Goodbye, Stephen Colbert

It's over. Yesterday was Stephen Colbert's last night. 

It was also the last show of the CBS late-night show overall. There won't be repeats. They will immediately shift to a non-political comic show. 

Multiple celebrities had cameos. There was some gimmick that supposedly six bananas were a retirement gift. 

The final guest (who also sang "Hello Goodbye) was Paul McCarthy, who had that famous appearance over sixty years ago in the theater where Colbert had his show. Quite fitting, though he seemed a bit uncomfortable as the solo guest in a long-form way.

I DVR-ed it, and for whatever reason, it did not record the whole thing. It was about twenty minutes longer, and the DVR cut off at the normal end of the show. I saw what I missed online on YouTube. 

The show was a tad indulgent, overdoing a metaphor of some wormhole who sucked that everything into it. They probably could have handled it with a normal length, especially since they included a "meanwhile" segment with at least one story that wasn't too topical. 

Still, if it amused him, more power to him. I wish him well. I probably will check out Jimmy Kimmel a bit.

They had that short-lived comedy game show-like program after Stephen Colbert with a young woman comedian, who wanted to continue her stand-up full-time instead of continuing. It must have taken a lot of effort. They will now just have comedian stuff.

There are still two talk shows at 11:30 and one at 12:30, both with middle-aged white guys. Why can't they have some variety? John Oliver has a good show, but again, enough guys! 

I'm sure you can find a lot of women in various contexts. But, unfortunately, none of these talk shows entrusted a woman for any length of time (Joan Rivers once had a short-lived show). The late-night talk show might be on the way out, but this is still a problem. 

(We did have a black host once upon a time.) 

I enjoyed Stephen Colbert, though I think he didn't take enough risks. The show was a bit bland. Also, watching was often a matter of liking the guests. 

Basically, he seems like a nice guy with good values, with a wickedly funny side. We saw that more on his old show, but it showed up here, too.  

He will have a small voice role on a Star Trek television show. He's co-writing a Lord of the Rings screenplay with his son. He will find something else to do, maybe after taking time off.  

One possibility is a longer form conversation format like Conan O'Brien and others do. He can show his musical theater side. He might do some drama. 

I think he will be fine. The overall annoying thing is that the network didn't find a way to end things on a nicer note. Colbert might still be angry because he didn't trust their reasons. But it seems gratuitous. 

==

Their Finest tells the story of a British Ministry of Information film team making a morale-boosting film about the Dunkirk evacuation during the Battle of Britain and the London Blitz. It's based on a book.

Gemma Arterton is the lead, and she's great. I rewatched the DVD and enjoyed it. I will eventually see if I like re-reading the book.  

I also rewatched Walking on Sunshine, which uses 1980s songs to tell a story. Arterton's sister plays one of the leads. Fun film. 

Great songs, well choreographed. 

Executions

There were three executions scheduled this week:

May 20 AZ Leroy McGill

May 21 TN Tony Carruthers

May 21 FL Richard Knight

Tony Carruthers is most troubling. 

But in the decade that followed the trial, as post-conviction litigation played out in the courts, testimony from other forensic experts cast serious doubt on those supposed facts. Now, with the state set to execute Carruthers on May 21, his attorneys are arguing not only that forensic testing might prove his innocence, but that his death sentence was based on an inflammatory falsehood. 

Other than the three-decade wait, which yet again is a problem, this execution has a bunch of issues. We had a serious innocence claim, mental health issues, self-representation, and more. 

He was released in late 2015. Before his release, how­ever, in 2010 and 2011, he met with members of a fed­er­al defense team and affirmed what Mr. Carruthers had long main­tained: Mr. Carruthers was not involved in the crime. Instead, he point­ed to an alter­nate sus­pect who was killed in 2002 but whose fin­ger­prints and DNA sam­ple are on file with the med­ical examiner’s office. 

I understand that liberals feel they should pick their spots. But this is a case that deserved at least a statement. Instead, we had multiple "no comment" orders rejected various claims. 

It also deserved a commutation. The co-defendant is out of prison. Instead ... he wasn't executed.

Why? They botched it. See you in 2027?

==

McGill flagged procedural problems and didn't have a final appeal. Horrible crime, which happened about twenty-five years ago. Again, that's too long ago. (Breyer, dissenting.)

Florida has executed some long-in-tooth cases. This one was "only" about twenty years ago. Domestic crime where the person also murdered a child. 

The challenges repeated stuff that was rejected before. Understandably, no justice commented. 

Both were executed. 

==

The first case is particularly arbitrary. 

The other two are more standard "death penalty as a whole is a bad policy" cases. 

PUNT

The Supreme Court handed down three opinions today. Jackson wrote a quickie on ERISA, Kagan had a solo dissent in a second, and they punted.

(More next Thursday.) 

Hamm v. Smith involved the rules in determining when someone is intellectually disabled enough to avoid execution. Some worried that it would result in a significant shift rightward, perhaps on much more than the specific subject matter.  

The justices decided to "DIG" it as improvidently granted. You can hear Alito grumbling. 

Kagan, Barrett, and Kavanaugh didn't provide any thoughts. Sotomayor (with Jackson) explained why they thought it a bad vehicle and responded to Alito's dissent (with Thomas joined in full, Roberts and Gorsuch mostly). A lot of writing for a DIG. 

Thomas, on his own, also strongly dissented, wanting to toss Atkins v. Virginia (intellectually disabled cannot be executed) entirely. 

Net result: The Supreme Court, on a 5-4 vote, lets stand lower court decisions tossing out Joseph Clifton Smith's death sentence in Alabama because the court found he is intellectually disabled.

Tina Peters Commutation + $1.776B Trump Slush

I cover both here. 

SCOTUS Watch: Order List

A ten-page Order List with various odds and ends.

Chris Geidner notes on Bluesky:

Also in today’s orders, SCOTUS sidesteps ruling on private enforcement of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, sending two cases back for post-Callais reconsideration. Jackson dissents, pointing out that Callais had nothing to do with private enforcement and saying she would have summarily reversed.

Rick Hasen summarized:

Justice Jackson dissented from the order, on the sensible grounds that Callais did not consider the right to sue question. Of course, the stakes are much lower now that Section 2 is essentially dead no matter who sues.

(His colleague was more sympathetic.) 

Also, a cert grant (per Geidner):

The Supreme Court takes up a case over whether employees of federally funded schools can sue to enforce Title IX’s sex discrimination bar. 

Kavanaugh, without comment, noted he would have granted cert. in another case. If you do a docket search (on another page since the Order page does not provide links):

Whether a multiemployer pension plan that terminated through mass withdrawal before the 2020 plan year is eligible for Special Financial Assistance under 29 U.S.C. 1432(b)(1)(A).

Alito and Barrett didn't take part in the examination of a couple of cases. Again, only Kagan and Jackson regularly explain why they do that. 

Sotomayor added a brief statement noting that she agreed with the court not taking a criminal case because the government admitted error and the defendant received all that was requested for. 

The next thing on the schedule is an opinion day on Thursday. Next week's orders will be on Tuesday because of the holiday. 

===

I agree with Steve Vladeck that justices should show up more in front of Congress. Court reform includes multiple things, including some that should have bipartisan support. This is one such proposal. 

“Rededicate 250"

The “Rededicate 250: A National Jubilee of Prayer, Praise & Thanksgiving” event in D.C. today had a Christian Nationalism feel. 

The Washington Post article's title:

Trump-backed prayer festival on National Mall draws thousands: ‘We welcome Jesus!’

It was not merely a private event:

A crowd of thousands transformed a block of the National Mall into an evangelical-style worship service Sunday at an event backed by President Donald Trump and funded with millions of taxpayer dollars.

Trump didn't show up. They played a video of his reading a Christian Nationalism-friendly biblical quote from a different event. A few signs of religious diversity (including the usual Judeo-Christian touches with Judaism as a the clearly junior party) aside, the dominating force was apparent:

People described a variety of reasons for coming — to bring awareness to what they see as harassment of or disfavor toward conservative Christians, to pray for the country to repent for its sins, or to fortify what they call the Christian roots of the country — in particular against Islam or other faiths outside Christianity or Judaism. 

Pete Hegseth referencing the mythical story of General Washington kneeling to pray story is the flavor of "history" we will see here. An honest accounting of our nation's religious story would be helpful. 

This bunch, with Trump as their false god, won't give it to you.  It is more likely to be blasphemous, including to many Christian believers. And, to our overall values.  

SCOTUS Watch

The Supreme Court is beginning its final end-of-term push. They will meet on Thursdays until the end of June. Opinions dropping will be likely.

More VRA News 

They had no Order List on Monday. No problem. They often make news outside of those often no-drama orders.

For instance, the aftermath of a major Voting Rights Act decision continued. It involved Alabama. Sotomayor dissented for the liberals. 

The conservatives didn't explain themselves. Bad decision, but not the end of the line. Meanwhile, there continues to be a lot of jockeying in multiple states.

The Virginia state supreme court ruling was not a good decision. The Hail Mary federal challenge was also not good. It was rejected without comment. 

Arguments 

We don't get video or even audio (for opinion announcements) of the proceedings. 

Amy Howe showed up since we cannot. She promoted, as a witness, greater transparency during the proceedings of the Biden Supreme Court Commission. Her summary of this term's arguments is interesting. 

Opinions 

The usual practice is for the justices to drop a limited number of opinions in late May and early June. Then, we will have an influx, with multiple decision days in one week to complete the job. Late term rush.

There are worse things to worry about. All the same, this is a bad job of pacing yourselves. 

Anyway, as expected, the two opinions (both unanimous with one concurrence) are non-controversial. The usual sentiments about how such opinions are still of some significance aside, neither is not a "high profile" case worthy of much attention. 

Abortion Pill News

The Fifth Circuit dropped a ridiculous opinion preventing Mifepristone from being prescribed by telemedicine and delivered by mail. The decision is bad both procedurally (standing) and on the merits.

Justice Alito, in charge of the Fifth Circuit, granted a temporary halt (administrative stay). He (selectively) had it expire on Monday afternoon and then extended it to Thursday afternoon. So, after two opinions few cared about dropped, bigger news was forthcoming.

(The link underlines how the change in Administration matters.) 

The Court, about a half hour late, granted a regular stay. Thomas and Alito dissented for different reasons. Alito noted the Court did not explain itself (which is unfortunate), which he did not find problematic about an hour later, when an execution was involved.

One notable thing about Alito's dissent is that he references how a change of policy in the Biden Administration helped protect the supply of abortion pills after Dobbs. State shield laws, including in New York, were also quite important.

Michael Dorf has more, including a reference to a good article on the Comstock Act. A previous discussion, which includes a reference to a Biden DOJ policy statement, is also worthwhile. 

Busby Execution 

A murder apparently motivated by robbery led one person to be sentenced to death, the other to prison. 

After over twenty years, too long (Breyer), Texas was ready to execute him. There was a claim of intellectual disability, which even the state witness granted.

The Supreme Court has held that intellectual disability at a certain point will make execution unconstitutional. It is also a mitigating factor. 

The seriousness of the claim is suggested by the fact that even the conservative-leaning Fifth Circuit at least temporarily held up the execution. The justices overturned the stay without comment.

Kagan dissented without comment. Jackson (with Sotomayor) briefly noted how gratuitous it all is. 

He was the 600th execution in Texas since 1982.

Upcoming

Order List on Monday, and another opinion day on Thursday. Who will buy Souter's home? 

In-Lawfully Yours

I referenced this film about six years ago. The video I used is blocked. I summarized:

Up Channel has "new" films on Sunday nights at 7/11 that are actually not new but promoted as new. For a few weeks now, the picks have been overall pretty good. 

This week, we had a city girl, not much into God, come to help her old mother-in-law (as in ex -- the hubby cheated on her) move after the father-in-law died. She falls for the new minister, whose deceased wife was her sister-in-law. 

Thus, the punny title. Various familiar faces, including two people in current shows and two from old shows. It has light touches mixed with a lot of serious content. 

Well-acted, with the story pretty well paced too. Sorta topical.

The film was a Regents University production. The DVD behind-the-scenes extra talks about that, including how film students were involved. 

Its website offers:

Experience the difference of America’s Premier Christian University that offers over 150 areas of study online and on campus in Virginia Beach, Virginia.

"Christian" means a variety of things. The film promotes an open-minded view. After all, the minister might be a widower, but the other love interest is a divorcee. 

At one point, her ex comes back pretending to want to reunite. He claims to be reformed. It is a trick. Some Christians would find that troublesome. Why not make it a redemption story and save her from the evils of divorce?!

She asks a lot of questions about the Bible and religion in the film. The film cheats a bit by not providing too many answers to her questions. 

Yes, how do you know you chose the right religion? Yes, how did Job getting a new family really help him after his old one all died?  

The film does know that a "message" film should first be a good film. The Bible is filled with stories that teach us. They are also enjoyable stories. They were passed down for more than their moral lessons.

I re-watched the film (at least for a third time) and still enjoyed it. The husband's coming back is a bit heavy-handed, but it is an understandable plot device. Got to earn that nice ending. 

Still, I want to get past that and back to the pastor and his sister-in-law building a relationship. They are a good couple. And both are well-rounded, complex characters.