SCOTUS, Rahimi, ” Thomas, Hunter Biden, Hunter, Biden, Daniels, Steve Vladeck, ”, Elizabeth Prelogar Organizations: CNN, Supreme Court, New York, Trump, US, Appeals, Supreme, Circuit, University of Texas School of Law Locations: Texas, New, Bruen, Mississippi, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Illinois

☆ 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

☆ The Supreme Court Upheld a Law Disarming Domestic Abusers
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-21 | by ( Matthew Cullen | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The Supreme Court, in an 8-to-1 decision, ruled today that the government can take guns away from people subject to restraining orders for domestic violence. In particular, a 2022 ruling from the court vastly expanded Second Amendment rights and created a new test to assess gun laws by looking at historical practices to judge their constitutionality. Using that test, a federal judge had ruled that it was unconstitutional to take guns from domestic abusers. But today, Chief Justice John Roberts, writing for the majority, said that Second Amendment rights do have limits. He argued that the government has a better way to disarm dangerous people: by prosecuting them for criminal violence.

Persons: John Roberts, ”, Clarence Thomas

☆ 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

☆ 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

☆ 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

☆ 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

☆ 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

☆ 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

☆ 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

☆ 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

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 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

☆ 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

☆ 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

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