#Corrupt Supreme Court

[odinsblog]

This is an illegitimate and deeply corrupt Supreme Court

Today is a sad day in American constitutional law and in the lives of LGBT people. The Supreme Court of the United States declares that a particular kind of business, though open to the public, has a constitutional right to refuse to serve members of a protected class. The Court does so for the first time in its history. By issuing this new license to discriminate in a case brought by a company that seeks to deny same-sex couples the full and equal enjoyment of its services, the immediate, symbolic effect of the decision is to mark gays and lesbians for second-class status. In this way, the decision itself inflicts a kind of stigmatic harm, on top of any harm caused by denials of service. The opinion of the Court is, quite literally, a notice that reads: "Some services may be denied to same-sex couples."

Today, the Court, for the first time in its history, grants a business open to the public a constitutional right to refuse to serve members of a protected class. Specifically, the Court holds that the First Amendment exempts a website-design company from a state law that prohibits the company from denying wedding websites to same-sex couples if the company chooses to sell those websites to the public.

The Court also holds that the company has a right to post a notice that says, "No [wedding websites] will be sold if they will be used for gay marriages."

Our Constitution contains no right to refuse service to a disfavored group.

—Justice Sonia Sotomayor; excerpts from the dissenting opinion

#politics #scotus #lgbt #homophobia #republicans #sonia sotomayor #religious reich #illegitimate supreme court #corrupt supreme court #the 303 creative v. elenis #lorie smith #marriage equality #lgbtq #weaponized ​religious freedom

[feminist-space]

"Two landlord lobbying groups are petitioning the Supreme Court to overturn New York City’s rent stabilization law, which would allow further countrywide challenges to rent control. Real estate billionaires friendly with court justices are backing the move.

...

Samuel Stein, a housing policy analyst at the Community Service Society, an anti-poverty organization in New York, said that if the Supreme Court were to overturn the rent stabilization law, “It’s the end of New York City.”

“Rents would go up significantly around the city,” he continued. “There will be a tremendous amount of displacement. You will have a lot of people leaving New York City, you will have a lot of homelessness, you’ll have a lot of overcrowding.”

A high court ruling wouldn’t just reshape New York, but would also pave the way for legal challenges to the dozens of rent control laws that exist around the country, and many more currently being considered. For example, in 2024, Californians will vote on a ballot measure to repeal the state’s ban on rent control.

At least one group petitioning the court to take the case has substantial ties to both Harlan Crow, the GOP megadonor and Justice Clarence Thomas benefactor, and Paul Singer, the hedge fund billionaire who provided an undisclosed private jet flight to Justice Samuel Alito.

...

The challenge to New York’s rent stabilization law was brought by two major New York landlord lobbying groups: the Rent Stabilization Association (RSA) and the Community Housing Improvement Program (CHIP).

The two organizations spent a combined $4.7 million lobbying as they pushed to block the passage of a sweeping tenant protection law in 2019. The law, which expanded rent stabilization from just New York City to any locality in the state that chooses to opt in, made it more difficult for landlords to remove units from rent stabilization and added new protections to rent-stabilized units.

Just after the law passed, the groups sued the city and state, arguing that the new law and New York City’s existing 1969 rent stabilization law are unconstitutional.

The lawsuit from RSA and CHIP was dismissed by lower courts, most recently the federal Second Circuit Court of Appeals. But the groups claimed that their intention was always to reach the Supreme Court.

...

O Over the summer, a flurry of corporate lobbying groups and conservative think tanks submitted amicus briefs urging the Supreme Court to take the case. One of these think tanks has close financial ties to the Supreme Court’s billionaire benefactors.

The ties to Crow, a Texas real estate mogul, are salient as Congress urges the Justice Department to investigate Thomas’s alleged repeated violations of federal ethics laws, in part by accepting a series of undisclosed luxury gifts from Crow over two decades.

...

CHIP and RSA themselves represent major corporate landlords in New York, even as they have often claimed to be the voice of mom-and-pop landlords. (The two groups are reportedly considering merging.)

Major real estate and corporate lobbying groups are urging the high court to hear the case, including the California Business Roundtable, the Real Estate Board of New York, the US Chamber of Commerce, the National Apartment Association.

The Supreme Court will decide on the petition on September 26. If they accept it, justices will decide the case during their 2023–2024 term."

#rent #corrupt supreme court #landlord vampires

[lenbryant]

Corrupt Supreme Court in their boss's shoes.

#politics #supreme court #corrupt supreme court #corrupt scotus #brett kavanaugh #amy coney barrett #samuel alito #clarence thomas #neil gorsuch #our supreme court is now an arm of the Republican party

[scottguy]

We Are Witnessing the Biggest Judicial Power Grab Since 1803 | The Nation

There's no paywall to this article if you haven't read three The Nation articles this month.

#judicial activisim at its worst #corrupt supreme court #the Supreme Court majority are corporate lackeys #the Supreme Court majority are just republicans in robes

[protoslacker]

The implications of the case against ICWA | Code Switch

NPR Podcast

The Supreme Court is about to decide on a case arguing that the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) discriminates against white foster parents. Journalist Rebecca Nagle explains how this decision could reverse centuries of U.S. law protecting the rights of Indigenous nations. "Native kids have been the tip of the spear in attacks on tribal sovereignty for generations."

#law #corrupt supreme court #ICWA #Youtube

[gempean]

Supreme Court STEPS INTO IT with Move IT WILL REGRET

#corrupt supreme court #destroy America #Youtube

[heart2heartroses2u]

If they are not going to be bi-partisan, they have no place on that seat.. We the people, should request for their impeachment.. they need to amend for life seat.. we should cycle them out every 4-6 yrs.. for life has made them forget where their duty lies.. and that’s to the people.

#corrupt supreme court #justice #democracy #truth #no one is above the law #freedom #constitution #the rule of law #bill of rights #we the people #Youtube

[nando161mando]

There is no law for corruption against federal judges if they use their wives to pick up the envelopes filled with cash.

The country is going to have to stand up and make the corrupt judge's lives utter hell. Protest in their neighborhoods, at their children's schools, at their churches. Follow their friends and family telling them they are friends with or related to elements of organized crime.

Make them hate their jobs so much, they resign.

#corruption #corrupt judges #corrupt supreme court #supreme court #usa #america #australia #bigots #hypocrite #law #biden bribery #bribe #ultra electronics forensic technology bribery #bribery #ausgov #politas #auspol #tasgov #taspol #neoliberal capitalism #fuck neoliberals #anthony albanese #albanese government #working class #clarence thomas #class war #classwar #fascism #statism #imperialism

[politijohn]

Source

#politics #us politics #scotus #Supreme Court #capitalism #government #the left #current events #news #corruption #democracy

[rawralittlerawr]

Kindle Vella Story Beginnings

Whispers: The United States of Christ

Dystopian, LGBTQ+ Fiction

Read the first three episodes for FREE!

The haunting story of the trials of a gay couple in 2028. Set in a dark and deeply divided America where love didn't win in 2015, leading to a devastating coup, and the end of democracy. 

Welcome to The United States of Christ!

A cautionary tale.

Meet the main character (the author of the journal entry in episode one: Dear Diary) in the first three episodes, who has thus far remained nameless. Some episodes will be in journal entry format, and some will be told in a format from the point of view of the main character and/or the main character's wife, Amora. Later on, there will be episodes with other characters' points of view.

Hello, fellow book lovers :) I'm still new to the KDP and Kindle Vella communities and would LOVE some interaction and feedback from my fellow community members and readers.

I recently finished the first three episodes of each of my two stories, so all six episodes are free to check out right now. I'm still working on the next few episodes of both, and hope to soon be able to drop a new episode a week for each story.

Here is a snippet from the journal entry in Episode One- "Dear Diary" and I won't lie, I cried as I wrote it. This story (I'm writing) feels personal, and timely, on so many levels. -April Washington (writing as Octavia Ambrose)

"When I found this notebook yesterday, I thought about that diary for the first time in years. I can’t help but wonder what may have happened to it after my parents were killed. It was in a tote of my childhood possessions in their attic, and the militia group that killed them is known for scavenging after their raids now. They leave behind a couple of their lowest-ranked members and some of the stronger men from the camps. 

The armed militia guards treat the men like slaves, forcing them to sort and salvage whatever they can while they themselves smoke or play cards and watch. 

Did they find my diary? If they did, did they toss it immediately, or did the guards read it out loud as entertainment? All I can imagine is them laughing as they slap each other on the back, mocking the young “sinner” who wrote it. 

That thought brings tears to my eyes. Maybe I’m silly. It’s just a diary. With one little secret. But it was mine! My secret to keep. My right to keep it or share it. Without fear. 

When I wrote that diary my secret wasn’t illegal. 

I guess it’s not the diary, but the reminder. 

Once upon a time, I was free. To live and love without fear."

“I think having a beautiful, brilliant black family

in the White House for eight years,

absolutely drove a lot of people crazy.”

-Henry Louis Gates, Jr.

Professor, Harvard University

“In the end, we will remember not the 

words of our enemies,

but the silence of our friends.”

-Martin Luther King, Jr.

Alternate history/Alternate reality/Dystopian/LGBTQ+ fiction/ Cautionary tale/TW

#Kindle Vella #Kindle Vella Stories #bookworm #serials #lgbtq representation #marriage equality #LBGTQ+fiction #Dystopian #dark #TW #extremist #persecution #Dark America #haunting #horror #Diverse characters as the norm #BLM #obergefell v. hodges #corrupt Supreme Court #roe v wade #religious extremism #cautionary tale #Kindle #martin luther king jr #free to read #snippets #my writing #new reads #new LBGTQ+fiction #lesbians

[nodynasty4us]

From the December 21, 2023 opinion piece:

Lavish world cruises, secret deals with moneyed donors, threats to step down unless someone ponied up with a pay raise, fishing trips with parties who have business before the court, an amicus brief industrial complex wholly bought and paid for by billionaire donations, leaked drafts, and secret speeches are not the stuff of constitutional democracy, or infallibility, or finality. When the hyperpolitical supercharged Trump cases catch up with the court—and that is beginning to happen, right now, this week—all that stench will run headlong into the questions about why the husband of the woman who went to the pep rally for the insurrection and the folks who lied to us all about Dobbs are objective enough to decide the outcome of an election. The same people entrusted with the protecting the reputation of the court have blundered into being wholly responsible for protecting democracy. Not one thing suggests they will take the latter any more seriously than they took the former.

#supreme court #corruption #clarence thomas #samuel alito #donald trump #featured

[foreverlogical]

#clarence thomas #scotus #us supreme court #supreme court #corruption #us news #politics #us politics #republicans #donald trump

[lenbryant]

“With all due respect.”

#politics #joe biden #president biden #sotu #corrupt supreme court #abortion #reproductive rights #abortion is healthcare #women’s rights #u.s. out of my uterus

[scottguy]

Sadly predictable.

#corrupt supreme court #clarence thomas

[robertreich]

How to Fix a Broken Supreme Court

The Supreme Court is off the rails — and it’s only going to get worse unless we fight to reform it.

Trust levels and job approval ratings for the Court have hit historic lows due in large part to a growing number of ethics scandals.

Here are THREE key reforms Congress should enact to restore legitimacy to our nation’s highest court:

1) Establish a code of ethics

Every other federal judge has to sign on to a code of ethics — except for Supreme Court justices.

This makes no sense. Judges on the highest Court should be held to the highest ethical standards.

Congress should impose a code of ethics on Supreme Court justices. At the very least, any ethical code should ban justices from receiving personal gifts from political donors and anyone with business before the Court, clarify when justices with conflicts of interest should remove themselves from cases, prohibit justices from trading individual stocks, and establish a formal process for investigating misconduct.

2) Enact term limits

Article III of the Constitution says judges may “hold their office during good behavior,” but it does not explicitly give Supreme Court Justices lifetime tenure on the highest court — even though that’s become the norm.  

Term limits would prevent unelected justices from accumulating too much power over the course of their tenure — and would help defuse what has become an increasingly divisive confirmation process.

Congress should limit Supreme Court terms to 18-years, after which justices move to lower courts.

3) Expand the Court

The Constitution does not limit the Supreme Court to nine justices. In fact, Congress has changed the size of the Court seven times. It should do so again in order to remedy the extreme imbalance of today’s Supreme Court.    

Now some may decry this as “radical court packing.” That’s pure rubbish. The real court-packing occurred when Senate Republicans refused to even consider a Democratic nominee to the Supreme Court on the fake pretext that it was too close to the 2016 election, but then confirmed a Republican nominee just days before the 2020 election.

Rather than allow Republicans to continue exploiting the system, expanding the Supreme Court would actually UN-pack the court. This isn’t radical. It’s essential.

Now, I won’t sugar-coat this. Making these reforms happen won’t be easy. We’re up against big monied interests who will fight to keep their control of our nation’s most important Court.

But these key reforms have significant support from the American people, who have lost trust in the court.

The Supreme Court derives its strength not from the use of force or political power, but from the trust of the people. With neither the sword nor the purse, trust is all it has.

#youtube #politics #video #videos #Supreme Court #Donald Trump #SCOTUS #corruption

[canadianabroadvery]

#supreme court #corruption #donald trump #editorial cartoons #lock him up!