Free Republic

s reactions from Friday’s landmark Supreme Court ruling continue to pour in, it has become evident that many conservatives have yet to realize that the good news resulting from the decision—which overturned Roe v. Wade and ended the nearly 50-year recognition of abortion as a constitutional right—goes far beyond the pro-life movement and protection of the unborn. As monumental as the Dobbs decision is for unborn children and pro-life activists who have spent decades tirelessly working to overrule Roe and defend the right to life, Dobbs demonstrates that, for the first time in a generation, the Supreme Court is not...

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to take up a challenge against Maryland’s ban on bump stocks and similar devices that can make guns fire faster. The high court on Monday turned away a challenge (pdf) to the ban, which took effect in October 2018. A lower court had dismissed the challenge at an early stage and that decision had been upheld by an appeals court. As is typical, the Supreme Court did not issue a reason for declining to take up the case. [snip] Several weeks ago, however, the Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit recognized that...

A federal judge called for a landmark Supreme Court decision on freedom of the press and libel laws to be overturned in a fiery dissent decrying "bias against the Republican Party," blasting the near "one-party control" of legacy news media, slamming Silicon Valley's censorship of the Hunter Biden laptop story, and warning that the current state of American media is "a threat to a viable democracy."

Clarence Thomas compares ‘modern-day liberal’ to a Klansman in new film Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has blasted Democrats, including former Senate Judiciary Committee and now-presidential candidate Joe Biden, over the sexual-misconduct allegations against the jurist during his 1991 confirmation hearings. Thomas opens up about the process in a new documentary and claims the “biggest impediment” to his life and legal career was not the KKK but the “modern-day liberal.”

The Supreme Court on Monday denied a request by the Trump administration to review California's so-called sanctuary laws, which limit cooperation between state and local law enforcement and federal immigration authorities. Two justices, conservatives Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, were listed by the court as having been in favor of reviewing the law, which was upheld last year by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. With the denial, the Supreme Court let stand the lower court's resolution in favor of three California sanctuary laws, which limited law enforcement cooperation on immigration and banned state and local authorities from using their...

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Monday that existing federal law forbids job discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, a major victory for advocates of gay rights — and a surprising one from an increasingly conservative court. The decision said Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which makes it illegal for employers to discriminate because of a person's sex, among other factors, also covers sexual orientation. It upheld rulings from lower courts that said sexual orientation discrimination was a form of sex discrimination. Across the nation, 21 states have their own laws prohibiting job discrimination based on...

Washington — The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Monday that it is illegal for an employer to fire someone because of their sexual orientation or gender identity, delivering a major victory in the fight for civil rights for LGBT people. The court's 6-3 ruling extends the scope of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, which bars discrimination on the basis of sex, race, color, national origin and religion, to include LGBT people. Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Neil Gorsuch, who authored the majority's opinion, joined the liberal wing of the bench in ruling that "an employer who fires an...

The Supreme Court is struggling with precedent — and that could have big implications for future cases, with liberals on the side of holding the line and conservatives on the other. AUDIE CORNISH, HOST: Tomorrow the U.S. Supreme Court is expected to hand down its remaining decisions. Over the past two weeks alone, it will have decided some 24 major cases. Nina Totenberg, NPR's legal affairs correspondent, has been burning the midnight oil to cover all this. She joins us now. Welcome to the studio, Nina. NINA TOTENBERG, BYLINE: Thanks. CORNISH: Let's just start with today. What did the court...

A federal judge in Pennsylvania dismissed a climate lawsuit brought by an environmental organization and two children against the federal government. The lawsuit, Clean Air Council v. United States, claimed that Trump administration rollbacks of environmental regulations and other “anti-science” decisions violate Constitutional rights and the public trust.  In dismissing the claims on Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Paul Diamond scoffed at what he interpreted as a request that he “supervise any actions the President and his appointees take that might touch on ‘the environment.’”  Beyond ruling on this case, however, Diamond went further to rebuke U.S. District Judge Ann Aiken for her ruling in Juliana v....

DENVER — He won his six-year legal battle over his refusal to create a gay wedding cake, but Christian baker Jack Phillips is now facing what could be a lengthy courtroom sequel on the issue of transgender birthday cakes. Any hope of a speedy resolution was dashed Tuesday when a federal judge indicated he plans to reject the effort to dismiss the Colorado Civil Rights Commission’s latest complaint against Masterpiece Cakeshop involving a birthday cake for a gender transition. “I’m inclined to deny the motion to dismiss,” said senior U.S. District Court Judge Wiley Y. Daniel. He also advised Mr....

Judge Stephen Reinhardt of the US Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit has died, a court spokesperson confirmed. He was 87. A liberal champion, Reinhardt was appointed to the bench by President Carter in 1980. He authored key liberal court opinions on hot-button topics ranging from abortion and marriage equality to assisted suicide and immigration. At the same time, the opinions made him a target of criticism from conservative corners — and of regular reversal from the Supreme Court.

President Barack Obama respond this afternoon to promises by Senate Republicans to not allow a vote o his nominee to replace recently-deceased pro-life Justice Antonin Scalia. Obama doesn't care about the fact that he filibustered Justice Samuel Alito's nomination in an attempt to prevent the Senate from voting to confirm him, he demanded that Republicans allow a vote on his nominee. After Scalia's death, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said the Senate will not take up a vote on a replacement for deceased pro-life Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia until after the presidential election. Such a promise prevents pro-abortion President...

In a 5-2 opinion, the Florida Supreme Court Wednesday approved a map for the 27 congressional districts submitted not by the Florida Legislature, but by the Florida League of Women Voters and other members of a liberal coalition and approved by Circuit Judge Terry Lewis in October. See the high court's decison here. The resulting map approved Wednesday is basically the work of Democratic operatives. Justice Ricky Polston, one of the dissenters, criticized the decision because Judge Lewis relied on a map drawn by a redistricting consultant with ties to Democrats and was designed to intentionally pack Republicans into districts. That...

Here’s Ted Cruz, speaking Friday: One more liberal justice and our right to keep and bear arms is taken away from us by an activist court. What is he talking about? This — from a piece I wrote earlier this month: [I]f the Supreme Court’s decision in Obergefell v. Hodges teaches us anything, it’s that the age of judicial supremacy means that five justices can amend the Constitution far more efficiently than Congress and the state legislatures. And right now there are clearly four Supreme Court justices who are committed to the absurd view that the operative clause of the...

At any other time, this statement would be wholly unremarkable. In the thick of a GOP presidential primary, though? Right after the the hottest hot-button social issue of ‘em all has gone nuclear? When Mike Huckabee’s vowing some sort of second American revolution in defiance of the Court’s ruling? Kinda newsy. “I believe that marriage, as the key to strong family life, is the most important institution in our society and should be between one man and one woman. People who disagree with the traditional definition of marriage have the right to change their state laws. That is the right...

(snip) “The Court has long held the right to marry is protected by the Constitution,” Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote for the opinion. “For example, Loving v. Virginia, 388 U.S. 1, 12, invalidated bans on interracial unions, and Turner v. Safley, 482 U. S. 78, 95, held that prisoners could not be denied the right to marry.” Kennedy wrote that four principles “demonstrate that the reasons marriage is fundamental under the Constitution apply with equal force to same-sex couples.” “The first premise of this Court’s relevant precedents is that the right to personal choice regarding marriage is inherent in the concept...

Holding: Fourteenth Amendment requires a state to license a marriage between two people of the same sex. 5-4 decision

A Kentucky judge blamed two parents for their young girl's "constant fear of black men" after an armed robbery she witnessed, local reports said. The parents argued for a tougher sentence for the man convicted of busting into their Louisville home at gunpoint while their daughter watched "Spongebob Square Pants," according to the Courier-Journal. Judge Olu Stevens blasted Jordan and Tommy Gray's victim impact statement at a court hearing in February and again recently in a Facebook post he later deleted.

The first time the Affordable Care Act came before the Supreme Court, its constitutional foundation under attack, John G. Roberts Jr. was its unlikely savior. In a spectacular display of spot-welding, the chief justice joined fellow conservatives on some points and brought liberals on board for others. Roberts was the only member of the court to endorse the entire jerry-rigged thing, and even he made sure to distance himself from the substance of the law. (“It is,” he wrote, “not our job to protect the people from the consequences of their political choices.”) Still, his efforts rescued President Obama’s signature...

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-02-12/ginsburg-says-u-s-ready-to-accept-ruling-approving-gay-marriage-i61z6gq2