WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court ruled Thursday that the eastern half of Oklahoma can be considered Native American territory, a decision the state previously warned could create "civil, criminal and regulatory turmoil."
The 5-4 decision was written by Associate Justice Neil Gorsuch and joined by the court's four liberal justices. The justices were considering the issue for the second time after failing to decide a different case last year, when Gorsuch was recused and the court likely deadlocked.
The case concerned an appeal from Jimcy McGirt, a Native American, who claimed his state rape conviction from 1997 should be overturned because Oklahoma lacked jurisdiction. Congress, his lawyer Ian Gershengorn said, never properly terminated the reservation.
...
"The federal government promised the (Muscogee Creek Nation) a reservation in perpetuity," Gorsuch wrote, adding that while Congress has "diminished" the sanctuary over time lawmakers had "never withdrawn the promised reservation."
"As a result, many of the arguments before us today follow a sadly familiar pattern. Yes, promises were made, but the price of keeping them has become too great, so now we should just cast a blind eye. We reject that thinking."
I mean.. uh... yay for justice re: Native lands, but... OMG WTF THAT WAS YOUR ARGUMENT?!? AND YOU WON!? MFer!!!
The dumbest thing I've ever bought
was a 2020 planner.
"Does anyone ever think about Denethor, the guy driven to madness by staying up late into the night alone in the dark staring at a flickering device he believed revealed unvarnished truth about the outside word, but which in fact showed mostly manipulated media created by a hostile power committed to portraying nothing but bad news framed in the worst possible way in order to sap hope, courage, and the will to go on? Seems like he's someone we should think about." - Dave_LF
On the tax return cases, Trump lost, but won. The court held that he was not immune from subpoena by the NY prosecutor, nor should even a heightened standard be applied, but they still sent it back to the lower court for further review. On the congressional subpoenas, the court sent it back to the lower court to review further the separation of powers issues that it claims the lower court did not sufficiently address. Roberts, writing for a majority that included everyone other than Thomas and Alito, criticized both the House arguments and Trump's arguments.
The bottom line is that no one will see Trump's tax returns before the election. The NY D.A. will almost certainly prevail in the lower court and eventually get the documents that he is seeking. I would guess that the case involving the congressional subpoenas will eventually come back to SCOTUS for further review.
I haven't had a chance to look closely enough at the McGirt decision to form a firm opinion.
"Spirits in the shape of hawks and eagles flew ever to and from his halls; and their eyes could see to the depths of the seas, and pierce the hidden caverns beneath the world."
Two pieces of news about recent blockbuster Supreme Court cases.
Chief Justice Roberts agreed to a request by Manhattan D.A. Vance (which was agreed to by Trump's attorneys) to immediately issue the Court's judgment in the Trump tax case involving the D.A.'s subpoena so that they can move forward with the additional challenges that the court said that Trump could pursue. Usually the court waits 30 days before issuing its judgments. That makes it slightly more likely that the D.A. will get the tax returns before the election (assuming the new challenges fail, which they should). But even so, they will remain secret.
And a federal judge has ordered the Trump administration to immediately begin processing new DACA applications, which they have failed to do since the high court issued its decision in the DACA case.
"Spirits in the shape of hawks and eagles flew ever to and from his halls; and their eyes could see to the depths of the seas, and pierce the hidden caverns beneath the world."
I wonder, on something like the DACA thing, what would be the mechanism for enforcing that? Like, if the White House just ignores it, what would be the consequences of that?
I wanna love somebody but I don't know how
I wanna throw my body in the river and drown
-The Decemberists
It's a good question. Normally it simply wouldn't be an issue. But in the new normal ... .
"Spirits in the shape of hawks and eagles flew ever to and from his halls; and their eyes could see to the depths of the seas, and pierce the hidden caverns beneath the world."
The dumbest thing I've ever bought
was a 2020 planner.
"Does anyone ever think about Denethor, the guy driven to madness by staying up late into the night alone in the dark staring at a flickering device he believed revealed unvarnished truth about the outside word, but which in fact showed mostly manipulated media created by a hostile power committed to portraying nothing but bad news framed in the worst possible way in order to sap hope, courage, and the will to go on? Seems like he's someone we should think about." - Dave_LF
The Trump administration announced on Tuesday that it will continue to defy a federal court order compelling the full restoration of DACA, the Obama-era program that allows 700,000 immigrants to live and work in the United States legally. By doing so, the administration has chosen to flout a decision by the Supreme Court, effectively rejecting the judiciary’s authority to say what the law is.
The dumbest thing I've ever bought
was a 2020 planner.
"Does anyone ever think about Denethor, the guy driven to madness by staying up late into the night alone in the dark staring at a flickering device he believed revealed unvarnished truth about the outside word, but which in fact showed mostly manipulated media created by a hostile power committed to portraying nothing but bad news framed in the worst possible way in order to sap hope, courage, and the will to go on? Seems like he's someone we should think about." - Dave_LF
River wrote:Trail of Tears guy did the same thing.
Yep.
The dumbest thing I've ever bought
was a 2020 planner.
"Does anyone ever think about Denethor, the guy driven to madness by staying up late into the night alone in the dark staring at a flickering device he believed revealed unvarnished truth about the outside word, but which in fact showed mostly manipulated media created by a hostile power committed to portraying nothing but bad news framed in the worst possible way in order to sap hope, courage, and the will to go on? Seems like he's someone we should think about." - Dave_LF
River wrote:Trail of Tears guy did the same thing.
I assume by "Trail of Tears guy" you are referring to Andrew Jackson?
"Spirits in the shape of hawks and eagles flew ever to and from his halls; and their eyes could see to the depths of the seas, and pierce the hidden caverns beneath the world."
The one that Trump won't let get replaced on the $20 bill by Harriett Tubman.
I would like to comment about the fact that the administration is refusing to followed the court's order on DACA, but I haven't found the appropriate words yet.
"Spirits in the shape of hawks and eagles flew ever to and from his halls; and their eyes could see to the depths of the seas, and pierce the hidden caverns beneath the world."
Voronwë the Faithful wrote:This decision comes just days after the Trump administration removed Obama-era protections that specifically ban discrimination against transgender patients. The reasoning of that action is diametrically opposite to what the court found in these cases, and so it will be interesting to see what litigation follows.
Why yes, Sir V, it has been interesting to see what litigation followed!
The administrations new rule removing the Obama-era protections that specifically ban discrimination against transgender patients was scheduled to go into effect tomorrow. This afternoon, New York Federal Judge Frederick Block issued a preliminary injunction staying the the repeal of the 2016 definition of discrimination on the basis of sex for the purposes of the ACA, citing the SCOTUS decision in Bostock, the Title VII case in which they ruled that discrimination on the basis of sex included discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
"Spirits in the shape of hawks and eagles flew ever to and from his halls; and their eyes could see to the depths of the seas, and pierce the hidden caverns beneath the world."
Frelga wrote:The consequences will be that DACA applications won't be processed.
Sometimes, I hate to be right.
USCIS makes it official. They will ignore SCOTUS ruling and, "will reject all initial DACA requests from aliens who have never previously received DACA and return all fees." Furthermore, renewals will be limited to one year.
If there was anything that depressed him more than his own cynicism, it was that quite often it still wasn't as cynical as real life.
The Senate committee hearing on Amy Barrett is the most disjointed hearing I've ever listened to. Evidently the Democrats have decided that since they cannot stop the appointment, and because they don't want to leave a bad impression in voters' minds by attacking Barrett's religious beliefs, they won't, for the most part, waste time talking about the nominee. Instead, they're using their speaking time to campaign -- against Trump and for a take-back of the Senate, mostly focusing on the ACA. I think it's a shrewd political move, but it does give the bizarre impression that when switching from Republican to Democratic speaker, one is also switching from the judicial hearing to a different hearing on health care.
Avatar photo by Richard Lykes, used with permission.
Well, Barrett is clearly qualified (as the ABA acknowledged, unlike numerous candidates Trump has nominated for judgeships), and while clearly unfair and hypocritical, there is nothing unconstitutional about the process of confirming her.
"Spirits in the shape of hawks and eagles flew ever to and from his halls; and their eyes could see to the depths of the seas, and pierce the hidden caverns beneath the world."
The dumbest thing I've ever bought
was a 2020 planner.
"Does anyone ever think about Denethor, the guy driven to madness by staying up late into the night alone in the dark staring at a flickering device he believed revealed unvarnished truth about the outside word, but which in fact showed mostly manipulated media created by a hostile power committed to portraying nothing but bad news framed in the worst possible way in order to sap hope, courage, and the will to go on? Seems like he's someone we should think about." - Dave_LF
"Spirits in the shape of hawks and eagles flew ever to and from his halls; and their eyes could see to the depths of the seas, and pierce the hidden caverns beneath the world."
