More on "Politicians in Robes" and "Supreme Inequality"

 #Randall Kennedy, "Politicians in Robes," The Nation, October 19-26, 2020. - (Continuing with Randall Kennedy and Adam Cohen's "Supreme Inequality") "In 'Janus v. American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees' (2018), the Court held that it was unconstitutional for a state to require workers to pay a fee to unions to defray the costs associated with collective bargaining. But in 'Janus', according to the 5-4 majority, in an opinion written by Justice Samuel Alito, the Court held that 'forcing workers to pay such fees amounted to coercion, violating their First Amendment rights...' " 

Adam Cohen notes that "while the Court protected corporations for what it saw as excessive penalization for grossly negligent conduct, it decided to protect people from excessive punishment." "Wealth in its absence does indeed make a difference in outcomes, even before the putatively majestic bar of justice." Cohen charges that the Warren Court "systematically looked for ways in which the poor were unfairly disadvantaged." "It was a historical outlier," he adds mournfully, "one that lasted only briefly before the Court was overrun with Nixon appointees, who steered it to a  resumption of 'its traditional role in national life: protection of the rich and powerful' "

"In 'Supreme Inequality', Cohen argues persuasively that the Republicans have managed the politics of the judiciary much more effectively than the Democrats. 'Over the next three years, Nixon got the chance to appoint four justices, creating a conservative majority that has held sway ever since.' "

"Republican presidents have straightforwardly declared, when nominating justices, that they mean to appoint conservatives. Democratic presidents, by contrast, have blurred the ideological complexion of their choices, as if there were something disreputable about being liberal. "Liberals should have rolling lists of favorite candidates prepared, as conservatives do, as well as a keen collective desire to the making of a more just America."

#Rachel Rebouche, "Anti-Abortion Opportunism," The Nation, May 4/11, 2020. - Over the past few weeks in March 2020, "eight states have tried to implement -- with varying degrees of success -- measures suspending abortions in response to the COVID-19 pandemic." "At the moment, people can seek medication abortions in Texas, but for how long is uncertain." "Texas, for example, unnecessaryily imposes patient-clinic contact not only by banning telemedicine abortions, but also by requiring that a physician dispense and be present during a medicine abortion."

A pending Supreme Court case, 'June Medical Services v. Russo,' will determine if restrictions that provide no benefits for individual or public health, and that significantly impair access to abortion services, will stand. "Courts can step in to defend those rights in the face of arbitrary state action, but in the long run, that isn't enough."

#John Nichols, "Dangerous Voting," The Nation, May 4/11, 2020. - " 'Wisconsin's election offers a nightmare vision of what the whole country could see in the fall,' warned Ben Wikler, the Democratic Party of Wisconsin chairman. 'A fight were Democrats struggle to balance democracy with public health, and the GOP remorselessly weaponize courts, election laws, and the coronavirus itself to disenfranchise millions of voters who stand in its way. If the coronavirus lingers or spikes in the fall, this could be a recurring nightmare.' "

" 'Republicans got their allies on the conservative-dominated state Supreme Court to upend its order, and conservatives on the U.S. Supreme Court intervened to thwart a federal judge's order to make absentee voting easier.' "

" 'This has been the ugliest example of voter suppression in a state that has, over the past decade, been a proving ground for the GOP's win-at-any-cost ethos.' "

#Justin Worland, "Blocking the ballots," TIME, November 2-9, 2020. - Trump, in Wilmington, North Carolina, urged backers to test the mechanics of North Carolina's voting system by voting twice. "U.S. Presidents encouraging citizens to commit a felony is alarming enough, but in the next breath, Trump acknowledged intentions that were more pernicious: he said the Republicans in the state should also fight in court to halt 'unsolicited votes.' "

#Justin Worland, "The art of the green deal," TIME, November 2-9, 2020. - "The plan is simple yet bold. In December, the E.U. outlined plans to spend what would total 1 trillion ($1.17 trillion} on a 'Green Deal' aimed at eliminating the bloc's carbon footprint by 2050, and refashioning the bloc's economy around new, low-carbon industries." The remainder of the funds come with a 'do no harm' provision that investments shouldn't be used on projects that harm the environment.

#Jacob Rosenberg & Dave Gilson, "The Flip Side, Mother Jones, January + February 2021. - "The president is also the subject of many unofficial coins, including one for the NYPD counterterrorism unit that protects Trump Tower. It features a golden relief image of the man who's called the 'chief law-enforcement officer of the federal government,' cradling an assault weapon, looking ready to stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot someone."

#Kiera Butler, "The Mother of Conspiracies," Mother Jones, January + February 2021. - "Moderators in several parts of  the country, ranging in size from roughly 10,000 to 40,000 members, tell [Kiera Butler] about a dramatic uptick in posts that refer to lurid plots by the government, celebrities, and even scientists to control citizens." "As Seema Yasmin, a Stanford physician and an expert on health misinformation, points out that conspiracies thrive in the absence of clear and consistent guidance from leaders. 'Charlatans are plugging those knowledge gaps,' Yasmin says. 'They're saying completely false things with a sense of authority.' The 'pandemic appeared, and after that, the trickle of memes became a torrent.' "

Dr. Anthony Fauci and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention were characterized as part of the "deep state," for instance, and the government was using mask orders to force citizens into complicity through 'trauma bonding' (a psychological phenomenon similar to Stockholm Syndrome, whereas, victims feel dependent on their abusers)." 

"Child sexual abuse is a real serious problem, but the vast majority of cases involve those who already know the victims, mostly family members and care givers."

#Kara Voght, "Works Progress Administration," Mother Jones, January + February 2021. - "But Biden's $7.3 trillion plan has far more ambitious goals than Obama's $767 billion bill: It includes $2 trillion to boost clean energy and infrastructure, $300 billion to spur research and development on technologies such as electric vehicles and artificial intelligence, $400 billion aimed at resuscitating American manufacturing, and a  $775 billion proposal to provide affordable care to children, people with disabilities, and the elderly."