corruption

Salon.com
There are many theories swirling around for why they have increasingly chosen to abandon their basic duty to legal transparency. And the likeliest one is also the simplest: They’re cowards.
I believe the Roberts Court will be known as the court that brought down the institution in this form. Only significant restructuring will restore faith in this thoroughly captured enabler of authoritarianism.
Democracy Docket
In a 6-3 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court kneecapped the Voting Rights Act (VRA), the landmark civil rights law that restricted racial gerrymandering and racial discrimination in voting for sixty years.
This isn’t justice based on careful deliberation. This is corruption in the service of white supremacy.
civilbeat.org
“I think this is a creative and ambitious bill,” he said. “It tries to get around Citizens United by arguing that corporations only have the powers the state chooses to grant them, and that Hawaiʻi can decline to grant the power to spend money on elections. That’s a genuinely innovative idea.”
Nice to see a state even contemplate asserting its power to regulate. Fingers crossed.
New York Times
The efforts show the blurring of the lines between public service and private profit-seeking during Mr. Trump’s second term. Only a few weeks ago, in his role as Mr. Trump’s “peace envoy,” Mr. Kushner met in Geneva with Iran’s foreign minister. The U.S. and Israeli bombing campaign in Iran began shortly after those meetings concluded without a deal on Iran’s nuclear program.
Seems like "blurring the lines" is a bit of an understatement. Also, what is Kushner’s role in the administration? Does he have security clearance? None of this should be legal.
The Independent
When asked by NYT reporters if there were limits to his power, Trump replied, “Yeah, there is one thing. My own morality. My own mind. It’s the only thing that can stop me.”
The corrupt supreme court decision to grant the President immunity from criminal prosecution gave us this. The framers designed three equal branches of government so power can’t live with one person. The design didn’t work.
Emptywheel
John Roberts and his Republican colleagues have granted a kid with ties to criminal hackers, Ed “Big Balls” Coristine, live access to every American’s Social Security data.
Supreme Court majority implicated in US government hacking incident.
Talking Points Memo
“We are witnessing something without precedent,” Bonica wrote. “[A] Supreme Court that appears to be at war with the federal judiciary’s core constitutional function.”
The coup is coming from inside the house.
Politico
“If you have somebody who’s expressing a high degree of hostility to the court, on whatever basis … the danger, of course, is somebody might pick up on that. And we have had, of course, serious threats of violence and murder of judges just simply for doing their work,” Roberts said during an appearance at a judicial conference.
Ah yes, the simple work of dismantling our constitutional democracy, enabling authoritarianism, and taking away the rights of Americans while taking lavish gifts from billionaires. Let's all calm down about all of this before someone gets hurt.
text.npr.org
"With today's decision, it seems as if the court has truly lost its moorings," she said. In the process, she added, the court is creating "grave privacy risks for millions of Americans."
Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson raising the alarm about the Supreme Court enabling executive overreach.
ProPublica
All of the trades came shortly before a significant government announcement or development that could influence stock prices.
Not shocking, but still disappointing this barely warrants a mention in the current administration. It's all corruption and profiteering rather than serving the people.
emptywheel
Sure, the buck stops here. Trump is all powerful. But he — the President — is not making the decisions, did not make the AEA invocation based on lies. “The lawyers” did that. And they don’t want him to pick up that phone and facilitate Abrego Garcia’s return.
Complying with the Supreme Court is out of his hands, really. Someone else makes those decisions. They probably can't be held accountable either so no use finding out. Just... the lawyers.
wyden.senate.gov
U.S. Senator Ron Wyden, D-Ore., today announced the introduction of new legislation to restore balance among the three branches of government, increase transparency to improve public trust in America’s courts, and modernize the courts to ensure greater access to justice for more Americans.
Thanks, Senator Wyden! There are good politicians out there working for their constituents. Wyden is consistently fighting the good fight.
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