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lees1975

(5,147 posts)
Sun Sep 15, 2024, 08:31 PM Sunday

Roberts meddling in Trump cases? According to a British news source, yes.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/supreme-court-leak-exposes-chief-justice-meddling-in-trump-s-cases/ar-AA1qCAbf?ocid=msedgntp&pc=LCTS&cvid=b6c80321f5924e1e97c88afa0d91fd6a&ei=58

And are we surprised?

The Daily Mail online...

Chief Justice John Roberts strong-armed his fellow Supreme Court judges into allowing him the key role in cases involving Donald Trump, leaked memos reveal.

The conservative judge took the lead in March’s case on whether states could remove the former president from their ballots over his role in the January 6 attack on the Capitol.

Roberts demanded a unanimous decision from the bench according to memos leaked to the New York Times.

He also took charge of the case concerning prosecution of the January 6 rioters himself from Justice Samuel Alito after his fellow conservative was embroiled in a row about his wife flying the Stars and Stripes upside down from their home.

This is a breaking story.



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tishaLA

(14,268 posts)
2. This is based on a NYT story
Sun Sep 15, 2024, 08:47 PM
Sunday

There's a thread here that links to it and IMO it's a worthwhile read. It's long but it has so much behind the scenes information from a bunch of sources--a damning inside look at these radical assholes.

lees1975

(5,147 posts)
6. Yes. Unfortunately, or fortunately, I no longer subscribe to the Times and didn't post the link on purpose.
Sun Sep 15, 2024, 09:20 PM
Sunday

Someone else did further down in the thread, which is fine.

BlueKota

(3,007 posts)
3. So frustrated
Sun Sep 15, 2024, 08:54 PM
Sunday

that they get away with this crap. Even if we win the House, the Senate, and the Presidency, their will probably be enough Republicans who will block their impeachment.

onenote

(43,919 posts)
4. Not sure how a SCOTUS justice trying to convince his/her colleagues of an outcome is "meddling"
Sun Sep 15, 2024, 08:56 PM
Sunday

It has always been thus.

LetMyPeopleVote

(151,967 posts)
5. How Roberts Shaped Trump's Supreme Court Winning Streak
Sun Sep 15, 2024, 09:01 PM
Sunday

Here is a NYT article on Roberts' role is the SCOTUS efforts to help re-elect TFG. Roberts actions in these cases are really sickening and show that Robert and the other five conservatives have been actively attempting to help TFG in his legal issues. I have had issues with Roberts since the Shelby County case where Roberts gutted the voting rights act. Robert has now confirmed that he is a partisan hack.

This a NYT article that has some good facts. I think that the facts in this article show that Roberts is a partisan hack. The NYT does not go that far but provides enough facts to show that control of the SCOTUS is a key issue. This immunity ruling needs to be either overturned by adding more justices to the court or with the Presidential Immunity Act which contains a provision divesting SCOTUS with jurisdiction over this issue. The naked partisanship of the SCOTUS needs to be addressed if VP Harris wins and the Democrats have control over the Senate and the House.



https://www.nytimes.com/subscription/onboarding-offer?EXIT_URI=https%253A%252F%252Fwww.nytimes.com%252F2024%252F09%252F15%252Fus%252Fjustice-roberts-trump-supreme-court.html%253Funlocked_article_code%253D1.K04.mC2X.k9K6vnKaQdt6%2526smid%253Dem-share&auth=login-google1tap&campaignId=7JFJX&login=google1tap

Last February, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. sent his eight Supreme Court colleagues a confidential memo that radiated frustration and certainty.

Former President Donald J. Trump, seeking to retake the White House, had made a bold, last-ditch appeal to the justices. He wanted them to block his fast-approaching criminal trial on charges of attempting to overturn the 2020 election, arguing that he was protected by presidential immunity. Whatever move the court made could have lasting consequences for the next election, the scope of presidential power and the court’s own battered reputation......

The chief justice wrote the majority opinions in all three cases, including an unsigned one in March concluding that the former president could not be barred from election ballots in Colorado.

Another case involved a highly unusual switch. In April, the chief justice assigned Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. to write a majority opinion saying that prosecutors had gone too far in bringing obstruction charges against some Capitol rioters. But in late May, the chief justice took it over.

I read the immunity opinion and was shocked at how poorly reasoned such opinion was. This opinion looked like it was written by a non-lawyer like Stephen Miller. Robert's analysis was really weak. I am happy to see that I was not the only lawyer who was truly offended by Roberts' reasoning in the immunity opinion
In his writings on the immunity case, the chief justice seemed confident that his arguments would soar above politics, persuade the public, and stand the test of time. His opinion cited “enduring principles,” quoted Alexander Hamilton’s endorsement of a vigorous presidency, and asserted it would be a mistake to dwell too much on Mr. Trump’s actions. “In a case like this one, focusing on ‘transient results’ may have profound consequences for the separation of powers and for the future of our Republic,” he wrote. “Our perspective must be more farsighted.”

But the public response to the decision, announced in July on the final day of the term, was nothing like what his lofty phrases seemed to anticipate.......

“It’s a strange, sprawling opinion,” said William Baude, a University of Chicago law professor and a former clerk to the chief justice. “It’s hard to tell what exactly it is trying to do.”

Others said the ruling was untethered from the law. “It’s certainly not really tied to the Constitution,” said Stephen R. McAllister, a law professor at University of Kansas and former clerk to Justice Clarence Thomas.

Roberts has shown himself to be a partisan hack. The immunity ruling was really poorly reasoned and has the effect of making the POTUS into a king as noted by Justice Sotomayor
Chief Justice Roberts’s language in the opinion seemed intended to stay above the fray, extending protections to “all occupants of the Oval Office, regardless of politics, policy or party.” But in a withering dissent, Justice Sotomayor wrote that the majority opinion gave Mr. Trump “all the immunity he asked for and more.” It also, she wrote, protected “treasonous acts,” transformed the president into “a king above the law” and ultimately caused her to “fear for our democracy.”

The court’s leader shot back that the liberal justices “strike a tone of chilling doom that is wholly disproportionate to what the court actually does today.”

There at least two proposals pending to undo the immunity ruling that need to be addressed. Roberts proving himself to be a partisan hack makes control of the SCOTUS a key issue this cycle.

lees1975

(5,147 posts)
7. This is why we need to make some changes in the judiciary act to limit the ability of SCOTUS justices to be partisan.
Sun Sep 15, 2024, 10:49 PM
Sunday

This is the kind of thing that would bring down a politician running for re-election. But he can get away with it because he's in for life and there's no way in a partisan divide that Congress would ever impeach him. It should force his resignation, though it won't.

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