Texas: So much wrong

And Also: People are correctly appalled, though there is a cynical partisan reason Biden is trying to find a longstanding powerful [if problematic] Democrat a plum, that Rahm Emmanuel was nominated for ambassador to Japan. Japan is pretty important for someone not qualified for that specific role and this alone is poisonous.  

It's September. Year is moving along. August ended with a SCOTUS Watch involving Texas' horrible abortion law. Again, let me let Amy Howe summarize:

The law bans abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy – a time when many people do not yet know they are pregnant – and allows private citizens to sue anyone who helps a patient get an abortion.

The last part was a nice bit of trickery, making it harder to bring a lawsuit to stop the enforcement of the law, which started at midnight (1AM my time) last night. A horrible 5CA panel (two Trumpies and this Judge Jones) granted a stay (which more than one lawyer type on Twitter noted was procedurally inappropriate), allegedly for a short time to get briefing.

But, the time limit for that was yesterday morning. The district judge held there was standing to sue. That is basically the ballgame, since the law is clearly unconstitutional under Casey (often simplified as "Roe v. Wade" in general speak).

A finding of an undue burden is a shorthand for the conclusion that a state regulation has the purpose or effect of placing a substantial obstacle in the path of a woman seeking an abortion of a nonviable fetus.

The law clearly does that and the procedural trickery is in my book only more proof of what is going on.  Some will insist -- of the fact (in a past blog -- no comments allowed -- he focused on the "media," but now realizes lawyers and law professors also disagree with him)  that "No court at any level can stop SB8 from taking effect tomorrow."  I'm not an expert on procedure.  But, lawyer and law professor after lawyer and law professor very well disagree that this is true.  

The assurance is rank arrogance on some level.  One person, a person with a law degree and who knows abortion law as well as this guy, called out frames of this being "Sharia law" as just more Islamic shaming.  Yes. 

And, besides, the Islamic rules on abortion is far from clear.  There appears to be a general idea that it is allowed at least for some reasons up to the fourth month of pregnancy.  Ultimately, as Casey notes, "the abortion decision may originate within the zone of conscience and belief" left to the individual, minus valid medical regulations and so forth. 

Anyway, since the law was due to come into effect last night at midnight Texas time, SCOTUS was asked to block it.  So, we had a late nite Twitter wait, akin to when we are waiting for them to decide on some execution due at midnight or something.  This is similarly a bad way to run a railroad.  Each side briefed, which was handled by early evening or so.  

One could keep track on the docket page.  And, wait.  Midnight passes on the East Coast.  After two wins (including completing an old game) for the Mets, the Braves loses late vs. the Dodgers.  1AM (EST) passes.  Final game ends  (part of this was the Diamondbacks getting  a hit late to avoid a no-hitter).  No action.  Still none in the morning.  

Not sure what they are driving at here.  Are they waiting for the 5CA to act? The expectation was basically SCOTUS would deny the request and the wait was because some liberal was writing a dissent.  (Earlier, the hope was they might hold the case, with some conservative writing a dissent.)  But, by early afternoon the next day, in the face of a law that blatantly violates a basic precedent (which should be a problem for SCOTUS conservatives just on institutional grounds), nothing.  Crickets.  

Strong response from President Biden though doesn't say how he will protect abortion rights.  But, such a statement really shouldn't go into specifics, especially until SCOTUS actually acts.  All the same, Dems in Congress are now put on notice, if they wasn't already.   And, there are multiple ways to respond to SCOTUS.

A final thing is that I was annoyed with the "Roe is gone" comments.  If some lower court has to rule on some broad abortion ban that clearly violates Casey, SCOTUS' inaction here does not allow them to say "oh well, it's de facto overruled!"  Doesn't work that way.   

On some level, I'm being too literal.  SCOTUS letting the law go into operation even for  short while is a gigantic red flag.  On the ground, just how much does Roe v. Wade supply in Texas?  Still, it is still the law of the land.  That matters.  The "all the way" framing is common, but misleads. 

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Meanwhile, basically forgotten (the Texas Dems fled the state ... big story for a while ... then we moved on to Afghanistan ... a few came back,  I saw the reason being because of need for COVID relief law [really?], giving the Republicans the quorum necessary) Texas voting suppression bill quickly went through the legislative process and was signed into law.  

A charming final "fuck you" occurred during the conference committee process.  One house actually tossed in a good bipartisan measure to address an infamous case:

Even the final vote did not escape a parting round of confrontation after Senate Republicans, at the last minute, scuttled one of the few areas of bipartisan agreement: efforts to shield voters with felony convictions from prosecution if they did not realize they were ineligible to cast a ballot. It had been included following backlash over the arrests of two Texas voters, both of whom are Black, which intensified criticism amid a broader fight over voting restrictions that opponents say disproportionately impact people of color.

Upon opposition, the provision was removed from the final bill. The U.S. Senate will be back soon and voting rights will be back on the front burner pursuant to statements by Sen. Schumer.  It is a necessity.  

Many laws go into effect in TX today:
Permitless carry
Criminalizing homeless camping
Blocking teachers from discussing systemic racism
& banning abortion at 6-weeks into pregnancy

As our communities continue to suffer through this pandemic, this is what @GovAbbott prioritized.

— Jessica Cisneros (@JCisnerosTX) September 1, 2021

As I said, so much wrong. Again, here's my piece on critical race theory that is apparently getting some hits. (The last part about teaching it is a statement from the teacher who runs the site.) 

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Since this really has a lot to do with SCOTUS (including the voting law, which Shelby v. Holder provided a big welcome sign for), just to toss it in ... this is a good op-ed on both why their eviction moratorium ruling was wrong and the political need to get funds to people who need it.  

The New York legislature, in an agreement between our new gov. and legislative leadership, has come back in session to address this very issue along with some other stuff (e.g., cannabis regulations).  

Meanwhile, we wait to see if the California recall will fuck up things there. That is a whole other screw-up, including how a small percentage can bring forth a recall and if a majority votes yes, there is no run-off or anything ... a tiny plurality (with a big field to split the vote) can vote the next governor in.  But, that is one more thing September will bring.