NewsTrust - U.S. Supreme Court - Most Recent Stories: Opinion (Independent)

With the Affordable Care Act Hanging by a Thread, It's Time for Single-Payer

Mon, 21 May 2012 00:00:00 -0700

Huffington Post - By Pearl Korn - May. 21 (Opinion) - Co-written by Jonathan Stone While the Affordable Care Act is being deliberated in the Supreme Court -- with no decision expected until the end of June -- progressives and all other rational human beings should ramp up their efforts to build the movement

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The High Court's Supremely Unethical Activists

Sun, 08 Apr 2012 00:00:00 -0700

readersupportednews.org - By Joe Conason - Apr. 08 (Opinion) - '... flagrant displays of bias outside the court, where certain justices regularly behave as dubiously as any sleazy officeholder.'

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Scalia, Fox's Man in Washington?

Thu, 05 Apr 2012 00:00:00 -0700

readersupportednews.org - By Matthew DeLuca - Apr. 05 (Opinion) - Is Roger Ailes clerking for Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia? One might be forgiven for thinking so following last week’s oral arguments on the health-care law before the nation’s highest court. As has been pointed out elsewhere, some of Scalia’s questions from the bench made use of the tone and even the diction of the attacks on the Affordable Care Act frequently heard on Fox News and conservative talk-radio shows.

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Jokes from Justice Scalia Mask Grim Reality of American Health Care

Tue, 03 Apr 2012 00:00:00 -0700

nationofchange.org - By Wendell Potter - Apr. 03 (Opinion) - Since Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia clearly isn’t going to take the time to actually read the health care reform law before he decides whether or not it’s constitutional, maybe he and a couple of his buddies on the High Court can catch a screening of “The Hunger Games”, the movie about children battling each other to the death in a futuristic America, renamed Panem.

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Industry Whistleblower Wendell Potter: However Court Rules on Healthcare, Solution is Single Payer

Wed, 28 Mar 2012 00:00:00 -0700

Democracy Now - By Amy Goodman - Mar. 28 (Interview) - As the Supreme Court examines whether Americans can be penalized if they lack medical coverage, we're joined by health industry whistleblower, Wendell Potter. A former spokesperson for CIGNA and Humana Insurance, Potter is the author of "Deadly Spin: An Insurance Company Insider Speaks Out on How Corporate PR is Killing Health Care and Deceiving Americans." "I, myself, am somewhat agnostic and detached from the outcome of what the justices decide," Potter says. "We eventually have to get the for-profit insurance companies out of providing coverage, and need to move toward a system or systems like in the other developed countries, that don't permit for-profit companies to run their healthcare systems." [includes rush transcript]

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Supreme Court's Religious Frenzy

Tue, 27 Mar 2012 00:00:00 -0700

readersupportednews.org - Mar. 27 (Opinion) - What exactly are these people praying for? Are they praying for a return to the way things were? For the denial of health insurance due to whatever the whimsical opinions of corporate bureaucrats determine to be a pre-existing condition? For the right to be thrown into an overpriced, endlessly gouging 'marketplace' the moment when you turn 25, and you're burdened anyway with usurious student loans?' Charles P. Pierce, Esquire Magazine

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6 Pathetic Right-Wing Attempts to Defend the Indefensible Citizens United (Debunked)

Sun, 26 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0800

AlterNet - By Steven Rosenfeld - Feb. 26 (Opinion) - when a few loud perspectives dominate the airways and debate, it eclipses the voices of people of lesser means and discourages their participation and confidence in the process. As such, wealth-driven political speech isn’t free. It’s very expensive. And the costs are not just monetary, but measured in the public’s eroding trust in representative government and the elections.

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Bob Edgar: 'Impartial' Supreme Court Justices Raise Money for Opponents of Health Care Law

Tue, 15 Nov 2011 00:00:00 -0800

Huffington Post - Nov. 15 (Opinion) - Suppose you were party to a lawsuit and you learned that the judge handling your case was hobnobbing with lawyers on the other side and helping to raise money for a group dedicated to defeating you in court?

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Supreme Court ponders constitutionality of 24/7 GPS tracking

Tue, 08 Nov 2011 00:00:00 -0800

Ars Technica - Nov. 08 (Opinion) - On Tuesday, the government told the Supreme Court the Fourth Amendment allowed it to conduct 24/7 tracking of anyone's car—even those of Supreme Court Justices—without a warrant.

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John Dean Knows How to Get Rid of Clarence Thomas

Tue, 28 Jun 2011 00:00:00 -0700

TruthDig - By John Dean - Jun. 28 (Opinion) - For good reason, there has been serious hand-wringing over what to do about the ethical lapses of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. The fact that Supreme Court justices are exempt from the code of ethical conduct which applies to the rest of the federal judiciary; the problem of bringing a sitting justice before the Congress to question the conduct of a constitutional co-equal; the reality that justices cannot easily defend themselves against news media charges; the defiant, in-your-face posture of Thomas—the list goes on but it need not. There is clear precedent for how to deal with the justice. Thomas could be forced off the bench. As the associate deputy attorney general in President Richard M. Nixon’s Department of Justice, I was there when Assistant Attorney General William Rehnquist outlined how to remove a Supreme Court justice who had engaged in conduct not quite as troublesome as that of Thomas. Rehnquist, of course, would later become chief justice of the United States. His memorandum providing the process for the Department of Justice to proceed against then Supreme Court Justice Abe Fortas remains solid precedent and the way to deal with Clarence Thomas. But before looking at the solution, I should explain the problem.

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8 Reasons Justice Clarence Thomas Must Step Down

Thu, 23 Jun 2011 00:00:00 -0700

AlterNet - By Adele M. Stan - Jun. 23 (Opinion) - No single justice has been more stalwart for the causes of the right -- indeed, even the far right -- than Justice Clarence Thomas, who, notes ThinkProgress, may just be the most ethically challenged justice since Abe Fortas was forced to step down from the court in 1969 for accepting tens of thousands of dollars from wealthy benefactors.

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1.5 Million Female Walmart Employees Lose Historic Sex Discrimination Case Before Supreme Court

Tue, 21 Jun 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Democracy Now - By Amy Goodman - Jun. 21 (Opinion) - The U.S. Supreme Court has unanimously dismissed the largest class action lawsuit in history filed by 1.5 million current and former female employees of Wal-Mart, who say they were allegedly paid less and promoted less often than their male counterparts. The Court found women who worked at Wal-Mart did not have enough in common to constitute a “class” in a class action lawsuit. It did not address whether Wal-Mart had discriminated against women, but in writing for the minority in part of the court’s ruling, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg wrote that the “plaintiffs’ evidence, including class members’ tales of their own experiences, suggests that gender bias suffused Wal-Mart’s company culture."

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Will Clarence Thomas Recuse Himself on Health Care Reform?

Tue, 31 May 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Mother Jones - May. 31 (Opinion) - Thomas finally released details of his wife's income from an anti-health care reform lobby. Now will he recuse himself from hearing the challenges?

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Separation of Church and State: PBS Airs Documentary of a Mother's Story

Wed, 11 May 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Huffington Post - By Chris Benson - May. 11 (Review) - The powerful human story behind the story of the fight that led ultimately to the Supreme Court's 8-1 ruling in 1948 that provided the framework for the contemporary principle of separation of church and state. It is a story that is beautifully rendered in the Peabody and Emmy Award-winning documentary, The Lord is Not on Trial Here Today.

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Corporate Power and Today’s Humanist

Sun, 01 May 2011 00:00:00 -0700

thehumanist.org - By David Niose - May. 01 (Opinion) - If corporations are legally people ... , we should understand that they could correctly be described as pathological and psychotic people. They are completely removed from the reality of real human interests, devoted only to their own self-interest, with the singular goal of profit. Moreover, they pursue this goal from a completely amoral standpoint, with no innate impulses toward compassion or ethics. The corporation itself has no conscience, of course, and knows no right from wrong. ... While one could argue that the real people who run corporations have the moral and other human traits that corporations lack, this means little when we realize that corporate officers and directors are duty-bound to do one thing—make money for the corporation. This fiduciary duty requires them to put ethics aside, so long as they can operate within the law. And of course, since corporations have immense wealth, they can afford lawyers and lobbyists to shape the law to their liking and defend their legal interests most zealously when necessary. This ability is hugely significant, and has had enormous negative ramifications in American society and government.

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SCOTUS Rules Against Consumer Class Action Suits

Fri, 29 Apr 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Crooks and Liars - By Susie Madrak - Apr. 29 (Opinion) - Oh, great. The wingnut five continues to rubberstamp anything they can to give corporations the edge they need to pound us completely into the ground. We have no right to anything, other than the right to shut up and take it. This decision is a big deal, further undercutting consumer protections: WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court gave corporations a major win Wednesday, ruling in a 5-4 decision that companies can block their disgruntled customers from joining together in a class-action lawsuit. The ruling arose from a California lawsuit involving cellphones, but it will have a nationwide impact. In the past, consumers who bought a product or a service had been free to join a class-action lawsuit if they were dissatisfied or felt they had been cheated. By combining these small claims, they could bring a major lawsuit against a corporation. But in Wednesday's decision, the high court said that under the Federal Arbitration Act companies can force these disgruntled customers to arbitrate their ...

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Sensen No Sen: Gilded Age v2.0

Fri, 29 Apr 2011 00:00:00 -0700

sensen-no-sen.blogspot.com - By Pbi - Apr. 29 (Opinion) - The latest in a string of Supreme Court decisions favoring corporations over individuals is just one more piece of a concerted, sustained effort to return America to the excesses of the Gilded Age.

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Progressives United - Russ Feingold

Fri, 29 Apr 2011 00:00:00 -0700

colbertnation.com - By Colbert - Apr. 29 (Comedy News) - video

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With Kagan on Board, Supreme Court Turns Back Health Care Challenge

Tue, 26 Apr 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Huffington Post - By Adam Winkler - Apr. 26 (Opinion) - On Monday, the justices of the U.S. Supreme Court declined to rule on the constitutionality of President Obama's landmark health-care law. Opponents of the law, who have sued to prevent the law from taking effect, sought to fast track their appeal. Yet while opponents didn't really expect the Supreme Court to take the case now, they can't help but be disappointed by one key fact: Justice Elena Kagan did not recuse herself from the decision.

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AU Condemns Supreme Court Ruling Dismissing Challenge To State Aid To Arizona Religious Schools | Americans United

Mon, 04 Apr 2011 00:00:00 -0700

AU.org - Apr. 04 (Press Release) - “This misguided ruling betrays the public school system by directing tax dollars to religious schools,” said the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United, which filed a friend-of-the-court brief in the case. “The court, with the full support of the Obama administration, has slammed the courthouse door in the face of Americans who don’t want their tax dollars to subsidize religion.”

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U.S.: Wait on health care review

Tue, 15 Mar 2011 00:00:00 -0700

SCOTUSblog - By Lyle Denniston - Mar. 15 (Opinion) - The Obama Administration urges the Court to turn down Virginia’s request to take up swiftly, before an appeals court rules on it, the constitutionality of the new health care law.

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Throw Clarence Thomas Off the Bench

Fri, 04 Mar 2011 00:00:00 -0800

The Daily Beast - By Paul Campos - Mar. 04 (Opinion) - The Supreme Court justice broke the law by not disclosing his wife's $700K think-tank payday. Paul Campos on Clarence Thomas' "preposterous" defense and why he likely won't be punished.

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Sarah Palin's bizarre view of the First Amendment

Thu, 03 Mar 2011 00:00:00 -0800

Salon - By Justin Elliott - Mar. 03 (Opinion) - Sarah Palin, who has more than once invoked the First Amendment when she or her allies faced criticism, today denounced the Supreme Court's 8-1 ruling allowing the Westboro Baptist Church to protest outside soldiers' funerals with signs reading "“God Hates Fags" and the like.

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The top four victories handed to corporate America by today's Supreme Court--so far

Thu, 17 Feb 2011 00:00:00 -0800

Hightower Lowdown - By Jim Hightower - Feb. 17 (Opinion) - this slim majority of five unelected, unaccountable government officials with lifelong tenure has been hurling bombs at our democracy. They've hit us with decision after decision enhancing the power of corporations at the direct expense of workers, consumers, local communities, our air and water, voters, the elderly, and... well, anyone and everyone who stands up in court to resist the rise of corporate hegemony in America.

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Why Does Clarence Thomas Get Away With Breaking the Law, As His Wife Shills for Wealthy Right-Wingers? |

Mon, 07 Feb 2011 00:00:00 -0800

AlterNet - By Nancy Goldstein - Feb. 07 (Opinion) - When it comes to the financial and ethical improprieties of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and his wife, Ginni, there is only bad news and worse news. That's true not only in terms of what they've done but because there's so little reason to believe they'll ever be held accountable for their active role in tainting our judiciary with the money and influence of their wealthy, conservative GOP patrons.

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