Tag Archives: Supreme Court

Supreme Court Signals It Will Uphold ‘State-Sanctioned Discrimination’ in Transgender Care Case

“We the people means all the people,” said the ACLU. “There is no ‘transgender’ exception to the U.S. Constitution.”

By Julia Conley Published 12-4-2024 by Common Dreams

Transgender rights supporters rally outside of the U.S. Supreme Court as the high court hears arguments in a case on transgender health rights on December 4, 2024 in Washington, D.C. Photo: ACLU Massachusetts/X

Attorneys who argued against Tennessee’s ban on gender-affirming healthcare at the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday expressed hope that the court’s nine justices will take “the opportunity to affirm the essential freedom and equality of all people before the law,” while reports indicated that the right-wing majority is inclined to uphold the ban.

“Every day this law inflicts further pain, injustice, and discrimination on families in Tennessee and prevents them from receiving the medical care they need,” said Lucas Cameron-Vaughn, staff attorney at the ACLU of Tennessee, which represented three families and a physician. “We ask the Supreme Court to commit to upholding the promises of the U.S. Constitution for all people by putting an end to Tennessee’s state-sanctioned discrimination against trans youth and their families.”

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Unions Note Chavez-DeRemer’s Record, ‘But Donald Trump Is the President-Elect’

The DOL pick has sparked debates about how much she will actually “do right by workers” and whether “Teamsters president Sean O’Brien and Donald Trump are effectively dividing the labor movement.”

By Jessica Corbett. Published 11-23-2024 by Common Dreams

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, center, poses for a photo with Congresswoman Lori Chavez-DeRemer (R-Ore.) and International Brotherhood of Teamsters general president Sean O’Brien. Photo: Sean O’Brien/X

Amid a flurry of Friday night announcements about key roles in the next Trump administration, one stood out to union leaders and other advocates for working people: Congresswoman Lori Chavez-DeRemer, an Oregon Republican, for labor secretary.

Chavez-DeRemer, who lost her reelection bid to Democrat Janelle Bynum earlier this month, “has built a pro-labor record in Congress, including as one of only three Republicans to co-sponsor the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act and one of eight Republicans to co-sponsor the Public Service Freedom to Negotiate Act,” said AFL-CIO president Liz Shuler in a statement.

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Trump Taps Project 2025 Co-Author Who Cozied Up to Musk to Lead FCC

“For more than a year now Carr has been auditioning for this job,” said one critic. “His groveling is now being rewarded with a promotion, and it’s the American public who will pay a heavy price.”

By Julia Conley Published 11-18-2024 by Common Dreams

FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr speaking at the 2018 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in National Harbor, Maryland. Photo: Gage Skidmore/flickr/CC

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump claimed on Sunday that his nomination of Brendan Carr to chair the Federal Communications Commission would elevate “a warrior for free speech,” but one veteran journalist warned the selection of Carr is a “key step in Trump’s assault on the free press,” while others expressed concerns about the future of net neutrality and censorship on social media platforms.

A portion of Project 2025—the far-right policy document that Trump repeatedly said he had nothing to do with—was authored by Carr, who has been an FCC commissioner since 2017.

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In Tiny State of Maine, a Big Election Day Win Against Dark Money in Politics

“Our greatest hope is to restore people’s faith in our democracy and increase participation across the board,” said the chair of the campaign behind the measure likely bound for the U.S. Supreme Court.

By Jessica Corbett. Published 11-6-2024 by Common Dreams

A sign in Maine promotes Question 1, which aims to get big money out of politics. (Photo: Maine Citizens to End Super PACs/Facebook)

As billionaire-backed Republicans dominated U.S. elections on Tuesday, voters in Maine—among the top 10 states in terms of smallest populations—overwhelmingly approved a ballot measure to limit political spending, an initiative that could reach the country’s top court.

Maine Question 1 targets super political action committees (PACs), dark money groups that, for the most part, are barred from directly contributing or coordinating with a candidate but can raise and spend unlimited amounts of funds.

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‘BIG Victory for PA Voters’: US Supreme Court Denies GOP Bid to Block Thousands of Ballots

“This is a win for democracy and the rule of law,” said one ACLU attorney. “The bottom line is that voters deserve to have their voices heard.”

By Jessica Corbett. Published 11-1-2024 by Common Dreams

Photo: i_am_curiouskiwi/flickr/CC

After allowing Virginia Republicans’ voter registration purge earlier this week, the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday rejected a GOP effort to block thousands of ballots for the November 5 election from being counted in the key swing state of Pennsylvania.

Democratic elections lawyer and Democracy Docket founder Mark Elias called the decision “a BIG victory for PA voters.”

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Fearing More ‘Blatant Corruption’ in Second Trump Term, Watchdog Issues Ethics Blueprint

“Should the flagrant disregard of ethics rules return, the political opposition must use all tools at their disposal to advance ethics reforms and neutralize as much harm as possible.”

By Brett Wilkins. Published 10-31-2024 by Common Dreams

Chicago welcomes Donald Trump to town Chicago Illinois 10-28-19. Photo: Charles Edward Miller/flickr/CC

A leading U.S. watchdog group on Thursday published what it called “a blueprint for strengthening the federal government’s ethics programs across the executive, legislative, and judicial branches” amid Democrats’ inadequate reforms and the prospect of more “outright scandals and blatant corruption” under a possible second administration of former Republican President Donald Trump.

The Revolving Door Project publication—titled Rebuilding Public Trust: Six Principles to Guide Reform—notes that “Americans’ trust in government is near historic lows, a trend that both preceded and continued after the blatant corruption of the Trump administration.”

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‘Dark Omen’: Supreme Court Allows Virginia Voter Purge Just Days Before Election

Although eligible voters can still participate thanks to same-day registration, critics called the decision “outrageous.”

By Jessica Corbett. Published 10-30-2024 by Common Dreams

Screenshot: NBC News

Democracy defenders responded with alarm on Wednesday to a decision from the U.S. Supreme Court’s right-wing majority allowing Virginia to resume its purge of state voter registration rolls while early voting is underway for next Tuesday’s election.

Stand Up America managing director of policy and political affairs Brett Edkins framed the court’s decision as a gift to former Republican President Donald Trump, who appointed half of the conservative justices and is facing Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris in the November 5 contest for the White House.

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‘This Is Just the Traceable Money’: $2 Billion Pumped Into 2024 Election by Billionaire Families

“It’s no secret that political spending is a huge way for billionaires to rig the system to their liking,” said Americans for Tax Fairness. “Enough is enough.”

By Julia Conley. Published 10-29-2024 by Common Dreams

Miriam Adelson at the Republican Jewish Coalition’s 2023 Annual Leadership Summit at the Venetian Convention & Expo Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. Photo: Gage Skidmore/flickr/CC

A new analysis out Tuesday shows that 150 of the nation’s wealthiest families have poured nearly $2 billion into this year’s U.S. election—the latest evidence bolstering calls for new taxes on the super rich and an end to unlimited campaign spending.

The new report from Americans for Tax Fairness, published Tuesday, shows how spending by 150 of the richest families in the U.S. has smashed campaign spending records, with $700 million more spent than the $1.2 billion that wealthy donors poured into the 2020 campaign.

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Threatening ‘the enemy within’ with force: Military ethicists explain the danger to important American traditions

National Guard at the George Floyd protests in Washington, DC Photo: Ted Eytan/flickr/CC

By Marcus Hedahl and Bradley Jay Strawser Published 10-25-2024 by The Conversation

On the campaign trail, former President Donald Trump has declared there are serious threats to the United States. First, he said, there is “the outside enemy, and then we have the enemy from within, and the enemy from within, in my opinion, is more dangerous,” as he told Fox News in an Oct. 13, 2024, interview.

He went on to say that “the bigger problem are the people from within. We have some very bad people. We have some sick people, radical left lunatics. And I think. And it should be very easily handled by, if necessary, by National Guard or, if really necessary, by the military.”

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Outrage as GOP AGs Argue Fewer Pregnant Teens Deprive States of Population Increases

“This is what potentially winning right-wing legal cases read like these days,” said one progressive activist. “Dark stuff.”

By Julia Conley. Published 10-22-2024 by Common Dreams

Rally for Abortion Rights & march through downtown Chicago on May 7th, 2022 Photo: SHYCITYNikon/flickr/CC

Opinion polls have repeatedly made clear that U.S. voters are turned off by the Republican Party’s fixation on banning abortion care and controlling Americans’ reproductive choices—but that didn’t stop three GOP officials from writing in a court filing this month that they want to restrict abortion pill access because it would reduce teen pregnancy rates in their state.

“In my expert legal opinion, this is deeply gross and weird,” wrote attorney and writer Madiba K. Dennie on Monday at Balls & Strikes, a news outlet focused on the judiciary.

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