U.S. Supreme Court: Post-Ginsburg Edition

at least to my reading they decided it somewhat narrowly (the EPA can't use the Clean Ar Act to curb carbon emissions because carbon dioxide is not classified as a pollutant) rather than completely gutting delegation.

The Supreme Court's second and final opinion of the day—and the term—is Biden v. Texas, the Remain in Mexico case. The Biden administration wins, 5–4, with Roberts and Kavanaugh joining the liberals. Biden can rescind the policy. https://t.co/QIo8hJybz1

— Mark Joseph Stern (@mjs_DC) June 30, 2022

Not so fast tho...

I think this right. Today's decision is a victory for the Biden administration, but it gives Trump judges in the lower courts space to retake control of border policy on remand. Very troubling. https://t.co/wuKSlgRtLk

— Mark Joseph Stern (@mjs_DC) June 30, 2022

all of this is obviously very bad, but in a way is this a challenge to congress? to be more creative? to be more "activist" and prescriptive?

oh wait

hahahahahahahahahahahahaha

if the Dem party was functional at all they'd be working on clear legislation to solidify these laws but I am guessing they see saving the planet we all live on as a divisive issue

It costs too much.

I recently read a Stanford study which tried to estimate the cost of converting every nation on the planet to 100% renewables, landing on a number around $60 trillion

that's a lot, but they also estimated the planet would save $11 trillion or so every year, meaning it would pay for itself within 5 1/2 years. not to mention the massive impacts on the environment and public health

so of course our dumb species won't do it, we won't even try

In his dissent, Thomas claims that COVID vaccines were developed with the use of "aborted children." https://t.co/43cSrepGNn

— Mark Joseph Stern (@mjs_DC) June 30, 2022

jesus christ

clarence thomas i wish you a very die

I still own isclarencethomasdeadyet.com. anybody wanna help me develop it?

I had a static page up on there that just said "unfortunately no" but idk maybe we can do better.

Just in: In an election case out of North Carolina, SCOTUS agrees to review the "independent state legislature" theory next term. Under that theory, state legislatures have broad power to set rules for federal elections, even if state courts say those rules are unconstitutional.

— SCOTUSblog (@SCOTUSblog) June 30, 2022

^^ very bad

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o593zZyfFfc

yea that seems to lay the groundwork to make the attempted coup in 2020 actually successful this time

From here it looks like a majority of the court would vote in favor of a ruling based on the legal theory that "might makes right".

“Supreme Court Rules That Supreme Court Lacks Legal Reason to Exist”

There’s a spoken word Godspeed You Black Emperor quote that suits how I feel about life in this country lately, let’s see, what was it?

It occurred to me yesterday: Bloom County devoted dozens of strips to Reagan, Poppy, and the legislative branch. Guess the Burger Court was too boring to satirize.

They did!

ooh! Do show!

Oh, no, I meant: you’re right.

They are telegraphing their intentions this far out and yet we can all rest assured that the Dems will not do one fucking thing to stop it. Time to get the fuck out of the country.

It feels almost inevitable that the deciding vote in the House on overturning the popular vote in '24 will come from a far-right firebrand elected in '22 thanks to Democratic support in the primary.

I have great-grandparents who came over on the boat from Finland, maybe it's time to start learning the language and exploring my options.

will Geir take us in

Not that there is any realistic plan for getting the fuck out of Dodge, I'm just completely out of hope after the last two weeks. We've got a rogue SCOTUS completely crippling our democracy for the foreseeable future, the Dems are too busy fundraising to spend on far-right primary candidates to do a fucking thing to stop it and voting rights are being completely gutted. Hard to imagine how anything turns around at this point.

My only option for grandparent-citizenship in Europe is fucking Poland (sorry Poles).

"The left needs to stand down so we can stop fascism!"
*funds fascism*

Back in 2017, I predicted, only partly tongue in cheek, that Trumps' Court would not rest until it had reversed those pesky child labor laws. I really don't think it's out of the question.

I have great-grandparents who came over on the boat from Finland, maybe it's time to start learning the language and exploring my options.

Finnish isn't an actual language; it's something they made up to disorient and terrify the Russians during the war, and then it just kind of stuck.

maybe we'll get lucky and some of these justices will live long enough to perish in one of the future natural disasters they directly caused with their epa decision

or Kavanaugh can get eaten by something

My grandmother spoke it before she spoke English; her parents spoke little English and never learned much in their small community in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. We hosted a Finnish exchange student about a dozen years ago. I saw an email he wrote to his parents--it looked like long strings of random vowels and consonants with the occasional umlaut thrown in.

Reminds me of a story my grandfather used to tell about the rural Illinois town he grew up in; a Czech guy moved to town and assumed he was learning English from his neighbors, but he was actually learning Swedish.

I feel like this EPA decision could be catastrophic

I feel like this EPA decision could be catastrophic

Honestly, I don't. Big Industry has figured out that there's money to be made in doing things in a cleaner and more efficient manner. They'll make changes on their own (have already been doing so for years) and Republicans (and Joe Manchin) will scrape their knuckles on the ground and mutter "But we got the judges t'say y' didn't hafta!"

Yeah I mean a decade ago this would’ve been really frightening but the entire energy sector does seem to be making a lot of strides right now

I don’t see some numbered industrial chemical company (for example) really caring what people on Instagram think, when they can save a few bucks by dumping their waste directly into the nearest river with zero oversight. It’s only going to take a small number of businesses to totally fuck shit up.

The year is 2024. SCOTUS just voted 5-4 to allow hunting homeless people for sport, with Roberts joining the minority, arguing that only homeless not actively seeking work should be hunted

— Ken Klippenstein (@kenklippenstein) June 30, 2022

xp it is catastrophic. rolling back the power of federal agencies -- that is, the ones that serve interests other than corporate profits -- is going to be a major goal of this right wing court.

Regarding the EPA decision, the major questions doctrine seems like a legitimate question to ask, following from the separation of powers. Roberts may be guilty of using incrementalism as a magic escape hatch, but I sometimes wonder if he is conscious of the reception of expert opinion. Is he pragmatic, institutionally grandiose, aware of anti-intellectualism in the 21st C., ... ?

But doesn't the investment in new sectors delay benefits, and would decision makers expect to be around to reap the benefits and to profit personally?

Government subsidies could provide the bridge to reduce the cost (and the delayed gratification) of the investment, so it is still plausible that Big Business could switch if anyone is still in touch with reality.

Have you read Kagan's dissent? It makes it clear how aggressive and results-oriented the application of this supposed doctrine is in this case. In the section of the law in question, Congress gave the agency the power to make these calls. The Court is, by fiat, deciding "ehhh.... no it didn't."

I should read the dissent because the parts that were quoted in the NYT were memorable. Thanks.

I agree that it seems to have been a misapplication (if the doctrine itself is valid and worth retaining now and in the future, based on the little that I know of legal theory) and that the most likely interpretation is that Roberts made his decision based on outcome. (I still wonder about his motives and his rationale.)

His motives and his rationale are continuing to fatten the wallets of the Koch brothers and their brethren.

Does this work or not anymore if ever -- id : legislative :: ego : executive :: super-ego : judicial ?

Like I know you’re trying to be reasonable but the myth that Roberts is the reasonable one is dangerous. Every single one of the conservatives on the court has no regard for human lives except those of the white, rich, donor class that they serve.

Roberts may not be the case to consider, but I think there has to be a premise of common humanity or everything falls apart.

Roberts looks reasonable b/c the three Trump nominees pushed the Court further right and finally gave Alito and Thomas working majorities.

xp to youn

Roberts may not be the case to consider, but I think there has to be a premise of common humanity or everything falls apart.