A busy week at the Supreme Court while my son and the Bliss Bringer visited with me in the South Carolina Lowcountry. My son and I are on the same page when it comes to social justice and politics in general, so we were able to talk about it all. However, there was no blogging time and the blogging energy went to the swimming pool and the beach. My beloveds are on the road home now, and I miss them already. Missing my eight-year-old roommate—even more than the sleep lost while sharing my bed with "the kidney kicker." While they were here, we all missed Nancy who couldn't be with us because her mom is in the hospital.
First SCOTUS news last week was that the High Court kicked the affirmative action case back to a lower court. Then came the devastating news I had been worrying about for weeks: They had ruled 5-4 against Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act. Killed it by sending it over to the dysfunctional Congress to work out a formula for which areas would be covered. We know this Congress can't agree on the simplest of issues. The Court knows that, too. Someone said that the Court conservatives wanted to kill Section 5, but didn't want their fingerprints on the murder weapon—thus, the decision to kick it over to Congress. Devastating is exactly what it is, and we can't let this happen. We must regain the protections now lost at a time when voting rights need to be guarded most carefully. That was clearly shown in 2012 elections. When the peaceful demonstrations begin, I hope to be in the middle of it all; in fact, I told my son I might be calling him to get me out of jail! I continue to be appalled by the ruling.
(Thanks to the Pragmatic Progressive Page/FB for posting this.)
Reading her scathing, passionate dissenting opinion from the bench (as Justice Alito rolled his eyes like a seventh grader), Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said, “Throwing out preclearance when it has worked and is continuing to work to stop discriminatory changes is like throwing away your umbrella in a rainstorm because you are not getting wet.” The dissent can be found in full, along with the "top 10" lines from Justice Ginsberg on the ruling at Politics 365: http://politic365.com/2013/06/28/top-10-lines-from-ruth-bader-ginsburgs-red-hot-voting-rights-dissent/
Thom Hartmann said Justice Ginsburg "slams the fascist 5" in her scathing dissent and that it will go down in history along with the dissents in CITIZENS UNITED (Stevens) and BUSH V. GORE (Heller). http://www.thomhartmann.com/forum/2013/06/justice-ginsburg-slams-fascist-5-her-dissent-voting-rights-act-case
Justice
Ginsburg's scathing dissenting opinion in this case will stand along
side the dissents written by now-retired Justice Stevens in CITIZENS
UNITED, and HELLER, and BUSH v. GORE. - See more at:
http://www.thomhartmann.com/forum/2013/06/justice-ginsburg-slams-fascist-5-her-dissent-voting-rights-act-case#sthash.DH1yYgY3.dpuf
Justice
Ginsburg's scathing dissenting opinion in this case will stand along
side the dissents written by now-retired Justice Stevens in CITIZENS
UNITED, and HELLER, and BUSH v. GORE. - See more at:
http://www.thomhartmann.com/forum/2013/06/justice-ginsburg-slams-fascist-5-her-dissent-voting-rights-act-case#sthash.DH1yYgY3.dpuf
Justice
Ginsburg's scathing dissenting opinion in this case will stand along
side the dissents written by now-retired Justice Stevens in CITIZENS
UNITED, and HELLER, and BUSH v. GORE. - See more at:
http://www.thomhartmann.com/forum/2013/06/justice-ginsburg-slams-fascist-5-her-dissent-voting-rights-act-case#sthash.DH1yYgY3.dpuf
Next day the Court struck down a key part of Defense of Marriage Act and dismissed the Prop. 8 case. These decisions triggered very different emotions for me than the Voting Rights action did. This ushered in a day for celebration rather than mourning. Yes, indeed!
Rachel Maddow told of a messenger running as hard and fast as he could from the Supreme Court building to deliver the decision to a couple waiting at the airport; one of the partners was about to be deported. The messenger arrived just in the nick of time, and the lives of the two men changed for the better in an instant.
So, the Court giveth and taketh away—as I spent peaceful, easy time with the family.
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