r/politics • u/TimesandSundayTimes ✔ Verified • 6d ago
Supreme Court ‘playing politics’ by delaying Trump immunity ruling Paywall
https://www.thetimes.com/world/us-world/article/supreme-court-decision-trump-ruling-95f8k9cmf646
u/crocodial 6d ago
Playing authoritarianism. This is not politics, it is a power grab.
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u/Budded Colorado 6d ago
100%... but... I've also heard some legal experts speculating that even with the delays, Trump could be starting the court process in the Fall, keeping him in court right at the run-up to the election. Pure speculation, but I like the spiciness.
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u/TeutonJon78 America 6d ago
I read the judge would give them 90 days post ruling before the trial which assuming we get a ruling this week meant the trial could start early October.
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u/SacamanoRobert 6d ago
She offered 88 days because she was acting in good faith. Trump has not being acting in good faith in return, and she doesn't have to grant those 88 days. He's had those days and then some at this point.
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u/Pgreenawalt Texas 5d ago
Isn’t 88 important to nazis? Too lazy and don’t want to search for nazi shit.
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u/SarcasticCowbell New York 5d ago
Yes, 88 is essentially a stand-in for "HH" (H is the eighth letter), which they use as an abbreviation for "Heil, Hitler". They will also use the numbers 14 and 88 together, as 14 stands for a fourteen word sentence used by white supremacists. These are the kinds of things more people need to be aware of. Between that and the vexillology of white nationalists/supremacists, there are a lot of subtle winks members of those communities will make to identify themselves as such to other white nationalists. A lot of people are ignorant to these people and their ways. They say neo-nazis are a fringe element to be ignored, or "it can't happen here." But a lot of people out there make their discreet pledges to it based on what flag they fly, or what numbers they wear, or what words they use. Some of them even sit on the nation's highest court. And, wouldn't you know it, one of the major ways in which Nazis ascended to power was leveraging the courts to their advantage, much like a certain political party here has been doing.
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u/jimmysleftbrain 5d ago
Well, that’s discouraging
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u/IPDDoE Florida 5d ago
I don't think an Obama appointee would be considering the Nazi ties to the number.
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u/SarcasticCowbell New York 5d ago
I didn't mean to suggest it was, I was simply answering someone's question about 88 and it's significance to white supremacists.
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u/eugene20 5d ago
Did she really give that number ? that was never in good faith. What possible reason other than dog whistling could that number have been settled on.
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u/IPDDoE Florida 5d ago
She was appointed by Obama, and previously declared he was not immune from prosecution. E. Jean Carroll was awarded 88 million dollars, is that a dog whistle? This appears to be coincidence.
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u/eugene20 5d ago
E. Jean carroll was not awarded that figure in any individual verdict.
May 9, 2023 the jury awarded Carroll a total of $5 million in damages from Trump
January 26, 2024, the jury deliberated for three hours and awarded Carroll $7.3 million in emotional damages, $11 million in reputation-related damages, and $65 million in punitive damages, totaling $83.3 million
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u/IPDDoE Florida 5d ago
That's my point. First off, it doesn't matter if it is one number or several numbers added together. If we're going to be all tinfoily, we could easily assume the Jan 26th jury knew about the 5 million figure and so their number was intended to add up to 88. Of course that's bullshit i know, but without the context you provided, someone could see the 88 number and think it was deliberate, when in fact, unless you can show other MAGA or white supremacist tendencies, we should chalk it up to coincidence unless we have good reason to believe otherwise. And since she's previously ruled against trump, I'm going to assume she wasn't signaling her love for Hitler.
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u/SacamanoRobert 5d ago
She is most certainly not dog whistling. Lol. What is that person even talking about?! Judge Chutkan is not in the Trump (or nazi) Fan Club. AT ALL.
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u/nibbles200 6d ago
We aren’t getting a ruling this week.
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u/TeutonJon78 America 6d ago
June is usually the end of the term and they give rulings on Thu and Fri, so if they don't give a ruling, that will be a big event in its own right.
But I agree that I wouldn't be surprised if they delay it somehow.
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u/uncle-brucie 6d ago
Alito still hiding on the toilet
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u/Far_Presentation2532 5d ago
More likely he is in the final stages of negotiating his payment with diaper don
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u/AccomplishedBrain309 5d ago
He is in the out house using the flag to try to wipe the bad taste out of his mouth from his trump oral debriefings.
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u/StonedGhoster 6d ago
If anything, I think that they'll issue it tomorrow before the debate. Everyone is focused on the debate. But I'd also not be a bit surprised if they punted it further.
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u/Budded Colorado 5d ago
Nope, I read this morning that Roberts announced they're coming back into session this week, when this session is supposed to end. They'll drag this out as long as they can to fellate Trump. The silver lining is that it shows even the unplugged from politics type how corrupt and dangerous SCROTUS is now.
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u/One-Distribution-626 5d ago
The trial I would like to see, after the Jan 6 insurrection and election fraud electors, is the stop the steal fraud fundraising off the lie. He has harmed every us citizen and the world for generations. He deserves prison at the least, his whole cadre
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u/ManWOneRedShoe 5d ago
If Nixon had to resign from office, then Trump shouldn’t even be a viable candidate the second time around.
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u/Brief_Amicus_Curiae 5d ago
He resigned because he was made aware if he didn’t resign that the Senate would convict and impeach. The Senate acquitted him twice so that argument doesn’t really apply.
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u/Budded Colorado 5d ago
Yup, just shows how far we've fallen as a society and democracy. I remember when Howard Dean was laughed out of the race after his, "yeaayaaaa!!" scream after winning a primary. That's all it took for his campaign to completely collapse and him to tuck his tail and bow out. Now anything goes and nothing matters -at least if you have that Almighty (R) next to your name.
Now we have a literal rapist, insurrectionist with 34 felonies and counting running, and he has a 50/50 chance of winning and killing everything. It's literally over if he wins again.
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5d ago
Considering how untouchable and powerful THEY are, it seems like they wouldn't want to grant anyone more power to deal with their wrongheaded asses, but... a couple camps, lower taxes, women not allowed to wear pants and Jesus will bless this great nation once more or something. Fucking puritans.
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u/crocodial 5d ago
The majority is driven by a vision and a conservative with unitary executive power brings us closer to that vision.
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u/DrNickRiviera8000 6d ago
Man the SC has done a horrible job handling this. Between the Trump immunity case and overturning Roe, I don’t see how it doesn’t result in significant SC reform over the next 10-20 years. Term limits, ethics codes, limits to what they can and can’t overturn. It’s basically 6 idiots not realizing they’re going to make the court everything they don’t want it to be due to their corruption and partisanship
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u/cassius1213 Virginia 6d ago
They don't intend for their opposition to ever be in a position to engage in court reform, because they don't intend for their opposition to ever again hold political power.
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u/jkvincent 6d ago
This is correct. GOP on the whole has been making blatant end-game moves for the last 8 years. They do it openly because they intend to win by any means necessary and the consequences won't matter once they seize control and remove all legal/political mechanisms for remedy.
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6d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/somethingsomethingbe 5d ago
If that happens life as we ever knew or enjoyed is over though. China and Russia would make huge moves as soon as we start to fight among are selves. Then good luck getting meds, food, parts for things we need or break down.
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u/webslingrrr 5d ago
and why do you suppose Russia has been helping them do it? probably exactly this...
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u/DrNickRiviera8000 6d ago
I agree but I think what they don’t realize is that every law or precedent they blatantly ignore, the easier it will be for future justices or legislators to do the same thing.
They can rule however they want but they’re so far beyond public feeling on the topics that eventually they will be replaced and those who replace them will overturn everything this court has done.
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u/cassius1213 Virginia 6d ago
You make excellent points, but I feel like the major thrust of my statement's being lost.
More explicitly, the Republican justices don't care if their actions would inflame a future Democratic Congress or liberal Court majority to action, because they and their partisan allies are working to ensure that neither one of those ever comes to pass.
As for public sentiment, that same coalition is working to ensure that even overwhelming popular support for their political opponents will never translate into actual political power.
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u/NeverLookBothWays I voted 6d ago
This. They’re banking on Democracy having died during Trump’s term. They absolutely positively f**ked over the nation…permanently. In a game over fashion. We are just not all realizing that yet. I do not see an easy way out.
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u/DrNickRiviera8000 6d ago
Those are definitely legit concerns but I just can’t foresee them winning. Maybe I’m foolishly optimistic and it’s extremely important to vote but I’m trying to stay optimistic
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u/debrabuck 6d ago
Mike Johnson and other Republicans, including the SCOTUS, stand ready to enact Project 2025....
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u/SociallyAwarePiano 5d ago edited 5d ago
Stay optimistic, but don't get complacent. Optimism is a light to keep the world from going too dark, but you should use that light to see clearly, not to blind yourself.
I get it though. I have to unplug fairly regularly because it's tough to not feel a little broken about the state of the country. My advice is just as much for me as it is for you.
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u/mostdope28 5d ago
Republicans senate will never allow a D president to seat a SCOTUS justice again either. They’ll keep the bench empty instead
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u/TeamHope4 6d ago
If America keeps electing GOP into office, no, we won't get any court reform, ever.
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u/Amon7777 6d ago
The safest and smartest play was just not to take the case and leave the lower court’s ruling in place. If trump won in November they could revisit and if not they won’t look like the corrupt kangaroo court they are.
Just stupidity and naked authoritarianism at play.
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u/smigglesworth District Of Columbia 6d ago
You’re looking at it all wrong.
According to conservative organizations, they are doing a wonderful job.
If liberals can’t convalesce around Biden, it’s going to get a whole lot worse.
Vote. Get any and every friend to vote. Let’s all hope that we don’t have to take the most desperate choice to physically fight for our Union.
In the meantime, best to ready ourselves for an aggressive and unethical GOP.
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u/Moneygrowsontrees 5d ago
convalesce around Biden
Heh, what a terribly inconvenient typo. I believe you meant coalesce (come together) rather than convalesce (recover from illness).
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u/rollem Virginia 6d ago
All the the problems have been from one side of the court, so it's going to take a large Dem majority in the Senate, plus the House and Potus, to get any reform through. Also- I believe term limits would require an amendment, but maybe (???) some sort of ethics rules could be a federal law. Hard to say. Impeachment maybe be the most likely way out of it, but I think that is still quite unlikely.
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u/webslingrrr 5d ago
anything requiring the senate is pretty much DOA.
It was a good idea in theory, but ultimately became a poison pill for this nation.
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u/Thornescape 5d ago
All the Supreme Court needs to do is help Project 2025 happen. After that, all of the rules change.
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u/mostdope28 5d ago
They’ll all be dead long before any sort of reform happens. They’re playing to “win now”.
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u/starsky1984 5d ago
Until there is 75% one party rule in the senate, which has to obviously be democrats, which I also don't see happening in the next 20 years (though granted things have obviously changed a ton in the last 20 years), I don't see how any of the reforms you have speculated on will come to pass
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u/Cyclotrom California 5d ago
Except that those 6 "idiots" know they won't have to personally pay any price, whatever reform may happen, IF it happens would be somebody's else problem
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u/Ender505 5d ago
I don’t see how it doesn’t result in significant SC reform over the next 10-20 years. Term limits, ethics codes, limits to what they can and can’t overturn
Frankly, I think this is wildly optimistic. When is the last time government overreach resulted in sensible reforms?
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u/DrNickRiviera8000 5d ago
New deal?
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u/Ender505 5d ago
Was the new deal a response to government overreach? Or was it simply an economic reform bill? What powers of government were limited and reformed in the new deal?
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u/AllNaturalOintment 6d ago
In their defense, it takes time to craft the wording so Trump has immunity without making Biden a King.
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u/der_innkeeper 6d ago
Biden winning in 2020 is literally the only reason we are here.
Had trump won again, all this would have been a fait accompli.
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u/moss_nyc 6d ago
Yup as we faced into the SC approved 3rd term, no election needed, year of the Trump dictatorship
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u/Prestigious_Treat401 6d ago
No that's not it. They're waiting. If Biden wins, then of course there's no immunity. If Trump wins, they will wait till January 20 to grant him absolute immunity as he's sworn in.
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u/WerewolfMans__ 5d ago
Presidents have immunity for official acts, we leave it up to lower courts to spend months- years figuring out what that means, see you all next year around this time
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u/Iread-itagain 6d ago edited 6d ago
Just give them each a hoodie and they'd all look like Palpatine.
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u/Frosty-Banana3050 6d ago
Fuckin Nazis
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u/SubterrelProspector Arizona 6d ago
Remember back in WWII when we defeated fascism with polite conversation? Me neither.
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u/wanawachee 6d ago
I mean, say what you want about the tenants of National Socialism, at least it's an ethos.
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u/Frosty-Banana3050 5d ago
Did you mean “tenets”? Also why try to use big words to sound smart and sympathize with Nazis? We’s a doin a scalpins cousin
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u/LuchaLutra 6d ago
Those three assholes, dead center. While there are three others that are just as bad, it's those three at the heart of all this. Corrupt to the core.
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u/Lostsailor73 6d ago
The Supreme Court is the key cog in our illiberal democracy. This is right on brand. Not only is it delayed, but somehow the insane legal word salad Trumps attorneys put forward will not be defeated unanimously. Somehow Alito and Qlarence will find a way to dissent, and it will add a sliver of legitimacy to the fires of idiocy.
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u/getoffmeyoutwo 6d ago edited 6d ago
Unrelated but totally related, that time Trump requested a list of America's top spies for reasons and everyone was like ok this must be normal I mean it's the president who's doing it so it must be normal...
White House Asks for List of Top Spies During Intelligence Shakeup | Aug. 02, 2019
It’s unclear what the White House will do with the list. People on it may be eligible to temporarily lead the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.
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u/Meatgortex California 6d ago
It later became clear what the White House did with that...
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/05/us/politics/cia-informants-killed-captured.html
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u/inquisitive_guy_0_1 I voted 6d ago
Damn, we need to keep talking about this. I had completely forgotten about this story. This combined with the fact that we apparently lost a shitload of agents and assets in the field in the time frame shortly after this.
All the evidence is pointing toward TFG being a traitor to our nation.
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u/shelter_king35 6d ago
Members of the Supreme Court are obstructing justices. The fbi should investigate private communications and charge them.
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u/blackmobius 6d ago
Its obvious they are delaying so that in the event he wins that they can just dismiss and be done with it.
But if he loses then what the gop wants to do with trump determines his fate. If hes blamed for the losses and they feel hes done his damage, the delays end, the trial moves on, he likely goes to jail and they wash their hands of him.
If hes still useful as a pawn or something then they might try to capitalize on his aging by claiming his dementia should excuse him from punishment. Or try to dismiss on some technicality. So he can continue to whip up the voters even if he isnt worthy of candidacy anymore
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u/SpangleDam2 6d ago
This "Supreme Court" is no more than a corrupt Christo-fascist gang of right wing haters taking bribes and ruling without a shred of intellectual honesty.
Our Supreme Court is for sale and on the take.
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u/Shirowoh 6d ago
Of course they are, that’s the point, this is what the federalist society wants. Under his eye…
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u/Milestailsprowe 6d ago
This is a HIGHLY scary thing because giving him immunity will lead to a end of democracy.
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u/UselessInsight 6d ago
They know.
What are you going to do about it? Impeach them?
Alito and Thomas could beat a child to death on a live broadcast of Fox and Friends and you wouldn’t be able to find 15 GOP senators to vote to remove them from the bench.
You’d have Rand Paul on the Senate Floor giving a speech on how we don’t know what that child did to provoke the Justices or how we shouldn’t end the storied careers of two respected jurists over the life of one child who nobody will miss anyway.
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u/Stinkstinkerton 6d ago
The insanity of the games these fraud judges are playing with regards to Trump is utterly astounding. Trump by every definition is a clear a present danger to America. What the actual fuck are these clowns doing ?!!
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u/New-Dealer5801 6d ago
If you think that this is bad, wait until after the election that’s going to be contested! You will see the true coolers of the Supreme Court!
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u/Quirky-Molasses1061 6d ago
2 part far fetched explanation. trumps going to back out of the debate tomorrow, and then the scotus is going to release, or probably leak, the immunity ruling.
The ruling will be 5-4. The three minority justices joined by Roberts. Roberts has been pushing behind the scenes for a compromise decision but couldn’t move the other conservatives. They will rule something crazy town like if the president sees a top secret document it’s entwined with his being and his memory and the document becomes one in the same and since the govt can’t regulate the presidents access to his memory they can’t deny him access to the documents themselves.
It’ll be that level of bat shit crazy. But I hope this is nuts and could never happen.
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u/Zealousideal-Fan3033 5d ago
The immunity question they are ruling on is not about the documents … it’s the insurrection case
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u/AccomplishedBrain309 5d ago
This should be a shot across the bow for all voters. Is our justice system for sale along with our polititians or is our democracy strong enough to squash this coup. Surely a bunch of criminals feeding disinformation funded by right wing buissness leaders cannt be the strongest path for our republic to take. Can women show up in force to demand their rights or is their fate at the hands of psycopaths and religious zealots. Scotus certainly wont protect us theyre the most partizan in history and openly reject admission of many obvious ethics violations.
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u/throwaway20181024 5d ago
The majority of that Just Us League should be serving time for corruption.
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u/TheGloriousEnd 5d ago
The irony that we’re here in large part because Ruth B. Ginsberg refused to step down from the bench. Much like the wealtiest and most powerful contigent in this country refuses to cede even the most minor concessions for the betterment of the nation, so too did she far past her peak only to completely soil a legacy built on so much sacrifice.
Vanity and need to maintain relevance and personal identity is a hell of a reason to stain ones name. There’s a Spiderman quote in here somewhere and Pepperidge Farm remembers.
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u/pirate_property 6d ago
If the courts can delay justice, the people should delay the election. Voting before the verdicts is uninformed.
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u/OK-NO-YEAH 5d ago
They’d LOVE that. They don’t want us voting. The people should vote against the GOP from the top to the bottom of the ballot.
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u/pirate_property 5d ago
Except the Biden administration would remain until the cases are finished and it would foreshorten the next term.
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u/OK-NO-YEAH 5d ago
If Biden loses, the next term won’t end, so it won’t matter. We should not give them ammunition. That’s exactly what they want.
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u/pirate_property 5d ago
Well, there’s that, too. Leaves us with ‘put him on the ballot and vote him down - again’. But you usually have to kill monsters three times. So tiring.
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u/Tasty-Introduction24 6d ago
Lets just make sure he is not immune at the ballot box..then the rest can take care of itself....
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u/B0b_a_feet America 6d ago
They’ll wait until it most benefits Trump to release their ruling. I’d bet on Thursday morning so that Trump can use that in the debate.
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u/MrFC1000 6d ago
I’m dying to see how they will spin this in a way that is not a complete smack down of the concept, but instead will leave it open ended enough for another crack at this which won’t happen until after the election. I suspect they will lean on something about what defines presidential duties.
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u/Writer10 Virginia 6d ago
They’ll literally do a press release about it as they’re walking out for their break.
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u/skeeredstiff 6d ago
The SC ruled on the Nixon Watergate tapes in 54 days after an emergency request by special prosecutor Leon Jaworski.
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u/taekee 6d ago
But they were considered a legitimate court, this has become a joke of a court. They can even now accept bribes after a ruling.
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u/Ferret_Faama 5d ago
Please don't spread misinformation, that wasn't what the ruling was about at all. They can accept gratuity the same way any working class person would expect for good service, which is obviously completely different.
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u/stuartgatzo 6d ago
Hoping they release the ruling that he’s not immune at about 7:30 tomorrow evening
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u/anxrelif 6d ago
Very rare historical events recently. Rights are being restricted and protectionism is being deployed. Then obvious ultra right wing intersections
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u/JoeyBello13 6d ago
Surprise surprise - the two tiered justice system rears its ugly head again. Do we really have justice if it only applies to the rest of us?
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u/Ramblinrambles 5d ago
We don’t have kings. This is a pretty easy case to decide.
Though if you say they can do anything, I guess Biden can do whatever he likes
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u/MrBMcLachlan 5d ago
The decision will come out this Friday to detract any attention from the debate. Trump loses debate, SC decision will take up the news cycle. Biden wins the debate, SC decision takes up the news cycle. Trump kinda wins either way.
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u/Large_Celebration_83 5d ago
They are waiting for the next election results…if Trump wins, he pardons himself and shuts down all the court cases against him, Supreme Court rule no immunity for presidents…if Biden wins no one will care about Trump anymore and so he will be thrown to the dogs..Supreme Court is not under pressure to save him…they just won’t make a ruling now because they know they cannot give a president immunity but they don’t won’t to anger the base…
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u/weaponjae 6d ago
You mean to tell me the Supreme Court is playing politics?? Thank you, yes, I do have ears and eyes.
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u/Smart_Atmosphere7677 5d ago
I wonder how all these judges on trumps side going to act after Trump loses election?
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u/ScurvyDervish 5d ago
We should have protested more vigorously when they handed the keys to the country to that dunce warmonger George W Bush. At this point, there’s a long tradition of playing politics.
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u/SwingWide625 5d ago
The corrupt political components of scrotus are paving the way for insurrection ll. Cult members of scrotus are coming out. Will take a blue wave this election to correct these problems.
Reminds me of one of my favorite movies, the pelican brief.
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u/temporarycreature Oklahoma 5d ago
They have to delay it because if they rule favorably for Trump, it potentially will be in favor of the current sitting president which will give him a mandate, or that's what they fear.
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u/mealsonw 6d ago
If this statement were true, then it would that SCOTUS is no longer a Real/True Court!! And Congressional Court of Inquiry must be conveniened. Senate Sub Committee Inquiry Held and Standing Justices must recuse themselves immediately to avoid the impropriety of guilt, bribery or any other criminal activity in the face of public scrutiny!!!... .YA RIGHTTT WHEN HADES FREEZES OVER AND GOODMEN AWAKEN FROM THE LAND OF KNOD!! WHERE'S THE CIVIL UPRISING???
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u/NotThatAngel 5d ago edited 5d ago
Speaking of immunity, if one Supreme Court Justice shoots all of the conservative justices, and then the remaining justices rule the judge who shot them has immunity, well you know where I'm going with this.
edit: I'm being downvoted, presumably because you think I'm recommending this. Any reasonable person would realize the SCOTUS minority would never do this. But bear in mind the majority is deciding this very issue with the immunity of Trump.
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u/Sufficient_Meal4378 6d ago
This election I am voting for the man who is a true American patriot. Not the sleepy old fool with dementia.
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