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Three SCOTUS Cases to Watch in the New Term
While the new Supreme Court term does not promise anything as life-changing as overturning Roe v. Wade, several cases offer potential change to First Amendment rights, resolution of questions over transrights, and a Second Amendment case which can affect a large number of ghost gun owners.
First Amendment
The question of the First Amendment and porn rights is represented by Free Speech Coalition, Inc. v. Paxton, in which the court will consider a Texas law requiring porn websites to verify a user’s age. That 2023 Texas law requires viewers pass some sort of test showing they are over 18, and also requires porn websites to display health warnings about the psychological risks of adult material (which the porn industry disputes) to include “addiction, impaired development, and increased demand for prostitution and child exploitation.” Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, North Carolina, Utah, and Virginia all have similar age verification laws.
The key point of contention will be whether or not the process “unduly burdens” legitimate adult porn users in pursuit of their First Amendment rights, or whether the state has a “compelling interest” in protecting children such as to require the age verification test. The Free Speech Coalition, representing the adult industry, argues “Of central relevance here, it requires every user, including adults, to submit personally identifying information to access sensitive, intimate content over a medium—the Internet—that poses unique security and privacy concerns,”
At first glance it appears to have all the impact of say clicking through a simple age verification box, but in fact the decision could have sweeping implications for First Amendment protections, looking into the broader question of whether the speech rights of adults outweigh potential harms to minors.
First Amendment protections have often cut across the liberal/conservative divide, and the court has generally ruled in favor of protecting children, and so is likely to uphold the Texas age verification test. Oral arguments have yet to be scheduled.
14th Amendment
The court will also look at transrights. In U.S. v. Skrmetti, the Supreme Court will consider a Tennessee law banning gender transition treatments for minors. The law prohibits health care providers from giving hormones or puberty blockers to “enable a minor to identify with, or live as, a purported identity inconsistent with the minor’s sex.” Two transgender boys and one transgender girl are challenging the law, alongside the Biden-Harris Justice Department and a doctor, claiming it violates the 14th Amendment’s equal protection clause.
More than 20 states (affecting an estimated 100,000 trans adolescents and teenagers) passed laws halting minors’ access to puberty blockers, hormone therapy, or gender-affirming surgery, meaning the justices will in essence decide the constitutionality of gender-affirming care bans for minors using the Tennessee law as an example. The question of “equal protection” arises from the fact that the Tennessee law prohibits the hormones only for one purpose, gender transition, while allowing their use in other cases unrelated to transition. That suggests the law unconstitutionally discriminates on the basis of sex.
The Biden-Harris administration challenged Tennessee’s ban on gender-affirming care. “The laws are inflicting profound harms on transgender adolescents and their families by denying medical treatments that the affected adolescents, their parents, their doctors, and medical experts have all concluded are appropriate and necessary to treat a serious medical condition,” the Justice Department wrote in court filings.
Greg Germain, a law professor at Syracuse University, told Newsweek the case will be an interesting test for the Supreme Court. “Allowing the use of drugs for certain conditions and not others does not strike me as violating equal protection. But it’s the ultimate political hot potato these days,” he said. Oral arguments have yet to be scheduled.
Second Amendment
Garland v. VanDerStok, asks whether a kit for assembling a gun, or the sum of a set of parts capable of making a gun, is in fact a gun and thus subject to regulation, needing a serial number, its owner requiring a license and background check, etc. The court recently heard oral arguments in the case, a challenge to a regulation by the Biden-Harris Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) that places new requirements on previously untraceable “ghost guns” assembled by the buyer.
The untraceable gun parts are typically purchased online; sales surged until an April 2022 ATF rule (part of the Biden-Harris administration’s crack down on ghost guns) amended the definition of a firearm to include self-assembly kits and collections of parts. It also stipulated partially assembled weapons that can easily be converted to full firearms must be registered as guns. Some of the “kits” are largely-assembled weapons, needing only a few holes drilled and lower receivers fitted to slides to function. A quick look online reveals a vibrant market for the goods. Some claim the full kits can be made into a functioning weapon by anyone who can handle an IKEA build; others say it is a very difficult job. If upheld by the court, all of these devices would need to be registered, doing away with ghost guns.
The justices seem inclined to OK Biden-Harris’ ghost gun rule via some creative examples.
“Is it the case that components that can easily be converted into something constitute that thing before they are converted as a matter of ordinary usage?” Justice Samuel Alito asked Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar, who argued in favor of preserving the ghost gun rule. “I’m going to show you: Here’s a blank pad, and here’s a pen,” Alito said. “Is this a grocery list?”
“There are a lot of things you could use those products for to create something other than a grocery list,” Prelogar replied, prompting Alito to try another example.
“If I show you, I put out on a counter some eggs, some chopped up ham, some chopped up pepper and onions, is that a western omelet?” Alito asked.
Prelogar again said no, because even that collection of ingredients could be used to make something else, while the parts kits at issue in the case “have no other conceivable use” beyond making a firearm.
Justice Amy Coney Barrett asked “Would your answer change if you ordered it from Hello Fresh, and you got a kit, and it was like turkey chili, but all of the ingredients are in the kit?” Barrett asked.
“We would recognize that for what it is,” Prelogar responded. “It doesn’t stretch plain English to say I bought omelets at the store, if you bought all of the ingredients that were intended and designed to make them.” Prelogar did say the Hello Fresh example was a better comparison, since the kit is intended to be made into chili and nothing else.
More than base skepticism, Barrett’s rebuttal to Alito, says Politico, was “notable because she was one of two conservative justices who joined with the three liberal justices last year to allow the ghost gun rule to take effect despite lower-court rulings that put it on hold on the grounds that it exceeded the authority Congress granted to federal officials in the Gun Control Act of 1968.”
Justice Roberts joined in trying to understand.
“Just what is the purpose of selling a receiver without the holes drilled in it?” the chief justice asked.
“Well, just like some individuals enjoy, like, working on their car every weekend, some individuals want to construct their own firearm,” the attorney for the ghost gun industry responded.
“Well, I mean, drilling a hole or two, I would think, doesn’t give the same sort of reward that you get from working on your car on the weekends,” the chief retorted.
Also weighing on the justices’ minds were the number of crimes committed with ghost guns, with the ATF reporting a 1000% increase between 2017 and 2021. And thus “by the end of arguments, you could practically hear the 6–3 majority [in favor of registering ghost guns] clicking into place,” wrote Slate.
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Rich Bauer said...
1Forget about these trivial cases, bro. It is time for something completely different.
The right-wing majority on the Supreme Court has shown repeatedly that they do not serve the people of this country—they serve Donald Trump and wealthy corporations exploiting our communities. Citizens United, Mr. Roberts. You did it.
Their decisions, including gutting environmental protections and reproductive health care access, profoundly affect every aspect of our constituents’ lives.
Our freedoms are under threat, and our federal courts no longer function as the backstop in protecting and advancing our rights. Instead, they’ve been misused to push deeply unpopular agendas to control our bodies, lives, and futures.
Representative Adam Schiff, senior Member of the House Judiciary Committee and Co-Founder of the Court Reform Now Task Force, joined Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.), and other Task Force Members in once again calling to expand the U.S. Supreme Court. The Judiciary Act, co-led by Rep. Schiff, would expand the United States Supreme Court by adding four seats, creating a 13-justice Supreme Court and restoring balance to the nation’s highest court after four years of norm-breaking actions by Republicans led to its current composition and greatly undermined its standing in the eyes of the American people.
10/22/24 7:35 PM | Comment Link
Rich Bauer said...
2The Big Case the Men in Black will decide in the new term: Revocation of Prez Immunity for Official Acts
Expect The Men in Black will use a legal neuralizer to make US forget about its dumbass decision to grant a president immunity after Donnie D is defeated. No way will it turn its weaponization of the prez on themselves. Imagine Senile Joe arrests Clarence the Clown and ASSHOLE ALITO on sedition charges and sends them to the gallows leftover from Jan 6. Oops, Joe made a mistake, but Pirate John Roberts has no choice but to waive his magic wand and grant Joe immunity. If the prez do it, then it is all legal. Do it John, else the gallows awaits for thee.
10/23/24 1:21 PM | Comment Link
Rich Bauer said...
3The Great Racist: DD is a three-time loser
Lest anyone trust the “close polls”, most paid for by Elon to tout a red wave, DD is done. My wife, who has never bet a winner and loathes the ol sex pervert, has bet $5 that DD wins the popular vote, thus ensuring he will lose bigly. The odds are 11 to 1. They should have been 1000 to 1, as Ol horseface is dying in the homestretch. DD will make history as a three-time loser in the popular vote. His destiny was always the Greatest Loser. VD Dancer should retire to stud. He is checking out sales for a new love seat.
10/23/24 3:13 PM | Comment Link
Rich Bauer said...
4They say the national election every four years provides the most accurate assessment of the intelligence of each state.
No one in this world, so far as I know … has ever lost money by underestimating the intelligence of the people of the land, simple voters, the common clay of the West. You know…morons.
Bless their pointy tinfoil hats.
10/23/24 5:23 PM | Comment Link
Rich Bauer said...
5Things to Watch in the Next Term
Following Ama Conjob’s dictum, “thou shall not mention Donnie’s dementia”, what will become of this Russia influencer troll site when Donnie pleads he cannot possibly be sentenced to prison because of his demented state? Sorry, DD, but Rudy’s demented pleading will fall on deaf ears as well. You guys can share a cell.
Will WMW address the demented fat elephant in the room? Will Peter be able to publish his tell-all book, an insider POV of MAGA?
That guy has a good business model: take money while leaving his conscience at the door and then write a book that he didnt mean well.
10/25/24 11:36 AM | Comment Link
Rich Bauer said...
6“First Amendment protections have often cut across the liberal/conservative divide, and the court has generally ruled in favor of protecting children, and so is likely to uphold the Texas age verification test.”
First, AmConjob should just stop pushing its fake concerns about protecting free speech. Am Conjob didnt give a shit about free speech when it deleted its readers comments. Yes, the Trump Men in Black will support Am Conjob’s deletion of its reader comments to protect Am Conjob snowflakes from the mean things its readers say.
10/25/24 12:52 PM | Comment Link
Rich Bauer said...
7The WashPo, which has no value other than substitute paper for a cat litter box, has refused to endorse DD or KH. It also changed its motto: DEMOCRACY DIES WHEN OLIGARCHS MAKE BUSINESS DECISIONS TO NOT ENDORSE CANDIDATES.
10/25/24 4:16 PM | Comment Link
Rich Bauer said...
8SCOTUS SWIFTBOATUS
Now that news broke Elon has been talking to Putin after he donated $75 million to the Trump PAC, the Supremes may have the duty to decide if Elon should be sent packing back to his African shithole (as DONNIE D calls it), as he would never get a security clearance to clean DD’s toilet. Turn in your Naturalization Certificate and US passport, Elon. Imagine the intelligence agencies losing sleep thinking OMG what top secrets Elon has discussed with Putin and whether he has corrupted their spy sats.
Where is the justice, Supremous Assholus?
Poor Peter gets shitcanned for linking to a Wikkileaks article.
Elon, a threat to national security talking to a Russia enemy, gets a blowjob from DD.
10/25/24 4:33 PM | Comment Link
Rich Bauer said...
9Con Artists of a Feather Flock Together
Most of the crap Am Conjob publishes on a weekly basis in the service of fellow con artist Donnie Dementia is worth a laugh, but sometimes it exposes these dumbass Russia influencers have no more cred than Beanie Boy Pocket Pool. Consider the latest deep thought piece about THEY WHO WANT TO KILL DD. While offering the possibliity THEY may be nothing at all, it ends with this crap:
“Melania can’t be sure that a conspiracy was behind either one of the assassination attempts against the former president, but she can’t rule it out either. Neither can voters. That alone raises the stakes of the upcoming election and should make undecided voters more inclined to pull the lever for the assassins’ would-be victim, who is apparently enough of a threat to be worth killing.”
PROJECTION, a little? The AmConjob crap article ignores the fat elephant in the room. Imagine a suspect humilated on a daily basis that she is married to a pig who pays porn stars for sex and stands to make a nice inheritance if said pig is killed. As Gaius Julius Caesar found out the hard way, it is the closest ones you have to worry about. The sad fact is the incompetent Secret Service was responsible for allowing a Crook to have a clear shot to take out the con artist Crook. Well, Melania has close friends in the SS. These guys are stationed outside her bedroom every night. She could be terrified the rutting pig wins the EC again.
Of course, this conspiracy possibility is as credible as THEY the crap AmConjob article suggests. So, How about we pull the lever and Flush Am Conjob down the golden toilet with the Con Artist?
10/26/24 12:42 PM | Comment Link
Rich Bauer said...
10The Supremous Assholous Rule that Bribery is not a crime
While the world is positively shocked Bezos has been bribed by DD for his rag to refuse to endorse Harris as the WasPo preferred candidate in this election, dont expect the Supremous Asshoulous to get involved in the quid pro quo bribe scheme. Even Clarence the Clown is not that hypocritical.
You have to laugh at the MSNBC faux outrage, as it took the MIC bribe to kick its antiwar crew out rather than Comcast lose its defense contracts. FFS, even Peter will tell you State had to bribe him to accept an assignment in the Iraq war zone. If you refused, good luck getting an assignment in a country with indoor toilets.
While the Dems will throw stones at the clear- as- glass corruption of the MAGA political system, I say a plague on both their corrupt Houses.
10/27/24 8:12 AM | Comment Link
Rich Bauer said...
11GOING OUT IN STYLE: Washington Post hides Jeff Bezos WHY I DID IT in the Style Section
As sellout Bezos is a liar as much as Donnie Dementia, hopefully when he gets the kiss of death from something like pancreatic cancer in five years, that his OBIT will be hidden deep in the Style section.
And to think Bezos would become less popular than Bannon or Stone or Rudy G. These guys didnt pretend to be something they werent.
10/29/24 3:05 PM | Comment Link
Rich Bauer said...
12Rumors Sorkin is busy writing his screenplay about Bozo Bezos giving the kiss-off to WashPo: ALL THE OLIGARCH’s MONEY, an insider account of the Intrepid Editorial Staff of disgraced WashPo rag go who rogue and tell tall tales about their misunderstood owner.
10/29/24 3:43 PM | Comment Link