U.S. Supreme Court: Post-Ginsburg Edition

jesus listening to this trump asshole is really friggin' hard. it sounds like two pieces of sandpaper fucking.

Massive lol. And not only is his laryngitis (or whatever it is) painful it seems that he thinks the faster he speaks the smarter he is.

This fucking guy, with his wife promoting sedition.

I had to walk back into my office when I thought I heard Thomas cite Operation Mongoose.

Good morning!

worth mentioning this whole thing is a sham the only point was to get them to take up the argument in the first place so they could delay the trial

https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/trump-celebrating-supreme-court-immunity-heist-1235009838/

I mean its pretty wild that their entire strategy is just a very out in the open "delay until after the election and have Trump kill off the cases once he wins" and there's nothing our justice system can do about it

there's plenty they can do, they just don't want to

Ten minutes ago Alito, eyes practically welling up with tears, wondered if we undermine a "stable democracy" if we didn't allow presidents to leave office in peace.

Then he broke into "One Last Time"

Michael R. Dreeben will fuck you up. That's all i know. He knows his stuff.

how many of the pending trial are waiting on this ruling? does it affect the classified docs trial at all?

Ten minutes ago Alito, eyes practically welling up with tears, wondered if we undermine a "stable democracy" if we didn't allow presidents to leave office in peace.

Thomas says presidents in the past have participated in coups, "yet there have been no prosecutions"??

Is this motherfucker serious? His argument is "Every president coups, why is mine getting charged?"

— Elie Mystal (@ElieNYC) April 25, 2024

the fact that Thomas is even allowed to rule on this is insane

still can't imagine it goes Trump's way, the question is will they turn around a ruling quickly (like they did with Bush vs. Gore) or will they drag their feet until July and give Trump what he wants

in the end what really is the difference between Iran and the United States

All the conservative justices: Let's not look at the facts in this case, let's look at instead my hypothetical questions based on my viewing of Fox Cable news, or lets look at this historical thing I remember, Operation Mongoose, or the pardoning of Nixon

The case is submitted. Court doesn't come back till May 9th which will be a decision day.

But I think they won't decide *this* case until July 3rd for max delay. And that decision will be 5-4 to remand the case back to DC, for additional delay.

— Elie Mystal (@ElieNYC) April 25, 2024

I got up to use the bathroom and literally turned around and returned to my office when I heard Thomas mention Operation Mongoose.

I admit I had to google that President Kennedy item

The (male) conservative justices lined up to declare that the REAL threat to democracy wasn't Trump's attempt to steal the 2020 election, but the Justice Department's effort to hold him accountable. They were almost entirely worried about the prosecution, not the alleged crime.

Mark Joseph Stern of Slate

https://x.com/mjs_DC/status/1783539335662276627

The conservative justices mostly avoided specifically defending Trump's acts as official acts of the president worth giving immunity to, they just slickly alluded to theoretical examples and their own takes on a few historical examples, so that they can remand the case back under a new definition of immunity that they will create

Sotomayor stuck it to Alito.

Elie Mystal, Justice correspondent for the Nation noting that Kavanaugh who was complaining at the hearing today regarding how independent counsel under old rules went too far in making life difficult for presidents, was himself an employee once under Kenneth Starr who went too far.

Seeing some elsewhere say that the Justice Department lawyer could have done better in countering the conservative justices on their arguments and conclusions but not sure about that myself

Elie Mystal's prediction feels like it's otm x 10.

Any ruling for total Presidential immunity would forever mark this court as having flushed the republic down the toilet, but allowing Trump's trial to go forward, especially during this election year, will invite the wrath of a million fanatics, constantly inflamed and incited by Trump. The conservative majority will duck and cover like a classroom running a nuclear drill in 1955. They'll settle for maximum delay and hope for the best.

Seeing some elsewhere say that the Justice Department lawyer could have done better in countering the conservative justices on their arguments and conclusions but not sure about that myself

― curmudgeon, Thursday, April 25, 2024

Nah, he did an admirable job, knew his shit, swatted the more ridiculous arguments aside. But Alito and Kavanaugh were relentless.

"Everything's coming up Milhouse Orange Dipshit"

another clarence thomas classic pic.twitter.com/lD9zZZq2AS

— jor (@jorfolle) April 25, 2024

One of the NPR analysts made the point that the conservative part of the SCOTUS bench is full of people who worked in the DOJ for Republican presidents and whose whole conception of the presidency is that it is constantly under deeply unfair and immoral political attack. So of course they view this whole case through that lens.

Yep. And they won’t consider or acknowledge or argue with an opposing view , just double down on their own defensive take.

Let’s fuckin goooooooooooo

Sotomayor: If the president decides that his rival is a corrupt person and he orders the military to assasinate him, is that within his official acts to which he has immunity?

"That could well be an official act," Trump lawyer John Sauer says

— Igor Bobic (@igorbobic) April 25, 2024

“That could well be an official act, but only if Trump does it,” Sauer clarified.

how officers of the court of any kind refrain from yelling WE SEE EXACTLY WHAT YOU’RE DOING is surprising to me but welp

So ... like any other defendant who goes to trial?

Alito described consquences for Trump of going to trial:

"That may involve great expense, and it may take up a lot of time. And during the trial, the former president may be unable to engage in other activities that the former president would want to engage in and then the…

— Igor Bobic (@igorbobic) April 25, 2024

What about that time the Supreme Court let the civil trial against Clinton go forward because it probably wouldn't take up that much time

If the president decides that his rival is a corrupt person

Clever Sonya! You hid it in plain sight.

Wouldn’t want to cut into his grifting time.

Trump's lawyer was offered a chance for rebuttal at the end and he turned it down. He obviously sensed he was going to get what he wanted

i’m not gonna lie this shit is kinda crazy

What a time to be alive

It's all going according to plan

Trust the plan

If the president decides that his rival a Supreme Court justice is a corrupt person

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2024/04/supreme-court-trump-immunity-arguments-alito-maga.html

Lithwick, Stern , and others summarizing the Immunity case and how Alito is in his Maga world

“Mark Joseph Stern: This was a great example of Alito being fully brain-poisoned by Fox News. This is been happening for years; he used to ask famously great questions, but these days it’s just culture war grievances and stuff that falls apart upon even a little bit of scrutiny. He’s losing his edge. And that was clear in this bizarro question saying that actually, a functioning constitutional democracy requires us to let presidents off the hook when they engage in a criminal conspiracy to steal elections.”

I hate commentary like this. Alito has always been the biggest POS on the court. Nothing has changed.

Stern knows better than that. Alito asked famously trolly right wing hack questions.

stakes have changed

God help you if you are a criminal defendant whose fate rests in the hands of Samuel Alito . . . unless you are a Republican ex-president, apparently.