"One last question regards the legacy of Donald Trump. I’ve been a critic of Trump since long before he became president so you might wonder if overturning Roe changes my opinion of The Former Guy or his presidency. The short answer is no."
"I’ve always said that one of the few bright spots of the Trump Administration was his judicial appointments. One of the reasons that these appointments were good was that Trump kept his promise to pick from Federalist Society recommendations. Left to his own devices, Trump might have appointed his sister or Judge Jeanine. He didn’t, however, and he does deserve credit for that."
Credit for this reversal (if it happens) is mainly due to Mitch McConnell and his shenanigans around the Garland nomination in 2016. Trump just appointed judges others told him to.
Also, note that if this opinion is the one most likely to be issued (with Alito as the author) on 5-4 grounds (with Roberts dissenting), expect Roberts to join the majority to turn this into a 6-3 decision (to not have the decision be decided by just one judge) AND to assign himself the job of penning the 6-3 opinion (he can exercise that power if he's in the majority[1]). He'll do these two things to try and salvage the Supreme Court's reputation of being an institution that sits outside normal partisan politics.
May 3, 2022·edited May 3, 2022Liked by David Thornton
Hopefully, the final decision will be constitutionally correct. Most laws affecting our day-to-day lives should be state laws. Pregnant persons who want to murder their mistakes should be forced to travel to (or live in) a like-minded state.
"One last question regards the legacy of Donald Trump. I’ve been a critic of Trump since long before he became president so you might wonder if overturning Roe changes my opinion of The Former Guy or his presidency. The short answer is no."
"I’ve always said that one of the few bright spots of the Trump Administration was his judicial appointments. One of the reasons that these appointments were good was that Trump kept his promise to pick from Federalist Society recommendations. Left to his own devices, Trump might have appointed his sister or Judge Jeanine. He didn’t, however, and he does deserve credit for that."
Credit for this reversal (if it happens) is mainly due to Mitch McConnell and his shenanigans around the Garland nomination in 2016. Trump just appointed judges others told him to.
Also, note that if this opinion is the one most likely to be issued (with Alito as the author) on 5-4 grounds (with Roberts dissenting), expect Roberts to join the majority to turn this into a 6-3 decision (to not have the decision be decided by just one judge) AND to assign himself the job of penning the 6-3 opinion (he can exercise that power if he's in the majority[1]). He'll do these two things to try and salvage the Supreme Court's reputation of being an institution that sits outside normal partisan politics.
[1] https://www.aclu.org/blog/speakeasy/role-chief-justice
Hopefully, the final decision will be constitutionally correct. Most laws affecting our day-to-day lives should be state laws. Pregnant persons who want to murder their mistakes should be forced to travel to (or live in) a like-minded state.