Mastodawn

Nonilex Mar 5, 2024

One section…stands out from #SCOTUS’s decision in #Trump v. Anderson.
 “Even though ‘all 9 Members of the Court’ agree that this independent & sufficient rationale resolves this case,” Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan & Ketanji Brown Jackson wrote in their concurrence, “5 Justices go on.”

& then the key part: “They decide novel constitutional questions to insulate this Court & petitioner from future controversy.” 
#law #PartisanCourt
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/03/05/conspicuous-line-trump-supreme-courts-left-flank/

Analysis | A conspicuous line on Trump from the Supreme Court’s left flank

The three justices accused five of their colleagues of going further than necessary on the 14th Amendment “to insulate” Trump.

Washington Post

Show thread

Nonilex

Just to underscore, the “petitioner” is #Trump. The liberal justices were saying their colleagues went on to decide “novel” issues “to insulate” Trump.

You can parse that all day. But it sure sounds as if they’re saying that insulating Trump was, at least in part, the purpose of the court’s going beyond the basic question.

#SCOTUS #law #ActivistCourt #PartisanCourt

Show thread

Nonilex Mar 5, 2024

To recap the decision: The 5 majority justices ruled not just that states can’t #disqualify #Trump — #Colorado, in this case — but that the #insurrection clause of the #14thAmendment can’t be enforced against a #federal candidate w/o #Congress laying out a process. It raised the bar significantly for Trump or anyone else ever being disqualified, particularly given how gridlocked Congress is. 
#SCOTUS #law #ActivistCourt #PartisanCourt

Show thread

Nonilex Mar 5, 2024

…It’s 1 thing to say that the opinion has the effect of insulating #Trump; it’s another to say that it was done “to insulate” him.
Justices…choose their words carefully. & some regard this choice as conspicuous, suggesting the 3 liberal justices were flagging a #political motivation. “It is an unusually frank statement, calling the majority politically motivated & seeking to protect 1 individual. Usually they say something like that in more coded terms”- Tonja Jacobi, Emory #Law #SCOTUS scholar.

Show thread