By Jeanne Kuang, CalMatters

CalMatters is a public interest journalism venture committed to explaining how California’s state Capitol works and why it matters

January 20, 2024 (Sacramento) -- The U.S. Supreme Court will weigh in on whether cities can legally ban or limit unhoused people camping in public spaces — a case that could grant California officials more power to sweep homeless camps.

The case, originating from the Oregon city of Grants Pass, could overturn or narrow a five-year-old precedent from a federal appeals court that limited how much cities in Western states could criminalize those who sleep on the streets when there aren’t enough shelter spaces available.

East County Congressional leaders split in views on the rulings

By Miriam Raftery

Photo via Supreme Court website

July 3, 2023 (San Diego) – The Supreme Court on Friday issued two controversial decisions. By a 6-3 vote, the conservative majority found that President Joe Biden lacked authority to forgive student loans. The court also ruled that Christian web designer can refuse to create websites for same-sex couples, an action that eliminates civil rights protections enacted by many states for the LGTBQ community and potentially, other protected groups.

Those cases cap off a week in which justices earlier found affirmative action programs at universities to be unconstitutional, barring preference for racial minorities.

What do local representatives have to say about these decisions, and what might the long-term impacts be for students, the LGTBQ  community, businesses and minorities concerned about discriminatory state laws?

 By Miriam Raftery

June 15, 2023 (Washington D.C.) – By a 7-2 vote, the U.S. Supreme Court voted this morning to uphold the 1978 Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) provisions which require that Native Americans be given preference to foster or adopt Native  American children. 

The law was enacted to keep children in their Tribal community and protect tribal sovereignty, in response to many decades of Indian children being taken away from their families by both state and federal authorities and given to white families to adopt, or winding up in the foster care system, losing cultural identity. The law gives priority to adoption by others in the Tribal community, if parents cannot care for their own children.

“By ruling on the side of children’s health and safety, the U.S. Constitution, and centuries of precedent, the justices have landed on the right side of the law,” reads a statement issued by  leaders of four tribes involved in the case – the Cherokee Nation, the Morongo Band of Mission Indians in Southern California, the Oneida Nation, and the Quinault Indian Nation.  “With these latest political attacks on  ICWA now behind us, we hope we can move forward  on focusing on what is best for our children.”

By Miriam Raftery

Photo:  Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, CC by SA, H2rty

April 7, 2022 (Washington D.C.) – The U.S. Senate voted 53-47 today confirm Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the U.S. Supreme Court, the first Black woman named to the nation’s highest court. Jackson, a descendant of slaves, received the support of all 50 Democrats as well as Republicans Mitt Romney of Utah, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, and Susan Collins of Maine.

Kamala Harris, former California Senator and the first Black woman to serve as Vice President, presided over the historic vote. Harris told reporters afterword that she felt “overjoyed, deeply moved,” adding, “I do believe it is a very important statement about who we are as a nation, that we have just made a decision to put this extraordinary jurist on the highest court of our land.

View video of standing ovation when Judge Jackson was confirmed in Senate: https://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2022/04/07/ketanji-brown-jackson-con...

California’s current Senators, both Democrats who voted in favor, also praised the action. Senator Alex Padilla posted on Twitter, “Today marks an inspiring, and long awaited, milestone for the United States of America.”

Senator Dianne Feinstein called today “a great day for our country” and noted that the nomination also gives the Supreme Court near-gender parity for the first time in 233 years, with four women on the bench. She added, “The Supreme Court should look like the country it serves, and with this confirmation, we move closer to that ideal.”

"Our work is not yet done," said one ACLU attorney, who noted that the organization is "continuing to fight against anti-trans laws targeting trans youth in states around the country."

By Brett Wilkins, Common Dreams, published under a Creative Commons license

Photo: Plaintiff and trans-rights activist Gavin Grimm at 2019 trans rights rally in San Francisco, creative commons image by Pax Ahimsa Gethen

June 28, 2021 (Washington D.C.) -- In what civil rights advocates hailed as "an incredible victory," the United States Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear the case of Gavin Grimm, a former Virginia high school student who in 2015 sued his county board of education over its policy of denying transgender pupils use of restrooms corresponding with their gender identity.

July 8, 2020 (San Diego’s East County) - East County Magazine's World Watch helps you be an informed citizen on important issues globally and nationally. As part of our commitment to reflect all voices and views, we include links to a variety of news sources representing a broad spectrum of political, religious, and social views. Top world and U.S. headlines include:

U.S.

• Trump administration formally withdraws US from WHO (The Hill)

• Supreme Court Upholds Trump Administration Regulation Letting Employers Opt Out of Birth Control Coverage (New York Times)

• Supreme Court rules Manhattan DA can access Trump financial records (CBS)

• Kavanaugh denies request from Illinois Republicans to block rule barring gatherings of more than 50 people (CNN)

• Foreign college students must leave US if classes go online, ICE guidelines say (San Diego Union-Tribune)

• What the Supreme Court’s Abortion Decision Means (The Atlantic)

• Stimulus Money Could Pose Dilemmas in Nursing Homes (NBC 7)

WORLD

• Hong Kong was once a home for critics of Beijing. Now they might not even be safe at the airport (CNN)

• President Bolsonaro of Brazil Tests Positive for Coronavirus (New York Times)

• Notre Dame spire will be rebuilt exactly as it was (BBC)

• Trump pointed to European nations in his call to reopen schools. These charts show US is nowhere near them (CNN)

For excerpts and links to full stories, click “read more” and scroll down.

"The Trump administration's attempt to politicize and manipulate this fundamental pillar of our democracy has failed."

By Jessica Corbett, staff writer

Reprinted with credit to CommonDreams.org under a Creative Commons License

June 27, 2019 (Washington, D.C.) - Civil liberties and immigrant rights advocates celebrated Thursday as the U.S. Supreme Court blocked—at least temporarily—the Trump administration from adding a citizenship question to the 2020 census, an effort critics had decried as a blatant attempt by Republicans to "weaponize" the national survey for political advantage.

By Miriam Raftery

June 27, 2018 (Washington D.C.)-  Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy has announced he will retire on July 31^st.   Kennedy has long been a swing vote on key issues including abortion, gay rights, and affirmative action, often siding with liberal justices in the key years.

Many key rulings have been decided by a single one-vote margin, so the 82-year-old justice’s retirement means President Donald Trump will have an opportunity to secure solid conservative control of the high court, potentially for decades to come.

Story and photo by Miriam Raftery

Photo: Carl Meyer, who led successful recall effort against Potrero planners who voted for Blackwater

May 15, 2018 (San Diego) –  Back in 2007, Potrero residents in San Diego’s East County raised protests against the private military contractor Blackwater Worldwide opening up a training camp in their community. The protests in Potrero, which drew global media attention, came at a time when four Blackwater security guards were accused of a massacre that killed 14 civilians and wounded 17 people in Iraq.

By Miriam Raftery

September 12, 2017 (Washington D.C.) – The U.S. Supreme Court today blocked an Appeals Court order that would have allowed refugees who already have contractual agreements from resettlement agencies to enter the U.S.  The ban could be temporary, put in place until the justices issue a final ruling after deliberations on the case begin in mid-October.

By Miriam Raftery

April 12, 2017 (Washington D.C.) – Neil Gorsuch begins his duties this week on the Supreme Court after the Senate invoked the ‘nuclear option’ to change long-standing Senate rules and block a filibuster by Democrats. All but two Democrats had agreed to vote against confirming Gorsuch, including California Senators Dianne Feinstein and Kamala Harris.

By Miriam Raftery

March 22, 2017 (Washington, D.C.) - Since 1898, more than a century ago, over 100 federal employees have served as acting agency heads while the top spot remained vacant and an appointee was awaiting Senate confirmation. But no longer. The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled this week that President Barack Obama exceeded his presidential authority when he named Lafe Solomon, general counsel of the National Labor Relations Board, as temporary appointee to head the agency.

By Miriam Raftery

March 6, 2017 (Washington D.C.) – By a 5 to 3 vote, the Supreme Court has ruled that a verdict can be voided and a new trial ordered if a juror showed racial bias.

The case involved a Colorado racetrack employee convicted of sexual battery after a juror stated during deliberations that the defendant must be guilty because “he’s Mexican, and Mexican men take whatever they want.”

Richard Posner, by William Domnarski (Oxford University Press, New York, NY, 2016, 289 pages).

Book Review by Dennis Moore

January 10, 2017 (San Diego) - Judge Richard Posner is one of the great legal minds of our age, on par with such generation-defining judges as Oliver Wendell Holmes, Learned Hand, and Henry Friendly. A judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit and the principal champion of the enormously influential law and economics movement, Posner is also an archetypal public intellectual: he writes provocative, best-selling books, receives frequent media attention, and often engages in high-profile policy debates. He is also a member of an increasingly rare breed – judges who write their own opinions rather than delegating the work to clerks. We therefore have unusually direct access to the workings of his mind and his judicial philosophy.

By Miriam Raftery

June 27, 2016 (Washington D.C.) — Suspected drunk drivers can refuse to take a blood test without a warrant, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Thursday. But the Court also held that drivers must submit to a less invasive breath test when ordered, or face arrest.