Supreme Court Archives

Pelosi attack details; South Korea crowd surge; affirmative action case

October 31, 2022

Additional details have been revealed about the man accused of an attack on Paul Pelosi late last week; a crowd surge killed more than 150 people in South Korea; and the Supreme Court is set to look at two affirmative action cases. These stories highlight the Daily Rundown for Monday, Oct. 31, 2022.

Pelosi attack suspect details – David DePape, the man accused of attacking House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-Calif.) husband Paul in their home Friday, reportedly had zip ties and duct tape at the time of the attack. Police reported DePape also had a list of other people he wanted to target.

Paul Pelosi underwent surgery to repair a skull fracture and serious injuries to his right arm and hands suffered during the attack. In a letter to colleagues, Rep. Pelosi said her husband “continues to improve.”

“Our children, our grandchildren and I are heartbroken and traumatized by the life-threatening attack on our Pop,” Nancy said in the letter. “We are grateful for the quick response of law enforcement and emergency services, and for the life-saving medical care he is receiving.”

South Korea crowd surge – Security in Seoul, South Korea’s Itaewon district was increased Monday night as the investigation into what caused a crowd surge that killed more than 150 people over the weekend. The surge, reminiscent of last year’s Astroworld tragedy, was concentrated in a sloped, narrow alley in the district. Witnesses and survivors recalled a “hell-like” chaos with people falling on each other like dominoes.

“I go out for Halloween every year, but I couldn’t imagine such a thing happening. Although I don’t know the victims, it doesn’t feel like a far off story,” Lee Jung Min, who was in the neighborhood at the time, said Monday. “I’m still shocked, and I don’t know how to believe or handle this news.”

Supreme Court looks at affirmative action – The future of affirmative action in higher education is on the table as the Supreme Court is set to look into the admissions programs at two of the the nation’s oldest public and private universities Monday. The court will hear challenges to the policies at the University of North Carolina and Harvard.

The Supreme Court has twice upheld race-conscious college admissions programs in the past 19 years. However, the most recent case was still before the court became a 6-3 conservative majority under former President Donald Trump.

The Associated Press and CBS News contributed to this report.
Trump/Eastman emails; new Omicron subvariants; loan forgiveness appeal

October 20, 2022

A judge ordered the release of emails between former President Donald Trump and attorney John Eastman; health officials are warning of two new subvariants of COVID-19; and a taxpayers group has asked the Supreme Court to block the student loan forgiveness program. These stories highlight the Daily Rundown for Thursday, Oct. 20, 2022.

Judge orders release of Trump/Eastman emails – In an 18-page opinion issued Wednesday, U.S. District Court Judge David Carter said emails between former President Trump and Eastman must be handed over to the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol riots. Carter ruled the emails cannot be withheld because they include evidence of potential crimes. This includes allegations that Trump signed legal documents challenging the results of the 2020 election that included voter fraud claims he knew to be false.

“The emails show that President Trump knew that the specific numbers of voter fraud were wrong but continued to tout those numbers, both in court and to the public,” Carter wrote. He added the emails are “sufficiently related to and in furtherance of a conspiracy to defraud the United States.”

New Omicron subvariants – Health officials, including National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Dr. Anthony Fauci, are warning of a pair of “pretty troublesome” COVID-19 subvariants. BQ.1 and BQ.1.1, which both come from the Omicron variant of COVID-19, are responsible for more than 10% of all current U.S. cases, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data released last week. A week prior, the subvariants weren’t even significant enough to list.

According to Fauci, both subvariants have dangerous “qualities or characteristics that could evade some of the interventions we have.”

Supreme Court appeal over student loan forgiveness – A Wisconsin taxpayers group has asked the Supreme Court to temporarily block the Biden administration’s student loan forgiveness program from taking effect. The Brown County Taxpayers Association filed the request to Justice Amy Coney Barrett, who has jurisdiction over the lower court that ruled on the case. She is likely to refer the matter to the full court.

The lower court threw out a lawsuit from the group, ruling that it didn’t have standing to bring the suit. According to the filing with Barrett, student loan cancellation could begin as soon as Sunday if the court does not intervene.

The Associated Press, CNBC and CNN contributed to this report.
Supreme Court rejects three high-profile appeals

October 12, 2022

The Supreme Court has rejected three high-profile appeals. The rejected appeals involve embryo rights and death sentences.

Tuesday, the high court declined to hear a case that would have granted constitutional rights to embryos and fetuses. The case would have allowed anti-abortion advocates to impose greater limits on the procedure.

It was brought by parents on behalf of their unborn children and a Catholic organization. The lawsuit challenged Rhode Island’s law that upholds abortion rights and argues fetuses and embryos, regardless of gestational age, are not entitled to due process.

The Supreme Court also rejected Dylann Roof’s death sentence appeal. Roof killed nine people in a South Carolina church back in 2015. He challenged his conviction citing mental illness. The court upheld his death sentence.

From Texas, a Black death row inmate’s case also got turned down by the high court.

In 2004, Andre Thomas was sentenced to death for killing his estranged wife, who was white, and two children. Thomas argued he didn’t get a fair trial because jurors who convicted him objected to interracial marriage.
Supreme Court to hear key cases involving pork, copyright infringement

October 11, 2022

The Supreme Court is set to continue its new term with important cases that could affect American pork prices and copyright infringement rules. The first case, set to be heard Tuesday, involves a California animal cruelty law.

Voters passed Proposition 12 back in 2018. It stipulates that pork sold in the state needs to come from pigs whose mothers were raised with at least 24 square feet of space.

Two pork industry groups sued over the proposition. The Iowa-based National Pork Producers Council and the American Farm Bureau Federation argue nearly all of California’s pork comes from out of state, and the majority of sows aren’t raised under conditions that would meet Proposition 12′s standards.

The question for the high court is whether California has impermissibly burdened the pork market and improperly regulated an industry outside its borders. Pork produces said complying with Proposition 12 could cost the industry $290 million to $350 million.

After the pork case, the Supreme Court is set to hear a copyright case over a painting of the late rock star Prince done by the iconic artist Andy Warhol. The painting was based on a photograph taken of Prince by celebrity photographer Lynn Goldsmith in 1981.

Goldsmith was photographing Prince for Newsweek magazine. Warhol made 14 silkscreen prints and two pencil illustrations based on one of the photos.

Goldsmith said she learned of Warhol’s works only after Prince’s 2016 death. She countersued the Andy Warhol Foundation for copyright infringement in 2017 after it asked a Manhattan federal court to rule that his works did not violate her rights. The Supreme Court will hear arguments in the estate’s appeal of a lower court’s decision favoring Goldsmith.

The case centers on how courts decide when an artist makes “fair use” of another’s work under copyright law. The dispute over the legal boundary between inspiration and misuse has drawn broad interest for its implications for artists.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
Merrill v. Milligan: Supreme Court hears Alabama redistricting case

October 4, 2022

The Supreme Court heard a redistricting case, Merrill v. Milligan, regarding Alabama’s new congressional map. The state has seven congressional districts, one of them is majority Black. The plaintiffs argued Alabama should have two majority Black districts because 27% of the state’s residents are Black.

“There is nothing race neutral about Alabama’s map,” Deuel Ross, an attorney from the NAACP Legal Defense Fund told the justices during oral arguments. “It allows white voters to deny Black voters the opportunity to elect representation responsive to their needs.”

Alabama Solicitor General Edmund LaCour defended the state’s new map, saying the goal should be to draw a map that is race neutral.

“Section Two does not and cannot obligate Alabama to abandon district lines enveloping the undisputed long standing community of interest in the Gulf to be replaced by district lines dividing black and white with such racial precision that Alabama could never have constitutionally drawn those lines in the first place,” LaCour said.

But the justices grilled LaCour. From Samuel Alito to Ketanji Brown Jackson, both conservative and liberal justices cast doubts on his arguments.

“Counsel, you have made a number of arguments, some of them are quite far reaching,” Justice Alito commented.

“I think I’m struggling, in the same way that some others have, about narrowing down exactly what your argument is,” Justice Barrett said.

The oral arguments revolved around the Gingles decision, a precedent setting gerrymandering case that created a three part test for proving a racial vote has been diluted under the Voting Rights Act.

The Gingles factors including: 1) demonstrating the minority group is sufficiently large and compact enough to constitute a majority in a reasonably configured district, 2) the minority group must show it is politically cohesive, and 3) the minority group must demonstrate the majority group votes together, therefore allowing them to defeat the minority group’s preferred candidate.

“We have to figure out whether you are claiming that we need to change Gingles in some fundamental way or whether you’re just saying that these plaintiffs just didn’t satisfy Gingles in the way we normally understand it,” Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson told LeCour.

The justices may make their own ruling on this case, but Justice Sotomayor also raised the possibility that it could be remanded back to a lower court, with new guidelines on how to make a decision.
North Korea missile test; Walker abortion accusation; AL redistricting case

October 4, 2022
On Oct. 4, 2022, North Korea conducted its longest-ever weapons test; a new report accused Herschel Walker of paying for an abortion; and the Supreme Court is set to look at an important redistricting case.

North Korea missile test – North Korea fired a nuclear-capable ballistic missile over Japan and into the Pacific Ocean Tuesday. The missile, which had the capability of reaching the U.S. territory of Guam and beyond, forced the Japanese government to issue evacuation alerts and halt trains.

“The ballistic missile firing by North Korea was an outrageous act that was absolutely impermissible,” Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said in response to the launch. “We will respond as soon as possible with the utmost vigilance.”

Tuesday’s launch was the most provocative weapons demonstration in a year that has seen the country test 40 missiles over about 20 different launches. In response, the South Korean and U.S. militaries launched fighter jets, which fired weapons at a target off South Korea’s west coast.

Herschel Walker accused of paying for abortion – According to a Daily Beast report published late Monday night, Georgia Republican Senate candidate Herschel Walker paid for an abortion for a now ex-girlfriend back in 2009. The Daily Beast spoke to the woman, who they say provided the following:
- A receipt for the procedure
- A get-well card from Walker
- Bank deposit records that included a check from Walker dated five days before the receipt
Walker, a Republican who has strongly opposed abortion rights over the course of his campaign for senator, released a statement denying “in the strongest possible terms” what he called “a flat-out lie.” He said he would file a defamation lawsuit against the Daily Beast on Tuesday.

“This is another repugnant hatchet job from a Democrat activist disguised as a report who has obsessively attacked my family and tried to tear me down since this race started,” Walker said in the statement. “I’m not taking this anymore.”

Supreme Court to hear redistricting case – The Supreme Court is set to hear a redistricting case that could have major ramifications when it comes to minority voting power in the United States. Plaintiffs have sued to force Alabama officials to create a second Black majority congressional district. About 27% of Alabamians are Black, but they hold the majority in only one district.

A lower court had ruled the state’s refusal to create a second Black majority district violated the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The state argues it is taking a “race neutral” approach to redistricting, and that the lower court ruling would force it to sort voters by race.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Moore v. Harper tops list of Supreme Court cases to watch this term

October 3, 2022

The Supreme Court is beginning its new term and Justice Kentanji Brown Jackson is taking her seat for the first time. Justice Jackson, who replaced Justice Stephen Breyer, will not change the court’s 6-3 conservative ideology, but she will have a very important say in cases that could forever change voting, college admissions and immigration.

Here are the biggest cases to watch:

Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard:

The justices will decide whether colleges can use race as a factor in admissions.

The ruling could overturn a previous decision, Grutter v. Bollinger, that states considering race in order to have a diverse student body does not violate the Equal Protection Clause and Title Six. The petitioners also want a ruling on whether Harvard is penalizing Asian American students by participating in racial balancing.

Harvard President Lawrence Bacow stated, “Considering race as one factor among many in admissions decisions produces a more diverse student body which strengthens the learning environment for all.”

This case is scheduled for Oct. 31.

Moore v. Harper:

The justices will determine whether state courts can nullify and replace regulations for federal elections put in place by legislatures.

It stems from a lawsuit in which the North Carolina State Supreme Court blocked a Republican-drawn congressional map. A trial court then appointed three experts to draw a new map and adopted it. The case revolves around the independent state legislature theory that only legislatures have the authority to regulate federal elections and state courts cannot interfere.

United States v. Texas:

This is the second term in a row in which the justices will rule on the Biden administration’s ability to enforce immigration policy as it sees fit.

A September 2021 memorandum by Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas instructed ICE to prioritize deportations for immigrants who are a threat to national security, public safety and border security. But Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton argued it led ICE to skip deportations for immigrants with criminal records.

The case will be argued the first week of December.

Merrill v. Milligan:

The justices will determine whether Alabama’s 2021 redistricting process violated Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act.

Alabama has seven seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. The petitioners argue it is wrong for the state’s new congressional map to only include one majority Black district because 27% of the state’s residents are Black. They assert there should be two majority black districts. The petitioners contend this was done to minimize the power of Black voters to elect their candidates. The case was brought forward by a group of registered voters and the Alabama NAACP.

It is scheduled for Oct. 4.

Side bar:

There will be one more important change this term. For the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic began, seating will be available to the public during oral arguments and masks will be optional. The court will continue providing a live audio feed.

Pelosi attack details; South Korea crowd surge; affirmative action case

Trump/Eastman emails; new Omicron subvariants; loan forgiveness appeal

Supreme Court rejects three high-profile appeals

Supreme Court to hear key cases involving pork, copyright infringement

Merrill v. Milligan: Supreme Court hears Alabama redistricting case

North Korea missile test; Walker abortion accusation; AL redistricting case

Moore v. Harper tops list of Supreme Court cases to watch this term

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