News

Supreme Court: They read the summary and heard the oral arguments. Here’s what the judge does next.


The judges spent two somber and somber hours discussing the case in open court on Wednesday. Due to Covid restrictions, only certain journalists, law clerks, court staff and spouses of Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Stephen Breyer sat inside while the case was argued. (Sonia Sotomayor is the only justice wearing a mask.)

Outside, protesters marched, prayed or used bullock carts to share their views on the sidewalk at the foot of the court’s 252-foot square. Live audio of the proceedings is available on the court’s website for all who wish to follow.

Now only the judges and their law clerks know which direction the dispute is headed, and they will likely vote first Friday at the conference – in the same manner and sequence as any other case.

In the book-lined boardroom outside the chambers of Chief Justice John Roberts, the nine justices will take their seats in order of seniority.

Only judges are allowed into the room, and if anyone else knocks on the door with a message, Justice Amy Coney Barrett, as the head of justice, will have to respond. She will also tally the votes.

Justice Clarence Thomas: The Supreme Court Influential

If the past is the precedent, Roberts will go ahead and explain his thoughts. At the oral arguments on Wednesday, he appeared to be broadcasting in which direction he thought the case should go. He signaled that he was ready to uphold Mississippi’s law banning abortions after 15 weeks of gestation. He also suggested the court could stop there and refuse to address Mississippi’s request to take the important step of completely overturning Roe.

The discussion will continue in order of seniority. No one is allowed to say twice until everyone has said it once.

Next will be Justice Clarence Thomas. He is the only justice who has publicly written the opinion that he thinks Roe should be debunked.

Then Breyer, the court’s senior liberal, will speak. His questions came Wednesday in a professional tone, and at times he appeared to be addressing the listening public rather than addressing the arguments made by Mississippi. “I hope people read this,” he said, to no one in particular, as he read aloud a case decided in 1992.

Secret Supreme Court: Staying up late, polite votes, and the unwritten 6 vote rule

Justice Samuel Alito is next in seniority and at oral debates seems to consider Roberts’ argument for pushing the boundaries of the possible. But he made other comments suggesting he disagreed with Roe, referring to the fetus as a “hobby to have a life.”

Sotomayor was the most eloquent of the oral arguments defending Roe. If she turned it around now, 50 years later, the public might think the court – with three newly appointed members – was acting politically, she said.

“Can this institution survive the stench this creates in the public perception that the Constitution and its reading are purely political?” Sotomayor said.

She was cut off by Roberts at one point after a five-page investigative line on the transcript. When Roberts finished her question, she returned immediately. “May I complete my question?” she asked, and went on to suggest that if Roe were to be tried in court, other opinions regarding contraceptive rights and same-sex marriage could be in jeopardy.

SCOTUS changed oral arguments in part because female judges were interrupted, Sotomayor said

The third liberal with Breyer and Sotomayor, Justice Elena Kagan, can often raise the harshest questions and in previous cases has urged her colleagues to be careful before overturning precedent. . But Kagan looked a bit subdued on Wednesday. That may be because while the judges discussed Mississippi law for the first time, they discussed Texas law for three months behind the scenes that forbid abortion at about six weeks after conception. Kagan may have chosen to keep the fire burning for strategic reasons.

Former President Donald Trump’s three candidates – Judges Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Barrett – will speak last at the conference because of their seniority. They were all 10 years younger than Roe when Roe was debated and decided.

Gorsuch seems ready to side with Thomas, but it’s not yet clear if Kavanaugh and Barrett can join the middle.

After the conference, the judges will retire to their offices and a majority opinion will likely be assigned – each party’s most senior judiciary will assign that task.

Drafts and drafts and drafts

Judges run their offices like separate law firms, and not all follow the same process when discussing opinions.

Roberts said during a 2017 appearance in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, that he begins by writing down his thoughts at length and that it’s not uncommon for an opinion piece to be vetted through 25 copies. draft. He said the process in his rooms is to conduct a “reading of the board,” where he sits with four of his secretaries to go through sentence by sentence before it is circulated.

Why does John Roberts cite private articles of the judiciary, who wrote Roe v.  Wade

Kagan, meanwhile, told an audience at Northwestern University in 2015 that she had draft secretary comments, then she started a new document of her own and used his work. secretary for instructions. She said that when she finished, all of her staff members weighed in through the discussion rounds.

“Their job is to improve things in my opinion,” says Kagan.

Earlier this year, during a public appearance with businessman David Rubenstein, Breyer said he assigned one or two secretaries to write a memo to cover various points, which he then took and wrote. own draft.

All of this happens, of course, as the courts consider other cases on topics ranging from the closely watched Second Amendment to the rare bankruptcy law disputes. appear on the front page.

The inside story of how John Roberts negotiated to save Obamacare

Over the coming weeks and months, majority opinion drafts will rotate between chambers, and judges will likely make proposals they deem necessary to secure their votes.

It would not be unheard of for a justice to change her vote during this process. Roberts famous converted his vote and sided with four court libertarians to save Obamacare in 2012, shortly after the drafting process was underway.

Sometimes the final opinion does not at all reflect the sentiment expressed in oral arguments. But the public will only be brought back in when a final decision is made, possibly in late spring or early summer.

.



Source link

news7h

News7h: Update the world's latest breaking news online of the day, breaking news, politics, society today, international mainstream news .Updated news 24/7: Entertainment, Sports...at the World everyday world. Hot news, images, video clips that are updated quickly and reliably

Related Articles

Back to top button