Archive for 2022

THE LEFTY JUSTICES THINK IT’S BULLSHIT BECAUSE IT’S USUALLY THEIR BULLSHIT: Scalia’s “Prophecy” in Lawrence And The Joint Dissent in Dobbs: That awkward moment when Justice Breyer joins an opinion that criticizes his join in Lawrence.

Now, fast-forward to Dobbs. Here, the dissenters argued that Justice Alito and his ilk cannot be trusted on Lawrence and Obergefell. Their repeated promises that those precedents are safe are illusory. And how do we know the conservatives can’t be trusted? Part I of the joint dissent–which I think was written by Justice Kagan–highlights Justice Scalia’s Lawrence dissent. . . .

We should all learn from the prophecy of St. Nino. (This past week revealed at least three judicial miracles for legal canonization–overruling Roe in Dobbs, overruling Lemon in Kennedy, and expanding 2nd Amendment in Bruen!) But there is a special awkwardness for Justice Breyer. He joined the Lawrence dissent which promised, scout’s honor, that marriage laws were not at issue. And there is similar awkwardness for Justices Sotomayor and Kagan, who pinky-sweared that Windsor would not lead to the nullification [of] marriage laws. None of us believed them. Not for a second.

But I do believe Justice Alito, et al.

I sorta do.

WALTER JON WILLIAMS: “Four days after the workshop ended, I successfully tested for my 6th degree black belt in Kenpo Karate. In the days since, I’ve been judging at the tests of lower-ranking belts, and participating in a demonstration in front of a live audience. All with a torn achilles tendon which requires me to walk with a cane much of the time.”

Not everyone is this badass.

YOUR TERMS ARE ACCEPTABLE: Pop Star Pink Demands Pro-Life Americans ‘Never F**king Listen to My Music Again.’

Related: ‘F*** America:’ Green Day Star Billie Joe Armstrong says he’s renouncing his U.S.  citizenship during London concert in wake of SCOTUS overruling Roe. “The musician said he was staying in the UK and that ‘there’s just too much f***ing stupid in the world to go back to that miserable f***ing excuse for a country.'”

As Jim Treacher notes, “Okay. Goodbye and good luck. Hey, wait… he’s moving to England? Doesn’t the UK have stricter abortion laws than California? Forget it, he’s rolling.”

MILTON FRIEDMAN ISN’T RUNNING THE SHOW ANYMORE: Millions in California to Get up to $1,050 in ‘Inflation Relief.’

California Governor Gavin Newsom announced late Sunday night that he had reached an agreement with state legislators on a $17 billion “inflation relief package.”

“Millions of Californians will be receiving up to $1,050 as part of a NEW middle class tax rebate. That’s more money in your pocket to help you fill your gas tank and put food on the table,” he tweeted.

What could possibly go wrong? Hint: Bloomberg’s use of scary quotation marks in the headline seems quite appropriate in this case.

(Classical reference in headline.)

INTERPRETING CRIMINAL STATUTES MORE STRICTLY: Supreme Court Sets Higher Bar for Prosecuting Doctors Who Prescribe Opioids for Pain. “Approximately 20 percent of medications approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are legally prescribed “off‐​label,” i.e., for different purposes than those for which the FDA approved them. The originators of off‐​label uses fall outside the mainstream of prescribers, but they are not treated as criminals. And many off‐​label uses are later approved by the FDA. This is one of the ways clinical medical science advances. The lower court convictions of Drs. Ruan and Kahn treated what, at worst, could have been medical malpractice or standard of care violations as criminal matters. This amounted to, in effect, cops practicing medicine. Cases and convictions like these have sent chills up the spines of other health care practitioners who are trying to help their patients in pain, causing many pain patients to be under‐​treated or, worse, abandoned.”

HOW MSNBC ACCIDENTALLY KILLED ROE: Tell your viewers conservatives are Neanderthals and they just might get complacent. “Democrats, here’s your game-changer: third-trimester abortions at every post office. And then, when you get shellacked in November, when you lose both houses of Congress, just remember this: the arc of the moral universe is long but it bends towards frantic attempts to normalize the gruesome.”

SOME PRETTY CHOOSY COERCION CONCERNS FROM SOTOMAYOR’S DISSENT IN FOOTBALL COACH PRAYER CASE

Second, schools face a higher risk of unconstitutionally “coerc[ing] . . . support or participat[ion] in religion or its exercise” than other government entities. The State “exerts great authority and coercive power” in schools as a general matter “through mandatory attendance requirements.” Moreover, the State exercises that great authority over children, who are uniquely susceptible to “subtle coercive pressure.” Lee, 505 U. S., at 588; cf. Town of Greece v. Galloway, 572 U. S. 565, 590 (2014) (plurality opinion) (“[M]ature adults,” unlike children, may not be “‘readily susceptible to religious indoctrination or peer pressure’”). Children are particularly vulnerable to coercion because of their “emulation of  teachers as role models” and “susceptibility to peer pressure.” Accordingly, this Court has emphasized that “the State may not, consistent with the Establishment Clause, place primary and secondary school children” in the dilemma of choosing between “participating, with all that implies, or protesting” a religious exercise in a public school.”

(PDF page 55; most cites removed for readability.) Great. Can we apply this to the endless, relentless pressure on K-12 public school kids to adopt and parrot state-established views on issues race, sex, LGBTQ issues, etc.? Oh, wait, those views aren’t “religious,” so publicly funded propaganda on that is OK, but a football coach offering optional prayers on the field is not. Got it.

Does anyone actually find this reasoning convincing, as opposed to convenient?