For many waking up yesterday, they must have thought that they had a real Rip Van Winkle of a snoozer for the last 50 years. Across the spectrum, legal experts were declaring the death of Roe v. Wade after the Supreme Court refused to enjoin a Texas anti-abortion law in an emergency filing. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez announced that the Supreme Court just “overturned” Roe in the order. The mainstream coverage ranged from the outright death of Roe to its being rendered to a vegetative state. Even more reasoned analysis asked “Is this how Roe v. Wade dies?” The answer is no. This is how legal analysis dies.
Legal analysts once prized our role of transcending the political rhetoric and offering detached and honest appraisals of legal decisions and developments. However, in the age of echo journalism, legal experts are expected to drive ratings and readership with breathless, partisan takes on every story. Some of that analysis constitutes raw conspiracies theories dressed up as legal analysis like declaring that this order proves the “very real possibility in America right now that the federal courts are conspiring against us, against the rights of women, of people of color, of voters, of poor people.” Others cut to the chase and demanded that Congress immediately pack the Supreme Court with a liberal majority to guarantee results in such cases.
The trigger of this apocalyptic coverage was an unsigned, one paragraph order in Whole Woman’s Health v. Jackson. At issue is a Texas law that would effectively gut Roe v. Wade by prohibiting abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy. After Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey, laws were routinely struck down if they barred abortions “viability” round 24 weeks of pregnancy. The Texas law is clearly meant to test the new majority on the Supreme Court in another attempt to overturn Roe. However, the Supreme Court is already set for such a fundamental challenge after it accepted Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization.
The order actually addressed a serious flaw in the challenge brought by pro-choice advocates to the Texas law. The drafters of the law were creative in leaving enforcement of the law to private parties rather than state officials. It allows private individuals to bring lawsuits against anyone who either providers or “aids or abets” an unlawful abortion and allows for an award of $10,000 if successful in such a challenge.
Of course, such a lawsuit will not immediately end Roe v. Wade. It will be challenged on the very grounds cited by advocates. That includes the question of whether Texas is using private citizens to curtail a constitutional right. Those cases will also lead to judicial review. In the meantime, if any state official tries to curtail constitutionally protected rights, they can be enjoined pending any decision. Federals courts enjoin people, not laws, when there are actions that are being taken to violate the Constitution. This order concerns whether a court can enjoin the law before any final review on the merits. Any challenge to the law could be expedited on appeal.
The problem is that the challengers to the Texas law picked defendants (a state court judge and a court clerk) that do not enforce the law. Indeed, they appear virtually random. That is why five justices did not issue the emergency order. However, they expressly stated “The applicants now before us have raised serious questions regarding the constitutionality of the Texas law at issue. But their application also presents complex and novel antecedent procedural questions on which they have not carried their burden.”
Even Chief Justice John Roberts who voted for an injunction with his liberal colleagues admitted that this is a serious procedural hurdle and it is unclear “whether, under existing precedent, this Court can issue an injunction against state judges asked to decide a lawsuit under Texas’s law.” One can honestly disagree with how insurmountable this issue is for the Court, but it is ridiculous to say that it was some manufactured excuse for a partisan ruling.
Nevertheless, liberal professors and commentators immediately pounced and declared that this was just a procedural trick or excuse. Many noted that this is why Amy Barrett was added to the Court. However, these same experts did not make similar objections when standing or procedural grounds were used to protect abortion or other rights. Indeed, the only case cited in the order is California v. Texas where the Court rejected a challenge to Affordable Care Act due to a lack of standing, including Barrett. That order noted that “federal courts enjoy the power to enjoin individuals tasked with enforcing laws, not the laws themselves.”
So the Court was not ruling on Roe and it was not ruling on this case, which is described as raising “serious questions regarding the constitutionality of the Texas law.” The actual ruling seemed immaterial to the coverage as people rushed to ride a wave of anger. It is not the first time that actual orders or decisions seemed immaterial to their coverage. The Washington Post’s Jennifer Rubin published legal analysis that actually got the rulings wrong in an effort to flog an anti-Trump narrative. NBC’s Chuck Todd previously misrepresented a ruling against Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer as not citing a single case despite an opinion with dozens of such citations. The actual opinion was entirely immaterial to the reporting on the opinion.
The order this week was based on a fundamental barrier to emergency relief that was even recognized in dissent. What is most striking is that none of that takes away from the legitimate concerns over the future of Roe v. Wade. There was no need to inflate the meaning of the order when there is a massive threat just behind it on the docket. The Texas law is an existential threat to Roe. So is the Dobbs case now before the Court. However, the press today has little patience for nuance or delay when there is rage to feed.
Anonymous the Stupid, you are entitled to think as you please but fascists are not good for the little people despite what you think. You also ought to bone up on the differences between fascism, naziism, socialism, communism and capitalism. You have a gigantic hole in your knowledge base. If you wish I will gladly assist you in your learning process. Have a good day.
Svelaz says:
“Turley is experiencing the alluring thrill of the attention he gets for his columns and the aura of credibility from how many “hits” his blog and tweets accumulates. The attention and “fame” of his “presence” with Trump supporters and their ever going conspiracy theories give him the feeling of importance that he otherwise wouldn’t have without them.”
You may well be correct with your estimation of Turley. Turley’s blog, I dare say, is hardly different from a blog hosted by Infowars! This deplorable situation accounts for the fact that there are no academics of Turley’s stature contributing to his blog. At least none willing to identify their credentials as such. Undoubtedly, this dearth of academics has to be a great disappointment to him.
I can only imagine what Turley’s visceral reaction would be were he ever confronted with the many hateful statements and angry threats polluting his blog of which he is unaware presumably because he never acknowledges that he reads them. Moreover, I would like him to try to account for the fact that the vast majority of contributors who gravitate to his blog do not reflect his law and order attitude or share his liberal values! Indeed, it would not surprise me if Turley hosts a separate invitation-only forum to accredited academics given the sophomoric state of affairs of Res Ipsa Loquitur.
First trimester suction (aspiration) D&C, the most prevalent abortion procedure, explained by former abortionist Dr. Anthony Levatino.
OT: Interview of Gabriel Gipes followed by a video of parents objecting to the school board. Many on this blog pretend this isn’t happening.
How does he try to change minds? ‘I scare the “f” out of them’. What does he say on his first day. ‘I have 180 days to turn you into revolutionaries’
Gipes video at: https://www.projectveritas.com/news/breaking-pro-antifa-high-school-teacher-in-california-admits-communist/
Parents at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=594BEm4gX_k
One parent complained the approved books were not used in class. Instead teachers are bringing in their own. I listened to the entire video of the parents.
Life begins at conception.
Follow the science
Human development is a continuous process that begins when an oocyte (ovum) from a female is fertilized by a sperm (or spermatozoon) from a male. (p. 2); … but the embryo begins to develop as soon as the oocyte is fertilized. (p. 2); … Human development begins at fertilization, the process during which a male gamete or sperm … unites with a female gamete or oocyte … to form a single cell. This highly specialized, totipotent cell marks the beginning of each of us as a unique individual. (p. 18) … The usual site of fertilization is the ampulla of the uterine tube [fallopian tube], its longest and widest part. If the oocyte is not fertilized here, it slowly passes along the tube to the uterus, where it degenerates and is resorbed. Although fertilization may occur in other parts of the tube, it does not occur in the uterus. … Human development begins when an oocyte is fertilized. (p. 34)
Keith Moore and T.V.N. Persaud, The Developing Human: Clinically Oriented Embryology ISBN-13: 978-0323611541
Human oocytes and early embryos (2-cell to the blastocysts) can be analyzed molecularly by use of the polymerase chain reaction, and cDNA “libraries” constructed as a resource for the study of early gene expression. The time of onset of specific genes can thereby be determined and so aid in investigating congenital anomalies and inherited diseases resulting from mutation of those genes. (p. 30)
Although life is a continuous process, fertilization … is a critical landmark because, under ordinary circumstances, a new, genetically distinct human organism is formed when the chromosomes of the male and female pronuclei blend in the oocyte. … During the embryonic period proper, milestones include fertilization, activation of embryonic from extra-embryonic cells, implantation, and the appearance of the primitive streak and bilateral symmetry. … Fertilization is the procession of events that begins when a spermatozoon makes contact with a secondary oocyte or its investments, and ends with the intermingling of maternal and paternal chromosomes at metaphase of the first mitotic division of the zygote. … Fertilization takes place normally in the ampulla (lateral end) of the uterine tube. (p. 31)
Ronan O’Rahilly and Fabiola Muller, Human Embryology & Teratology ISBN-13: 978-0471382256
“Life begins at conception.”
Estovir, I don’t know why you addressed this to me in this location. Did I say anything that disagrees with the statement?
No reason, buddy. Just posted it to support your comments but otherwise totally random.
Thank you.
Turley says:
“However, in the age of echo journalism, legal experts are expected to drive ratings and readership with breathless, partisan takes on every story. Some of that analysis constitutes raw conspiracies theories dressed up as legal analysis…”
This commentary is sickeningly rich coming from Turley who stood silent as HIS very own network breathlessly promoted the Big Lie. In a bid for ratings, his network colleagues broadcasted the reckless conspiracy theory that Dominion and Smartmatic developed technology that “flipped” votes from Donald Trump to Joe Biden through a method developed with the regime of the late Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chávez. Now, Fox is being sued for defaming Smartmatic and Dominion.
No matter how often he points his boney finger at Fox’s competitors for engaging in partisan legal analysis, no one will soon forget the contemptible hypocrisy of Jonathan “Fox News” Turley for ignoring his own network’s.
Jeff,
I hope you’ve seen the light of day to renounce once & for all all you Commie Ways/Leanings.
I’m glad to see US Law Enforcement is helping to clean up Demonic Satan Worshipping, American Hating Commie Trash inside our other wise once great US Bureaucratic Institutions. And to continue much of Trump’s great works of getting rid of the Pedophiles that still needs to be done.
****
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[ September 4, 2021 ] New Zealand’s ‘Woke’ Prime Minister Responds to ISIS Attack by Condemning Islamophobia News
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[ September 4, 2021 ] Anti-Trump Geraldo Rivera Accused of Sexual Misconduct; Admits to Group Sex with Justin Trudeau’s Mom News
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FBI Agent Investigating Pedophile Ring Is Arrested for Child Sex Crimes
September 4, 2021 Sean Adl-Tabatabai News, US 1 Comment
FBI officer investigating child abuse arrested for child abuse
An FBI agent who oversaw an investigation into a massive pedophile ring was arrested recently for child sex crimes.
Louisiana investigators found evidence that David Harris, 51, had been committing child sex crimes across three states since 2016.
Harris is being charged with one count each of aggravated crimes against nature and indecent behavior with a juvenile in Ascension Parish, Louisiana.
A court heard his case and issued an indictment in August, which referenced two victims under age 17 and sex crimes that occurred in 2016.
Harris is charged with exposing his genitals to two underage girls on multiple occasions. Harris also had an affair with the mother of one of the girls.
A statement was issued by the Louisiana State Patrol to Army Times regarding Harris’s child sex crimes:
“Harris was arrested in Ascension Parish and booked on charges of Aggravated Crimes Against Nature and Indecent Behavior with Children under the age of 13.”
“Upon release from Ascension Parish Jail, Harris will be booked on outstanding warrants in Orleans Parish for Sexual Battery and Attempted 3rd Degree Rape and warrants in East Baton Rouge Parish for Aggravated Crimes Against Nature, Indecent Behavior with Juveniles, Obscenity, and Witness Intimidation.”
More……..
https://newspunch.com/fbi-agent-investigating-pedophile-ring-is-arrested-for-child-sex-crimes/
Texas ‘Fetal Heartbeat’ Weaponizes Civil Courts In Pursuit Of Ctural Grievances
Legal experts have told The Texas Tribune that the measure is part of an emerging trend in Republican-dominated governments that find it difficult to constitutionally prohibit cultural grievances. Instead, they empower civilians to sue for civil remedies.
Jon Michaels, a professor at UCLA Law, points to Tennessee, where students, teachers and employees of public schools can sue schools if they share a bathroom with a transgender person, as well as Florida, where student athletes can sue their school if it allows a transgender athlete to play.
“It’s a way of back-dooring and winking while constitutional violations are occurring,” Michaels said. “It is compromising democracy.”
Texas’ abortion law goes much further. Typically, in tort law, which is used to compensate people who have been injured, a person must have incurred some sort of personal harm in order to sue someone else. That’s the very nature of what a civil court is intended to remedy in such a case, several legal experts told the Tribune. Texas’ new abortion law, however, gives that privilege to anyone.
Edited from:
https://www.texastribune.org/2021/09/03/texas-republican-abortion-civil-lawsuits/amp/
If Johnathan Turley really cared about constitutional law, this is one aspect of the issue he would want to address. Should plaintiffs with no legal standing get their day in court??
Travis Akers
@travisakers
If you refer to my wife, the mother of our child, as a “host body,” we’re stepping outside.
https://twitter.com/travisakers/status/1434217130879246336
In 2019, Republican Florida House Speaker José Oliva repeatedly referred to pregnant women as “host bodies” in an interview with CBS4’s Jim DeFede about abortion.
“It’s a complex issue, because one has to think well, there’s a host body, and that host body has to have a certain amount of rights, because at the end of the day, it is that body that carries this entire other body to term.”
“As technology moves along, a human body can exist outside of its host body earlier and earlier. And so then one has to think, until what time does the host body have veto power over this other life?”
“The only definition of science of life is something that grows: From the moment that conception occurs there begins to be growth. And so scientifically that’s what it is. But that’s not the question. The question is: What is the value of that life? And is it subordinate to the value of its host body?”
Turley Abdicates His Role As Law Professor
Isn’t it odd that Johnathan Turley, a well-known law professor and ‘constitutional scholar’, has yet to express his feelings on how the Supreme Court handled this case from Texas.
The so-called ‘Fetal Heartbeat’ law is going to affect millions of women all around the country as other Red States race to copy the legislation. Yet the Supreme Court handed down its ruling in a single, unsigned paragraph released at midnight. ..How incredibly arrogant..!
No arguments were presented before the court. No justices were allowed to publicly question each side. Just a single, unsigned paragraph issued at midnight. And three fifths of the majority were appointed by a twice impeached one-term president who never won the Popular Vote and attempted a coup to stay in power. ..The optics look terrible..!!
Oh my God, do you even understand that the Court did NOT rule on the merits of the case????
This anonymous recognizes very little. That is why he uses more than one identity. This identity is the smarter one.