US Supreme Court Discussions

[Voronwë the Faithful]

I have seen people who are subject matter experts who have said much the same thing.

[RoseMorninStar]

Moore v. Harper This seems to be a case of some concern.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Indeed it is. My best guess is that ultimately, there is not going to a majority of the court that is going to be willing to adopt the truly whacky State Legislature Doctrine, which is very much been a fringe legal theory until very recently. But then, the idea that the Second Amendment protected a private right to own firearms was a fringe legal theory. Until it wasn't. The ramifications if I am wrong (which I may well be) are so far-reaching that I don't even want to think about it (so much so that I avoided posting about the case in this thread).

[Frelga]

Activist Asks To Lead Satanic Prayer At FL High School Football Game

SOUTH FLORIDA — After the U.S. Supreme Court backed a high school football coach's right to pray at the 50-yard line, a South Florida artist and political activist has reached out to a Broward County high school asking to lead a Satanic invocation at one of its football games.

[River]

I've been wondering when the Satanists would finally show up. Suddenly that whole church and state separation is going to start looking real good I bet.

The First Amendment, for anyone who needs a refresh

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

[Impenitent]

I don't know enough about the USA to guess how it's going to go, but what are your opinions? Will the "Satanists" be able to use this decision to create after school Satanist clubs to promote rationalist and scientific thought?

The promotional vid made me chuckle.

[Frelga]

The Satanists have been doing A+ First Amendment work for years. On a more mainstream note, both Jewish and Muslim organizations have also been working on First Amendment challenges. Including demanding access to abortion.

[River]

I don't know enough about the USA to guess how it's going to go, but what are your opinions? Will the "Satanists" be able to use this decision to create after school Satanist clubs to promote rationalist and scientific thought?

Yes. We have no official religion and we can't have an official religion. The Founders came out of a time when, if you did not adhere to the faith of the ruling monarch, you were considered at best suspicious and at worst a traitor and getting away from that was the basis for founding some of the 13 colonies (which is how one of my ancestors ended up on a boat called the Mayflower and why Pennsylvania ended up with all the Amish). Some of the Founders, like Jefferson, would probably be scorned by today's Evangelicals (Jefferson rewrote the Bible without the miracles after all). That's the other side of the sword these "Pray in Public School!!" types keep brandishing about. If you want it to be okay to drop to your knee and make a huge public show of Christian prayer, if you want religious exemptions from stuff based on your interpretation of the Christian holy texts, if you want laws passed based on your interpretations of the Christian holy texts, everyone else gets to do the same...including the people you really don't like or aren't comfortable with. Hence the long-standing tradition of keeping church and state separate.

That said, I don't think rational and scientific thought should be claimed or rejected by any religion. Rational and scientific thought are available for all and should be considered available for all.

[Impenitent]

....That said, I don't think rational and scientific thought should be claimed or rejected by any religion. Rational and scientific thought are available for all and should be considered available for all.

From my reading, which admittedly has not been extensive, this particular "satanist" group are a tongue-in-cheek anti- prayer in schools movement, not an earnest religious group at all, and are using this tactic as a way of highlighting the importance of the church/state separation while at the same time taking the opportunity to introduce students to the importance of rational questioning.

I was wondering whether they will be able to actually set up these after school clubs or whether this is an ambient announcement without legs.

[Inanna]

Forget tongue-in-cheek, let’s see what happens when Muslims want to open and fund a madrassa.

[River]

Forget tongue-in-cheek, let’s see what happens when Muslims want to open and fund a madrassa.

...and then ask for state charter school dollars.

[Inanna]

Yup. That *is* what I meant to say.

[Dave_LF]

Forget tongue-in-cheek, let’s see what happens when Muslims want to open and fund a madrassa.

...and then ask for state charter school dollars.

They will fight it, people will point out that they're being nakedly hypocritical, and they'll shrug and say "so what?"

[RoseMorninStar]

A (fringe Fundamentalist) Christian church in our community managed to get 4 members on our school board (and attempted to get a 5th before people caught on) and tried to siphon millions of dollars in public school funds to go toward their Home Schools as charter schools. It didn't work, the board required any such funds to go only to licensed schools with teachers who are certified, but only barely (5 to 4).

[N.E. Brigand]

Republican Senator Ted Cruz of Texas said today that the 2015 Supreme Court ruling that legalized gay marriages was "clearly wrong."

[N.E. Brigand]

A new national poll from Fox News finds:

• 81% favor term limits for members of Congress

• 66% favor 18-year term limits on Supreme Court justices

• 71% favor mandatory retirement age for Supreme Court justices

• 46% favor expanding the Supreme Court

• 55% favor replacing the Electoral College for presidential elections with the popular vote

My emphasis. So a two-thirds majority would back what are probably two of the three most frequently suggested SCOTUS reforms.

[Impenitent]

Tennessee judges have dismissed a lawsuit filed by a Jewish couple who were told by a state-funded agency that they would not place a child in a non-Christian home.

In 2020, Tennessee passed a law allowing adoption agencies to disqualify prospective parents based on their religious faith, as well as same-sex couples - even when agencies receive federal funding. Apparently, similar laws exist in other states.

Americans United for Separation of Church and State plans to appeal the decision, and it will probably end up before the Supreme Court. Any speculation on what the outcome will be?

[RoseMorninStar]

Tennessee judges have dismissed a lawsuit filed by a Jewish couple who were told by a state-funded agency that they would not place a child in a non-Christian home.

In 2020, Tennessee passed a law allowing adoption agencies to disqualify prospective parents based on their religious faith, as well as same-sex couples - even when agencies receive federal funding. Apparently, similar laws exist in other states.

Americans United for Separation of Church and State plans to appeal the decision, and it will probably end up before the Supreme Court. Any speculation on what the outcome will be?

I have no clue as to the answer to your question (especially with so many new justices), but I'm horrified and sickened Impy.

[elengil]

If ANYTHING good can be said to come of recent events, it's that congress is finally codifying in law what otherwise was only determined by SCOTUS.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/house-demo ... eme-court/

Washington — The House on Tuesday passed the Respect for Marriage Act, which would protect marriage equality by repealing the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and providing federal protections for same-sex and interracial couples.

The bill passed 267-157, with 47 Republicans joining every Democrat voting in favor of the bill.

Do we know if the Senate only needs a simple majority or will this be only a token bill which is dead on arrival? I guess I should have just finished reading the article myself.

[Eldy]

It would be really nice if these survived the filibuster. I'll leave it at that for now.