Supreme Court End-of-Term Recap: Quite Unpleasant, Didn’t Care For It At All
For a conservative justice, there is no tradition quite like taking away a few more constitutional rights before you head off to the beach.
The date on which the Supreme Court closes out its term varies from year to year, but one thing does not: The justices almost always issue their last opinions before the Fourth of July. They needed a few extra days back in 2020, when the coronavirus pandemic snarled the Court’s usual procedures and forced at least one justice to learn the hard way the importance of muting one’s Zoom microphone before flushing the toilet. Otherwise, though, they are just like everyone else in Washington during this time of year: damp, grumpy, and ready to go to the beach.
With all that in mind, I assumed the Court’s term would end toward the end of next week—July 3, perhaps, which would allow them to sail into the holiday weekend a half-day early. The justices’ announcement earlier this week that they would clear their books of all six remaining cases on Friday, then, caught me a little by surprise. As a general matter, the only thing less pleasant than reading and writing about a Sam Alito opinion is reading and writing about a Sam Alito opinion, and then immediately reading and writing about an Amy Coney Barrett opinion, too.
The Court’s rush to start its summer vacation means that, as you can see below, there was a lot published on Balls & Strikes this week. In the interest of encouraging you to be a good ally and read all of it, I am not going to inundate you with more content here. But the site will continue to cover these cases in the weeks to come—not only by unpacking the dogshit legal reasoning employed by conservative justices rubber-stamping their favorite president’s policy agenda, but by also examining the real-world impact of these decisions on vulnerable people whom the Court has a funny way of omitting from its trenchant analysis.
In the meantime, if you are at Rehoboth this weekend, and John Roberts sees you packing up to leave the beach and asks if he can have your spot, please unfurl your towel, unfold your chairs, and tell him that you are saving it for someone else.
As always, you can find everything we publish at ballsandstrikes.org, or follow us on Bluesky at @ballsandstrikes.org. You can get in touch by emailing us at contact@ballsandstrikes.org. Thanks for reading.
This Week In Balls & Strikes
The Republican Justices Are Simply Doing What the Republican President Asks, Jay Willis
The official position of the Roberts Court in Trump v. CASA is that presidents are sometimes allowed to break the law, but only if they are Republicans.
For Sam Alito, No Task Is More Important Than Empowering His Fellow Bigots, Jay Willis
In Mahmoud v. Taylor, six conservative Christian justices decided that the First Amendment gives conservative Christian parents veto power over public school curriculum they don’t like.
The Supreme Court Is Helping Republicans Win Their War On Planned Parenthood, Madiba Dennie
The Court’s opinion in Medina v. Planned Parenthood South Atlantic is awful not only for Medicaid patients, but also for millions of other people whose legal rights just got less safe.
Democrats Showed Up For Emil Bove’s Hearing. Republicans Didn’t Care, JP Collins
Emil Bove is a Trump loyalist. That’s all Republican lawmakers need
Ed Artau Knew Exactly What He Was Doing, Jay Willis
Trump views judicial nominations as prizes to dole out to his political allies. Ambitious Republican lawyers are making sure he notices their efforts.
The Supreme Court Is Giving Lower Court Judges No Reason to Listen to It, Madiba Dennie
The White House keeps asking for permission to break the law. The justices keep giving it.
Clarence Thomas Is Only Annoyed By Docket Manipulation When He’s Not Ending Your Right to Abortion Care, Susan Rinkunas
In a recent opinion joined by Amy Coney Barrett, Thomas expressed irritation at a party for trying to change the question presented in a case. For some reason, in Dobbs, he had no such concerns.
Emil Bove Is Everything Trump Wants In a Federal Judge, Jay Willis
A whistleblower report alleges that during his time at the Justice Department, Third Circuit nominee Emil Bove suggested telling a federal judge “fuck you” in response to a court order he did not like.
A Law Student’s Award-Winning White Nationalist Paper Holds Up a Mirror to the Conservative Legal Movement, Madiba Dennie
One minute, you’re a Trump judge carrying on about the importance of “history and tradition.” The next, you’re giving a gold star to a law school paper arguing that the Constitution is only for white people.
This Week In Other Stuff We Appreciated
The Triumph of the American Moron, Peter Shamshiri, String In a Maze
“Thomas’s world is one where reality barely exists.”
The United States Is About to Embark on a Terrifying Experiment In Mass Statelessness, Matt Watkins, Slate
“For the child born this summer in Texas, whose parents receive no documents, whose name never appears in any system, and who grows up asking why she can’t go on field trips, apply for scholarships, or open a bank account, the consequences are not legal theory. They are her life.”
This Week In Obscure Photos of Supreme Court Justices On Getty AP Images
You disappoint us radically.