Live blog of opinions - Monday, July 6, 2020
We live-blogged on Monday, July 6, as the court released opinions in Chiafalo v. Washington and Barr v. American Association of Political Consultants. SCOTUSblog is sponsored by Casetext: making litigation more efficient with A.I. and machine learning technology.
3rd & 7 37yd
3rd & 7 37yd
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Thomas agrees with the result, but disagrees with the idea that the states' power derives from Article II of the Constitution. "In my view," he writes, "the Constitution is silent on States' authority to bind electors in voting. I would resolve this case by simply recognizing that '[a]ll powers that the Constitution neither delegates to the Federal Government nor prohibits to the States are controlled by the people of each State.'"
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Speaking of Hamilton . . . "Alexander Hamilton secured his place on
the Broadway stage—but possibly in the cemetery too—by
lobbying Federalists in the House to tip the election to Jefferson, whom he loathed but viewed as less of an existential
threat to the Republic." Kagan with another pop culture reference. -
My quick read here, is that states can mandate who their electors vote for - and can punish an elector for disregarding that mandate. But I don't see anything that says a state can *stop* an elector from disregarding the mandate. So an elector can still be faithless if s/he's willing to accept the punishment?
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Okay, folks, I am signing off now to get to work on my story on the faithless electors. Thanks so much to everyone who joined us -- from all over the globe! -- today. We appreciate your being here and the expertise that you bring to this party. I'd hoped that if I hung on for a few more minutes we might get word about the next opinion day, but no dice. As soon as we hear anything, we'll tweet and put up an editor's note on SCOTUSblog. Until then, take care and stay well.
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Thanks so much for joining, everyone. Coverage of today's opinions is coming from Amy and Professor Amanda Shanor. Five decisions to go: two regarding subpoenas for the president's tax returns and other financial records, two regarding the religion clauses and one on whether much of eastern Oklahoma is a Native American reservation. No word yet on whether we'll have one last opinion day or more, but we'll let you know as soon as we hear, and will be back to live blog as usual. Stay safe!