REX TILLERSON DID CORRECTLY CALL THE PRESIDENT AS HE SAW HIM

 CONSERVATIVE BLOCK OF THE HIGH COURT FLEXES THEIR MUSCLES

 

…Chief Roberts doesn’t always join with the other conservatives on the court

 

Expect more questionable decisions by the high court in the months ahead

 

It has taken decades of effort by the GOP, while the liberals have been much too sure of themselves, that the Republicans are now winning with their efforts with the Supreme Court.

Yes, after decades of working to get their conservatives on the Supreme Court, all you have to look at are the court’s conservative decisions over the first half of 2022.

The conservative block of decision makers in the high court have made it very difficult for the rest of us.

Just look at the decisions made by Chief John Roberts, Kavanaugh, Thomas, Alito, Barrett, and Gorsuch.

Here is a list of some the decisions made by the core conservatives of the high court as those individuals listed above.  The conservative block has wasted no time in making their power known to everyone.

Abortion

J DOBBS V. JACKSON WOMEN’S HEALTH ORGANIZATION (6-3)

The justices voted 6 to 3 to uphold a restrictive Mississippi abortion law. In the most consequential part of the ruling, Chief John Roberts did not join the majority opinion to eliminate the fundamental right to abortion established nearly 50 years ago in Roe. The outcome was telegraphed in the leaked draft but the final ruling immediately reshaped the political landscape and cleared the way for states to ban or severely limit abortion access.

Second amendment

 NEW YORK STATE RIFLE & PISTOL ASSOC. V. BRUEN. (6-3)

In the first major Second Amendment ruling in more than a decade, the court said that law-abiding Americans have a right to carry handguns outside the home for self-defense. The majority opinion, authored by Thomas, struck down a long-standing New York law requiring a special need to carry a weapon and put at risk similar laws in Maryland, California, New Jersey, Hawaii and Massachusetts.

Climate change

WEST VIRGINIA V. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (6-3)

The court rolled back the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) ability to reduce the carbon output of existing power plans in a blow to the Biden administration’s plans for combating climate change. The decision risks putting the United States even further off track from the president’s goal of running the nation’s power grid on clean energy by 2035.

Covid and vaccine mandates

NATIONAL FEDERATION OF INDEPENDENT BUSINESS V. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR (6-3)

The court blocked the Biden administration’s vaccination-or-testing requirement for the nation’s largest employers, a blow to the president’s signature initiative for curbing the coronavirus and boosting the country’s vaccination rate. The court was generally supportive of state pandemic initiatives, but said the federal government lacked the power to impose sweeping requirements on workplaces throughout the country.

Separation of church and state

CARSON V. MAKIN (6-3)

The court’s conservative majority invalidated a Maine tuition program, ruling that the state cannot bar religious schools from receiving public grants extended to other private schools. Roberts, writing for the majority, said the tuition program “promotes stricter separation of church and state” than the constitution requires.

School prayer

KENNEDY V. BREMERTON SCHOOL DISTRICT (6-3)

The conservative majority, said the coach’s prayers at the public school event were protected by the Constitution’s guarantees of free speech and religious exercise and did not violate the prohibition on government endorsement of religion.

Copyright G. Ater 2022