Tag: COURT

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Appearance Of Impropriety Surrounding Justice Kennedy-Trump Relationship

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Americans increasingly consider the Roberts Supreme Court more of a political body than a court of law–a troubling trend. Even more troubling is this New York Times piece that  says the Trump Administration conducted a “quiet campaign” to  effect Justice Kennedy’s retirement before Midterms 2018.  The New York Times piece, partly written by Maggie Haberman was quick to add; “There were no direct efforts to pressure or lobby Justice Kennedy to announce his resignation on Wednesday, and it was hardly the first time a president had done his best to create a court opening.”

Given the norm-breaking habit  of the Trump Administration, many people including Yours Truly will take issue with this conclusory assertion by Haberman that “there were no direct efforts” to pressure Justice Kennedy into retirement before the Midterms. Dems should not treat Haberman’s conclusory assertion as Biblical truth, but instead keep inquiring into the circumstances surrounding Justice Kennedy’s seemingly strategic departure from the High Court. Any reasonable person would conclude that Justice Kennedy’s departure right before the midterm elections signals a political motivation–one highly beneficial to Trump and his GOP.

In addition to that, the Financial Times reported in 2017 that Justice Kennedy’s son was Trump’s most trusted banker at Deutsche Bank, which gave Trump loans when no U.S. bank was willing to. Deutsche Bank has also been linked to Russian money laundering and is one of the banks Special Counsel Robert Mueller is looking into in the TrumpRussia investigation. How the son of a U.S. Supreme Court Justice gets caught up in the affairs of Deutsche Bank involving Trump should be a question of the utmost importance for Dems. And Dems don’t have to take Yours Truly’s word for it,  just check out this excellent thread by Amy Siskind regarding this issue.

Also check out this interesting 2017 Politico piece which highlighted a private conversation (hot mic moment) between Justice Kennedy and President Trump regarding Kennedy’s son; “Say hello to your boy,” Trump said, “Special guy.” “Your kids have been very nice to him,” Kennedy replied. “Well,” Trump said, “they love him, and they love him in New York.” This establishes conclusively that Justice Kennedy was well aware of his son’s interactions with Trump and his children.

Bottomline Dems must demand answers from retiring Justice Kennedy and indeed Chief Judtice Roberts about whether he coordinated his exit with the Trump Adninistration and secondly the extent of his son’s dealings with Trump while he was at Deutsche Bank and thereafter. Justice Kennedy’s son’s dealings with Trump raise genuine conflict of interest questions or at the very least create an appearance of impropriety. People’s faith in the U.S. Supreme Court as an independent court of law is waning and stories like these only add to the mistrust. Dems must raise all these lingering questions as they fight for the U.S. Supreme Court.

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The Unjust Roberts Supreme Court

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The U.S. Supreme Court deals with a wide range of issues affecting the daily lives of Americans. Because the issues the court deals with are so many and  so diverse, it is impossible/unfair to paint the courts decisions with a broad brush. However when it comes to politics, especially as it relates to GOP vs Democratic Party issues, the Roberts Supreme Court has established itself as a reliable GOP ally making horrendous decisions that favor the GOP

One such horrendous decision was Citizens United, where the court allowed the unlimited flow of dark/anonymous money into political campaigns. No reasonable person can ever conclude that the Roberts Supreme Court did not envision the disastrous effect unlimited dark/anonymous money would have on U.S. politics. Reasonable people will conclude that the Roberts Supreme Court knew their decision in Citizens United would likely lead to a spike in political corruption (pay for play) but went along with it anyway because it favored the GOP. The disastrous effects of Citizens United on U.S. politics continue to be felt to this day especially by poor voters who feel their representatives only cater for their rich mega donors

Then this week the Roberts Supreme Court made yet another horrendous decision which any reasonable person knows or should know will lead to the political disenfranchisement of millions of minority voters but like Citizens United, favors the GOP. The Roberts Supreme Court struck down lower court decisions that had found Texas Congressional Districts unconstitutionally gerrymandered(racially). There is no question that this will embolden Texas and other GOP-controlled states to gerrymander congressional districts even further.

As if this is not enough, the Roberts Supreme Court also upheld Ohio’s policy of purging voters that a lower court found unconstitutional–targeted minority voters. This again is a horrendous decision by the Roberts Supreme Court which any reasonable person knows or should know will lead to even further purging of minority voters in Ohio and other states. The Ohio decision fits the pattern–it is yet another horrendous decision by the Roberts Supreme Court, whose disastrous effects are easily predictable, but the court upheld because it favors the GOP.

Bottom line it is time for Dems to come out of the wood works and start speaking boldly about the troubling trend being set by the Roberts Supreme Court as regards the GOP.  As Yours Truly stated earlier, the Roberts Supreme Court has essentially become a trusted wing of the GOP. From sanctioning unlimited flow of money into politics through Citizens United, sanctioning racially-based gerrymandering, to now sanctioning voter purging, Dems have no otherwise but to start speaking out against these horendous decisions.

So you ask, “but @Emolclause how are Dems supposed to speak out against the Roberts Supreme Court? Won’t that look bad?” Well, Dems need to do what has worked for them for decades–peaceful protests. Peaceful protests outside the Roberts Supreme Court like the one done yesterday after the court upheld Trump’s Muslim ban must become more common.

Surely the strong grassroots Dem women who organized the highly successful Womens March can put together a Supreme Court March to protest Citizens United, Gerrymandering and voter purge decisions. Everbody knows the justices have lifetime appointment and there’s nothing Dems can do to effect their removal. However the justices like the rest of us consume the same national news stories. Images of massive protests outside the U.S. Supreme Court will not go unnoticed by the Roberts Supreme Court and may,just may, revert the court back to being the “people’s court” not the “GOP’s court”.

For those of you very happy with @Emolclause’s activism don’t shy away from the “tip jar” below on your way out. You may also Cash App

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