SCOTUS Watch

Having observed the treatment of violent criminals in the New York area by the Manhattan DA there, Alvin Bragg, it’s safer to keep him here and keep him in custody so he can’t be out doing this to individuals either in our state or county or the United States.

Arizona Prosecutor Rachel Mitchell is trolling against DA Bragg. She has someone in custody for non-fatal crimes. 

The NY crime involves strangling and bludgeoning a Queens mom sex worker to death. A Bragg spokeswoman noted that New York’s murder rate is less than half that of Phoenix, Arizona.

There is no charge yet in the NY crime so the Art. IV extradition rule has not kicked in. Someone online said (I haven't seen it) that there already is an Arizonan policy to hold a felony defendant in such a case. I don't know what the exact rule is. I do know the woman who the Republicans chose to ask questions when someone accused Brett Kavanaugh of sexual abuse is trolling in a case involving a horrible crime. It's disgusting.  

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Fix the Court is eagle-eyed about any possible ethical problems.

A new report reveals that Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Clarence Thomas did not use the U.S. Marshals Service for their security detail for several years, limiting the public’s insight into the justices’ off-the-bench activities. 

The documentation we have is incomplete, including all of the details of multiple cases (she saw) involving Sotomayor when she used state-funded services. A full account of expenditure would meet the spirit of a constitutional provision (Art. I, sec. 9) about recording spending. 

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C-SPAN summarizes a Sotomayor/Barrett event:

Supreme Court Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Amy Coney Barrett spoke about the court’s processes and the importance of navigating disagreements with civility and respect during a discussion at the National Governors Association Winter meeting. This discussion highlighted Chair Gov. Spencer Cox (R-UT) and Vice Chair Gov. Jared Polis' (D-CO) bipartisan initiative “Disagree Better.” The initiative focused on getting leaders and the public to debate issues of concern but with civility and respect for each other. 

Charming. Justice Sotomayor recently was flagged as saying she was quite upset about various rulings. Now she (again) is playing nice with the people who are behind them. 

Got to use civility to dissent when a justice was put on the Court as people voted for Biden (CF: Garland) was the final vote to help enslave women. I am turned off when people sneer at her religious beliefs, okay, but my respect for her is somewhat low. Sorry. She asks good questions during oral arguments. Everyone be polite!

People flagged questioning during the Barrett confirmation hearings regarding the possible criminalization of IVF. A group Barrett endorsed supported it. She used the normal dodge that it was a live controversy that she could not discuss. The bottom line is the questioning underlined the stakes of her nomination.  

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Meanwhile, President Biden continues to get around a 6-3 SCOTUS ruling that blocked loan forgiveness. The final binding effect of the ongoing efforts is an open question. They do overall seem on firmer footing. It's also a BFD, even if some of the framing implies otherwise. 

Orders

After a conference, no orders were dropped on Friday. We are still awaiting a judgment on the Trump immunity case. No opinion was dropped for the Trump insurrection case. 

There will be orders on Monday.  

ETA: Nothing much to note regarding the Order List except Jackson explained her recusal in a case while Chief Justice "misleading by example" Roberts did not.