Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS):
UPDATE: No rulings in affirmative action, marriage equality cases or voting rights today. We will post another SCOTUS thread on Thursday …
Today more rulings on the merit cases argued in the October 2012 term will be issued at 10am Eastern.
SCOTUS Blog has started their liveblog.
The 19 remaining cases in PDF: Cases Remaining for October Term 2012.
The cases many of us are watching:
Fisher v. University of Texas 11-345 CA5 Oct 10, 2012
Whether this Court’s decisions interpreting the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth
Amendment, including Grutter v. Bollinger, permit the University of Texas at Austin’s use of race in undergraduate admissions decisions. (Kagan, J., recused)
Hollingsworth v. Perry 12-144 CA9 Mar 26, 2013
(1) Whether the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment prohibits the State
of California from defining marriage as the union of a man and a woman; and (2) whether
petitioners have standing under Article III, ยง2 of the Constitution in this case.
Shelby County v. Holder 12-96 CADC Feb 27, 2013
Whether Congress’ decision in 2006 to reauthorize Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act under
the pre-existing coverage formula of Section 4(b) of the Voting Rights Act exceeded its
authority under the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments and thus violated the Tenth
Amendment and Article IV of the United States Constitution.
United States v. Windsor 12-307 CA2 Mar 27, 2013
(1) Whether Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) violates the Fifth Amendment’s guarantee of equal protection of the laws as applied to persons of the same sex who are legally married under the laws of their State; (2) whether the Executive Branch’s agreement with the court below that DOMA is unconstitutional deprives this Court of jurisdiction to decide this case; and (3) whether the Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group of the United States House of Representatives has Article III standing in this case.
Other news and commentary:
Food Stamps Under Threat: House GOP Wants to Cut $20.5B From SNAP
With the House about to take up the farm bill, the Republican Party’s ascendant libertarian wing is taking aim at the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Eleanor Clift on whether food stamps will survive.
It’s a big number and it gets people’s attention when they hear it: 47 million Americans receive food stamps in what is now known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). The program has expanded significantly under President Obama, who boosted benefits and allowed states to waive some work rules under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Still, the spiraling need for food assistance even as the unemployment rate has come down is tied to the weak economy and jobs that are so marginal that millions of working people earn so little they still qualify for SNAP.
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CBS Host Calls Out Top Republican For Seeking To Implicate Obama In IRS Targeting
House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers (R-MI) sought to implicate the White House in the Internal Revenue Service’s (IRS) targeting of conservative groups applying for 501(c)(4) status during an appearance on CBS’s Face The Nation on Sunday, suggesting that senior government officials may have engaged in “criminal behavior.”
But when host Bob Schieffer challenged Rogers to substantiate his allegations, the Michigan congressman appeared to back down, admitting that he has no actual evidence to suggest that administration officials were involved in the effort:
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Obama Begins European Trip: G-8 Summit Then Stop In Berlin
President Obama is in Northern Ireland Monday – the first stop on a three-day European visit that includes a G-8 summit and a side-trip to Berlin.
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Feel free to add your own news and views in the comment threads.
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