Mastodawn

Laffy Jun 27, 2025

Via Mark Joseph Stern:

🚨By a 6–3 vote, the Supreme Court rules that universal injunctions likely exceed federal courts' authority and rolls back the injunctions protecting birthright citizenship from Trump's attack. https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24pdf/24a884_8n59.pdf

SCOTUS conservative supermajority just took away lower courts' single most powerful tool for reining in the Trump administration's lawless excesses, stripping them of authority to issue universal injunctions that block illegal policies nationwide

Laffy Jun 27, 2025

2/ Via Joyce Vance:

1/ Remember (& you’ll hear this caveat from all the legal commentators) today’s SCOTUS decision in the birthright citizenship case is not about whether Trump can do away with birthright citizenship in an EO. It’s about whether a single district judge can issue a nationwide injunction pausing the EO.

Laffy Jun 27, 2025

3/ Stern:

KBJ, in dissent, calls today's ruling "profoundly dangerous" and an "existential threat to the rule of law." She expresses her "deep disillusionment" with the court and suggests that the conservative supermajority continues to crown Trump a king above law. https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24pdf/24a884_8n59.pdf

Laffy Jun 27, 2025

4/ Vance:

That means they apply to the plaintiff who sued. But don’t worry, the lawyers will be back in court today. Expect more lawsuits in class action lawsuits, much as we’ve seen with deportation. This fight is far from over.

Laffy Jun 27, 2025

5/ Vance:

And a little side snark— the next time MAGA wants to, say, ban access to medication abortion on a nationwide basis, this will apply to them too. I’m off to study for decision, but you’ve got the broad contours.

6/ Elie Mystal:

The main upshot of today's birthright citizenship ruling (that I'm still making way through) seems to be that each person victimized by an unconstitutional Trump order has to pretty much sue individually.
Trump is free to act unconstitutionally to everybody individually.

Also, all you liberals who were humping Amy Coney Barrett last month really should have listened to me when I told you SHE IS NOT YOUR FRIEND

Laffy Jun 27, 2025

7/ Brad Moss:

Republicans have to just hope they never lose control of the White House or they are going to HATE this SCOTUS ruling gutting nationwide injunctions.

It was just as commonly used by conservatives to upend Biden's policies through lower court injunctions issued by overly-conservative judges.

Laffy Jun 27, 2025

8/ Mystal:

The Supreme Court has neutered the ability of every other federal court to stop Trump's lawless decrees.

Laffy Jun 27, 2025

9/ Moss:

Every lawyer in line to advise potential Democratic presidential candidates is drafting right now a host of policies that could be implemented without fear of nationwide injunctions slowing them down.

Laffy Jun 27, 2025

10/ Jackson, dissenting: "Today’s ruling allows the Executive to
deny people rights that the Founders plainly wrote into our
Constitution, so long as those individuals have not found a
lawyer or asked a court in a particular manner to have their
rights protected."

Laffy Jun 27, 2025

11/ David Rothkopf:

Particularly victimized by this perversion of our rule of law by Roberts and the extremist majority on the court are, of course, as always, the poor. No money=no lawyers=no ability to sue. But think about that--it means only those with lawyers & $ to sue have any hope of protecting their rights.

Laffy Jun 27, 2025

12/ Steven Mazie:

Which means a baby born in New York to undocumented parents will be a citizen. But a baby born to undocumented parents in Kentucky will not be a citizen.

This is madness.

Laffy Jun 27, 2025

13/ Adam Serwer:

This is a monstrous court that has decided that it agrees with Stephen Miller that America is a nation by and for white people and everyone else is just a guest whose invite can be rescinded at their leisure

Invincible_Fall in me Jun 27, 2025

@GottaLaff thanks for laying this out so well. SCOTUS is so out of touch with the world.

Obot 50549535 Jun 27, 2025

@GottaLaff
I am now baffled as to whether this ruling that a district court injunction cannot be nationwide means it applies within that district -- or only applies to the plaintiffs in the immediate case.

Can anyone take pity on me and explain this?

Roger Moore Jun 27, 2025

@GottaLaff
Shorter: Chief Justice Roberts has applied for a legal name change to Roger B. Taney II.

Frank Going AntiFa - 🇺🇦Jun 27, 2025

@GottaLaff
The irony is we now have grounds to deport Clarence Thomas.

nanowiz Jun 27, 2025

How can you still call it America?

Jo - pièce de résistance Jun 27, 2025

@GottaLaff Carney is trying to legalize the same in bill c-2

xs4me2 Jun 27, 2025

The KKK is back to rule…

This would also have electoral effects down the line, a form of ethnic gerrymandering. White states would use the law to make their electoral rolls whiter 🤮

(Incidentally, the US is the only democracy* where gerrymandering is legal. It's a serious crime in other countries with severe punishments for offenders.)

*Such that it is now.

Demi Marie Obenour Jun 27, 2025

@FediThing @GottaLaff Wow. Do you have any links to that?

@alwayscurious @GottaLaff

If undocumented parents' babies born in Republican states are going to be denied citizenship, and undocumented parents are more likely to be non-white, then that's going to gradually reduce the number of non-white voters in Republican states.

Even if people born in the US are not exiled, people deprived of citizenship can't vote. And of course those that are exiled can't vote either.

Demi Marie Obenour Jun 27, 2025

@FediThing @GottaLaff Links to gerrymandering being illegal elsewhere?

@alwayscurious @GottaLaff

Other countries either have proportional voting systems (where the geographical location of your vote doesn't matter that much) or the ones with first-past-the-post use independent commissions to set electoral boundaries.

The US is the only country with first-past-the-post and boundaries set by the politicians themselves. It reinforces the political duopoly and shuts out other parties.

There was a scandal in the UK where a local council leader had gerrymandered her area by selectively selling off social housing. She fled the country and was personally fined £36m (about $50m):

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homes_for_votes_scandal

Homes for votes scandal - Wikipedia

Zillion Jun 27, 2025

@GottaLaff This will be a nightmare for the passport office.

Mirishuli Jun 27, 2025

@GottaLaff No, it’s not madness.

It is the destruction of the “united” states and we need to think about how we break apart the union. They don’t believe we will do that, that everyone will break and kowtow just like the GOP.

States need to turn every issues into a states right issue.

Laffy Jun 27, 2025

@MiriShuli The states are being FORCED into turning every issue into a states right issue

Wiley Miller Jun 27, 2025

The SC wishes everyone a Happy Fucking Friday.

Laffy Jun 27, 2025

@Wileymiller Fuck them

Gary Houston Jun 27, 2025

@GottaLaff would the US citizenship of the baby born in New York be recognized in Kentucky, or would they have to get a visa to travel there?

Nazani Jun 27, 2025

@GottaLaff
Can we un-citizen all those Russian birth tourism babies?

tobie Jun 27, 2025

@GottaLaff Fuck. I woke up dreading this decision. It's worse than I imagined. It tells me that after the first decision on Garcia Abrego, the conservatives on SCOTUS have been told to overrule any decision hostile to the Trump admin and they have all fallen in line. The coup is complete. John Roberts has given lawlessness the seal of judicial approval. We are so fucked.

Paul Brownjohn Jun 27, 2025

@tobie1 @GottaLaff

All those tiny penis owners who compensate by going to the supermarket with their AR15s using the excuse that the may need to overthrow a dodgy US government can now have their day!

CassandraVert Jun 29, 2025

@GottaLaff US has been "all the justice you can afford" if someone does something to you, but now you need money to be able to exercise rights affirmatively.

The whole point of an injunction is to prevent harm that can't be undone--that would make suing after the fact moot.

martin lentink 🇪🇺 🇺🇦📎Jun 27, 2025

@GottaLaff What makes them assume there will be elections to be a candidate in?

Pēteris Krišjānis Jun 27, 2025

@martinlentink @GottaLaff that is fatalistic thinking. Yes, they seem to be doing "we can't never lose" bit but it is not guaranteed.
GOP really has no strategy as a whole, more reaction.

Pusher of Pixels Jun 27, 2025

@GottaLaff THIS. This is why the filibuster needs to be removed.

Dems need to DO THINGS and make the GOP pay the price for trying to remove them.

They have scared Dems into submission for decades, the ACA being the lone exception b/c of a super majority.

Imagine that power with simple majorities able to actually do things

Colin from Edinburgh.Jun 27, 2025

CassandraVert Jun 29, 2025

@GottaLaff Tell it to blue states. Get some standard legislation language going.

Ross of Ottawa Jun 27, 2025

@GottaLaff The contractions in this birth of a totalitarian regime are getting ever closer together.

פְּרִי Jun 27, 2025

@GottaLaff ... that is their goal, to seize the white house in perpetuity.

f*cking b*tch club Jun 27, 2025

@GottaLaff Exactly.
I thought they were pushing to get Emil Bove appointed so he could, y’know, say f*** you to all the other courts….but maybe this ruling only applies to Dem-appointed judges?

Dave Neary Jun 27, 2025

@GottaLaff All of us are going to regret this decision as much as we look back on Citizens United as a moment that ruined our political system by flooding elections with dark money.

Finitum Jun 27, 2025

@GottaLaff re: the Moss quote- court will have no problem ignoring this ruling & setting it aside in a "this time its different" manner and/or gop activists will round up a class just as quickly as they currently weasel their way into friendly lower courts.

This is the same opinion where ACB is saying "the imperial judiciary" can't check the "imperial presidency". They've done nothing if not prove they'll contort themselves, ignore precedent, make shit up entirely (presidential immunity).

Thad Jun 27, 2025

@GottaLaff I don't think so. I think they'll keep doing what they've been doing: slow-walk cases where they want a Republican president to be able to do whatever he wants, and fast-track the ones where they want to rein in a Democratic one.

As much power as they're giving to Trump, they're giving themselves more. As with the immunity ruling, they're setting themselves up as the sole arbiter of what the president is and isn't allowed to do.

Robert Link Jun 27, 2025

@GottaLaff Nah. The Roberts court will always find a way to make the law work for the GOP and against anyone else.

𝓐𝓷𝓭𝔂𝓣𝓲𝓮𝓭𝔂𝓮 𓀤 Jun 27, 2025

People were clinging to any shred of hope they could find.

Laffy Jun 27, 2025

@andytiedye People need to distinguish between hope and fantasy.

We've always known who she was.

𝓐𝓷𝓭𝔂𝓣𝓲𝓮𝓭𝔂𝓮 𓀤 Jun 27, 2025

And people need to learn to distinguish apathy from despair. I don't see any apathy anywhere. Despair is everywhere.

Laffy Jun 27, 2025

@andytiedye I agree