Courts & Law

‘Son of Citizens United’ McCutcheon v. FEC: 5-4 decision from the usual suspects

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The John Roberts U.S. Supreme Court is the most pro-corporation, pro-plutocracy court since the Gilded Age at the turn of the last century. The unelected “Felonious Five” conservative activist Justices of the Court are working overtime to legislate from the bench the foundation for a new corporatocracy ruled by über-rich wealthy elite corporate plutocrats.

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“Son of Citizens United,” the McCutcheon v. FEC campaign finance case was decided today in a 5-4 decision by the usual suspects.  Justices void overall contribution limits:

The Supreme Court on Wednesday issued one of its most significant campaign finance rulings ever, striking down the overall campaign contribution limits that currently prevented individuals from contributing more than $123,000 to candidates and party committees per election cycle.

In a 5-4 decision, the justices ruled that individuals should be able to give the maximum per-candidate and per-party contributions to as many party committees, presidential and congressional candidates as they want. Under the current limits, individuals could give no more than $123,000 in total and $48,600 to candidates for the 2013-2014 election cycle.

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Nevada same-sex marriage case delayed by the 9th Circuit Court

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6a00d8341bf80c53ef019103db45a1970c-120wiIn early March, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals scheduled oral arguments in Nevada’s same-sex marriage case, Sevcik v. Sandoval, for April 9 in San Francisco. It would have been the first same-sex marriage case argued at the Court of Appeals level.

Shortly after, however, the Court of Appeals cancelled the April 9 date for argument without explanation. A new hearing date has not been rescheduled. Now I know why.

A judge of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has sua sponte requested an en banc hearing in SmithKline Beecham v. Abbott Laboratories, a case that  involved whether gay people could be kept off a jury in a trial. On Jan. 21, a three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit stated, “Windsor review is not rational basis review. In its words and its deed, Windsor established a level of scrutiny for classifications based on sexual orientation that is unquestionably higher than rational basis review. In other words, Windsor requires that heightened scrutiny be applied to equal protection claims involving sexual orientation.”

Abbott Laboratories did not seek further review from the 9th Circuit, and the company said it would not seek Supreme Court review of the 9th Circuit Court decision.

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Appeal filed in Arizona proof-of-citizenship voter registration case

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Voting rights groups filed an appeal on Friday from the order of a judge of the U.S. District Court for Kansas,  ordering federal election officials to help Kansas and Arizona enforce state laws requiring new voters to provide documentation proving their U.S. citizenship. Voter rights groups appeal Kan. citizenship ruling – Salon.com:

Screenshot-15A court filing sent to the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals challenges a ruling earlier this month by U.S. District Judge Eric Melgren in Wichita. Melgren had ordered the U.S. Election Assistance Commission to immediately modify a national voter registration form to add special instructions requiring proof of citizenship for Kansas and Arizona residents.

The appeal was filed by more than a dozen voting rights groups and individuals who had earlier intervened in the case on behalf of the election commission. They include the League of Women Voters of the United States, Project Vote Inc., Inter Tribal Council of Arizona, Common Cause, Arizona Advocacy Network, League of United Latin American Citizens Arizona, Southwest Voter Registration Education Project, Chicanos Por La Causa and others.

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The ‘Kochtopus’ Death Star still trying to kill Medicaid (AHCCCS) expansion

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DeathStarThe “Kochtopus” Death Star, the Goldwater Institute, seamlessly representing the GOP leadership of the Arizona Legislature, is appealing from the dismissal of their case on grounds of lack of standing to sue to block the state of Arizona from expanding Medicaid (AHCCCS), with the intended consequence of taking away medical care to many thousands of Arizonans who now have gained access to health care thanks to “ObamaCare.” Their preferred health care plan for the poor is the Ebeneezer Scrooge Plan: “Perhaps you should die, and decrease the surplus population.” Republican lawmakers fighting against Medicaid program in court:

Republican lawmakers asked the state Court of Appeals Wednesday to give them a chance to prove that hundreds of millions of dollars being used to support an expanded Medicaid program are being collected illegally.

Attorney Christina Sandefur [self-described “libertarian constitutional lawyer and freedom fighter”] told the judges the Arizona Constitution is clear: Any measure that raises taxes or increases revenues can be enacted only with approval of two-thirds of both the state House and Senate.

But last year’s vote to impose the levy on hospitals to finance the program – Gov. Jan Brewer calls an assessment and not a tax – did not get that margin. That, she said, makes it not only illegal but also deprives her lawmakers, who make up more than a third of both chambers, of their constitutional right to block the fee.

Sandefur is making her case to the appellate court because Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Katherine Cooper ruled last year the lawmakers who opposed the tax, who make up more than a third of both the House and Senate, have no right to sue because they had not been injured.

Judge Cooper said only those injured by the tax, meaning the hospitals, have standing to challenge it.

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Salon: Hobby Lobby’s (not so) secret Christian Right agenda

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Eli Clifton at Salon has an exposé on the secret agenda of the Christian Right  — not so secret, reporters are just loath to report on religious extremism for fear of reflexively being accused of  being anti-religion — and how this extremist movement is funded in part by Hobby Lobby. Hobby Lobby’s secret agenda: How it’s quietly funding a vast right-wing movement:

Hobby Lobby says it’s just trying to protect its religious freedom . . .

But a document published here for the first time reveals Hobby Lobby appears to be going much further than protecting freedom, providing funding for a group that backs a political network of activist groups deeply engaged in pushing a Christian agenda into American law. The document shows entities related to the company to be two of the largest donors to the organization funding a right-wing Christian agenda, investing tens, if not hundreds, of millions of dollars into a vast network of organizations working in concert to advance an agenda that would allow businesses to discriminate against gays and lesbians and deny their employees contraceptives under a maximalist interpretation of the Free Exercise Clause of the United States Constitution.

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That network of activist groups has succeeded in passing legislation in Arizona requiring women to undergo an ultrasound before an abortion, banning taxpayer-funded insurance paying for government employees’ abortions, defining marriage as a union between a man and woman, and funding abstinence education. And there’s evidence that its efforts go well beyond the borders of the Copper State.

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