While all 9 justices agreed that #Trump should remain on state ballots, 4 of the conservatives were pushing to go beyond that & rule that the #Constitution’s prohibition would require congressional action. Such a decision would provide even greater protection for Trump: To prevent him from taking office if he won re-election, #Congress would have to vote to enforce the #insurrectionist ban.

#ChiefJustice #JohnRoberts #law #SCOTUS #PartisanCourt #ActivistCourt #ElectionInterference #illiberalism

#SCOTUS’ #conservative supermajority has prevailed in many of the most consequential cases in recent years. This time, #ChiefJustice #JohnRoberts told his colleagues he wanted the decision to be unanimous & unsigned. In any politically charged case, agreement among the justices made the decision more authoritative. He even said he would consult individually w/everyone to discuss what they would accept — a rare step.

#law #PartisanCourt #ActivistCourt #ElectionInterference #illiberalism #corrupt

“It’s a strange, sprawling opinion,” said William Baude, a University of Chicago #law prof & a fmr clerk to #ChiefJustice #JohnRoberts. “It’s hard to tell what exactly it is trying to do.”

Others said the ruling was untethered from the law. “It’s certainly not really tied to the #Constitution,” said Stephen R. McAllister, a law prof at University of Kansas & fmr clerk to Justice #ClarenceThomas.

#law #SCOTUS #PartisanCourt #ActivistCourt #ElectionInterference #illiberalism #criminal #corrupt

#ChiefJustice #JohnRoberts’s Unsigned Opinion

…In Feb, the justices heard arguments on a provocative question. The #Constitution’s #FourteenthAmendment, adopted after the Civil War, contains language barring #insurrectionists from holding office. So could #Colorado kick #Trump off the ballot in its #Republican primary, creating an obstacle for his presidential campaign?

#law #SCOTUS #PartisanCourt #ActivistCourt #ElectionInterference #illiberalism #extremism #MAGA #Republicans #corruption

From the start of the justices’ private discussions of the case, #TrumpvAnderson, it was clear that the court was going to say no…. Allowing states to excise candidates from ballots in a national #election was out of the question, the justices agreed. With sparse & cryptic text in the amendment, & little case #law, to guide them, they raised various ideas for the court’s ruling & rationale.

#law #SCOTUS #PartisanCourt #ActivistCourt #ElectionInterference #illiberalism #extremism #corruption

Now #JohnRoberts’ opinion is the key doc in a #legal drama playing out this autumn, as the judge presiding over the long-delayed trial, Tanya S. #Chutkan, parses what the court meant and how to move forward. Legal scholars say her job won’t be easy. Despite the #ChiefJustice’s reputation as a methodical craftsman, many experts, both conservative & liberal, say he produced a disjointed, tough-to-interpret opinion.

#law #SCOTUS #PartisanCourt #ActivistCourt #ElectionInterference #illiberalism

#ChiefJustice #JohnRoberts’ opinion cited “enduring principles,” quoted Alexander Hamilton’s endorsement of a vigorous presidency, & asserted it would be a mistake to dwell too much on #Trump’s actions. “In a case like this one, focusing on ‘transient results’ may have profound consequences for the separation of powers & for the future of our Republic,” he wrote. “Our perspective must be more farsighted.”

#law #SCOTUS #PartisanCourt #ActivistCourt #ElectionInterference #illiberalism #criminal

Though the #ChiefJustice often favors consensus, he did not take the opening. As the court split 6 to 3, #conservatives vs #liberals, Justice #Sotomayor started work on a 5-alarm dissent warning of #danger to #democracy.

In his writings on the #immunity case, #JohnRoberts seemed confident that his arguments would soar above #politics, persuade the public, & stand the test of time. [#hubris]

#law #SCOTUS #PartisanCourt #ActivistCourt #ElectionInterference #illiberalism #criminal #bias #corrupt

Another case involved a highly unusual switch. In April, the #ChiefJustice assigned Justice #Alito to write a majority opinion saying that prosecutors had gone too far in bringing obstruction charges against some Capitol *rioters* [#insurgents]. But in late May, #JohnRoberts took it over.…

During the Feb discussions of the #immunity case, the most consequential of the 3, some of the *#conservative* justices wanted to schedule it for the next term.

#law #SCOTUS #PartisanCourt #ActivistCourt

That would have deferred oral arguments until Oct & almost certainly pushed a decision until after the #election. But #ChiefJustice #JohnRoberts provided crucial support for hearing the historic case earlier, siding w/the liberals.

Then he froze them out. After he circulated his draft opinion in June, Justice Sonia #Sotomayor, the senior liberal, signaled a willingness to agree on some points in hopes of moderating the opinion….

#law #SCOTUS #PartisanCourt #ActivistCourt #illiberalism

“I think it likely that we will view the separation of powers analysis differently” from the appeals court, #ChiefJustice #JohnRoberts wrote. In other words: grant #Trump greater protection from prosecution.

In a momentous trio of #Jan6 related cases last term, the court found itself more entangled in presidential #politics than at any time since the 2000 election, even as it was contending w/its own controversies related to that day.

#law #SCOTUS #PartisanCourt #ActivistCourt #illiberalism

#ChiefJustice #JohnRoberts responded by deploying his #authority to STEER RULINGS that BENEFITED #Trump, acc/to a NYT examination that uncovered extensive new info about the court’s decision making.

[#JFC that’s it. #DisbandSCOTUS ]

#law #SCOTUS #PartisanCourt #ActivistCourt #ElectionInterference #illiberalism #AntiGovernment #Unlawful #extremism #MAGA #Republicans #conservative

The #ChiefJustice tore into the appellate court opinion greenlighting #Trump’s trial, calling it inadequate & poorly reasoned. On one key point, he complained, the lower court judges “failed to grapple w/the most difficult questions altogether.” He wrote not only that #SCOTUS should take the case — which would stall the #trial — but also HOW the justices should DECIDED it.

#law #PartisanCourt #ActivistCourt #ElectionInterference #illiberalism #criminal #extremism #MAGA #Republicans

The #ChiefJustice’s Feb 22 memo, jump-starting the justices’ formal discussion on whether to hear the case, offered a scathing critique of a lower-court decision & a startling preview of how the high court would later rule, acc/to several people from the court who saw the document.

#law #SCOTUS #PartisanCourt #ActivistCourt #ElectionInterference #illiberalism #AntiGovernment #Unlawful #extremism #MAGA #Republicans #conservative

#Trump, seeking to retake the #WhiteHouse, had made a bold, last-ditch appeal to the justices. He wanted them to block his fast-approaching #criminal trial on charges of attempting to overturn the 2020 election, arguing that he was protected by presidential #immunity. Whatever move #SCOTUS made could have lasting consequences for the next #election, the scope of presidential #power & the court’s own battered reputation.

#law #PartisanCourt #ActivistCourt #ElectionInterference #illiberalism

#GiftArticle

How #Roberts Shaped #Trump’s #SCOTUS Winning Streak

Behind the scenes, the #ChiefJustice molded 3 momentous #Jan6 & #election cases that helped determine the fmr president’s fate.

Last Feb, Chief Justice #JohnRoberts sent his 8 #SupremeCourt colleagues a confidential memo that radiated frustration & certainty.

#law #PartisanCourt #ActivistCourt #ElectionInterference #illiberalism #AntiGovernment #Unlawful #extremism #MAGA #Republicans #conservative
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/15/us/justice-roberts-trump-supreme-court.html?unlocked_article_code=1.K04.wARn.oV9X_Fd23Prd&smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare&sgrp=c-cb&ngrp=mnp

Justice #Alito reported receiving concert tickets from Gloria von Thurn und Taxis, a European socialite nicknamed “Princess TNT” by Vanity Fair. …It’s unclear where the concert was located or how the trip to the venue was funded.

The NYT reported in 2018 that the princess’s castle in Regensburg, Germany, has become a hub for #disgruntled #RightWing #Catholic #elites & cardinals like German cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Müller.

#FarRight #hate #LGBTQ #SCOTUS #PartisanCourt #ActivistCourt #law #ethics

#Alito reported that he sold up to $15k worth of stock in #AnheuserBusch, the parent company of #Budweiser & #BudLight, in late Aug, & purchased stock in Molson Coors Beverage Company, which owns Coors & Coors Light.

#FarRight #hate #LGBTQ #SCOTUS #PartisanCourt #ActivistCourt #law #ethics
https://www.nytimes.com/article/bud-light-boycott.html

Gloria von Thurn und Taxis, Müller & Brian S. Brown, a prominent anti-#LGBTQ+ rights activist, visited #Alito & Justice Brett M. #Kavanaugh at #SCOTUS in 2019, acc/to a photo Brown posted on…[social media].

#FarRight #hate #LGBTQ #SCOTUS #PartisanCourt #ActivistCourt #law #ethics
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/07/world/europe/princess-gloria-von-thurn-und-taxis-francis.html