Tag Archives: Clarence Thomas

Trump Can’t Do Everything Himself, so He Nominated Neomi Rao to Help Him

Monday, 18 December 2017 10:01

This article was published by The McAlvany Intelligence Advisor on Monday, December 18, 2017:

Who? Up until Thursday, few had ever heard of Neomi Rao. Looking into her background, fewer still would have predicted the role she is playing in helping President Donald Trump keep one of his most important campaign promises.

After graduating from Yale University with “highest distinction” in ethics, economics, and philosophy, she attended the University of Chicago Law School where she received her Juris Doctor degree. She was comment editor of the school’s law review and also executive editor for the Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy.

But she never drank from the cup of regulatory Kool-Aid. Instead she went on to clerk for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and from there to serve as a staffer on the Senate Judiciary Committee. In 2012, she received tenure from George Mason University’s Antonin Scalia Law School where she founded the Center for the Study of the Administrative State.

In other words, until Thursday, Rao was invisible.

But when Trump nominated her in April to his Office of Management and Budget with the mind-bending title of Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Jonathan Adler took notice.

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Anti-gunners’ Victory Celebration in Peruta v. San Diego Likely to be Short-lived

Thursday, 29 June 2017 05:43

This article was published by The McAlvany Intelligence Advisor on Wednesday, June 28, 2017:

Embed from Getty Images

In one of the more inane and nonsensical effusions of rejoicing over the Supreme Court’s decision on Monday to let stand a lower court’s anti-gun decision, California’s Attorney General Xavier Becerra sullied his credibility and those of similar view with this:

[It’s] welcome news for California and gun safety everywhere. It leaves in place an important and common-sense firearm regulation, one that promotes public safety, respects 2nd Amendment rights and values the judgments of sheriffs and police chiefs throughout the state on what works best for their communities.

This packs more misstatements, half-truths and just plain damnable lies into one paragraph than has been seen in recent years. By disarming its citizens, California has virtually guaranteed an increase in violent crime, especially gun violence. The onerous restrictions on the Second Amendment applied to law-abiding citizens fail to respect it but instead do serious if not fatal damage to it. And as far as judgments by local sheriffs and police officers as to the applicability of the Second Amendment to its citizens, one needs only to bring to mind the history of tyrants operating without restraint.

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Supreme Court Again Refuses to Settle Second Amendment Issue

Wednesday, 28 June 2017 05:34

This article appeared online at TheNewAmerican.com on Tuesday, June 27, 2017:

English: Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Associate Justic...

Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the oldest member on the court.

By refusing to consider Peruta v. San Diego on appeal on Monday, the Supreme Court once again sidestepped an opportunity to clarify the Second Amendment issue of carrying a firearm outside the home. That issue has remained open since the court’s decisions in Heller and McDonald, dating back to 2008 and 2010, respectively. Those cases didn’t clarify whether the right guaranteed in the Second Amendment extends to public places, and anti-gun states such as California have rushed in with state laws that virtually prohibit the exercise of rights guaranteed by that amendment.

That was the problem faced by Edward Peruta back in 2009.

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NRA Mourns Death of Conservative Civil Rights Activist Roy Innis

Tuesday, 17 January 2017 06:46

This article appeared online at TheNewAmerican.com on Monday, January 16, 2017:

Last week, The National Rifle Association (NRA) mourned the death of civil rights activist, NRA life member, and former NRA board member Roy Innis (shown), stating, “For the NRA, his departure was personal. Mr. Innis served on the NRA’s Board of Directors for nearly 25 years and was a friend to many within the organization. For the nation at large, he was a champion of freedom who exemplified the courage of a man who follows his own convictions.”

A fiery advocate of black nationalism during the 1960s, Innis changed his views after

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The Supreme Court is Already Strongly Opposed to the Second Amendment

Thursday, 30 June 2016 05:15

This article was published by The McAlvany Intelligence Advisor on Wednesday, June 29, 2016:

English: The United States Supreme Court, the ...

The United States Supreme Court, the highest court in the United States, in 2010. Top row (left to right): Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor, Associate Justice Stephen G. Breyer, Associate Justice Samuel A. Alito, and Associate Justice Elena Kagan. Bottom row (left to right): Associate Justice Clarence Thomas, Associate Justice Antonin Scalia, Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Associate Justice Anthony Kennedy, and Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

One needn’t be reminded of how close the Supreme Court rulings were in McDonald and Heller (both decided 5-4) to appreciate just how tentative the court’s support is of the Second Amendment. Most however are likely to think that the current court’s makeup is essentially a standoff: 4 supporting and 4 opposed.

The ruling handed down on Monday in Voisine et al v. United States should disabuse any such perception. The court’s present position is closer to 6- or 7-1 opposed.

On the surface it’s an obscure case,

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Supreme Court Decides Domestic Abusers Can Lose Their Gun Rights

Wednesday, 29 June 2016 05:19

This article appeared online at TheNewAmerican.com on Tuesday, June 28, 2016:

English: Clarence Thomas, Associate Justice of...

Clarence Thomas, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States

On Monday the Supreme Court handed down a ruling, 6-2, that people convicted of domestic abuse can lose their Second Amendment rights to keep and bear arms. The only justice who even seemed to care about that was Justice Clarence Thomas, who dissented. Sonia Sotomayor also dissented, for different reasons.

Two Maine residents were convicted under state law — similar to laws in 33 other states — a decade ago of committing domestic violence. When it later turned out that they owned firearms, they were charged

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Three Liberal Justices Dissent in Supreme Court Fourth Amendment Ruling

Thursday, 23 June 2016 04:45

This article was published by The McAlvany Intelligence Advisor on Wednesday, June 22, 2016:

English: The United States Supreme Court, the ...

The United States Supreme Court, the highest court in the United States, in 2010.

Supreme Court Justices Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor, and Ruth Bader Ginsburg dissented inUtah v. Strieff, a decision that was announced by the court on Monday. On the surface the decision appeared to allow an unconstitutional expansion of police powers.

In a case dating back to 2006, a narcotics detective in Salt Lake City was watching a suspected drug house. He noticed a man leaving the house and the detective stopped him, demanding to know what he was doing in the house. In the process he demanded his identification, which he forwarded to his dispatcher to run through the police database. When he learned that the man had an outstanding warrant for a traffic violation, the detective, Douglas Fackrell, arrested Edward Strieff, searched him, and found various drug-related paraphernalia.

Strieff moved to suppress the damning evidence, claiming

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Justice Sotomayor Attacks Supreme Court Majority in Fourth Amendment Decision

Wednesday, 22 June 2016 04:34

This article appeared online at TheNewAmerican.com on Tuesday, June 21, 2016:

English: Sonia Sotomayor, U.S. Supreme Court j...

Sonia Sotomayor, U.S. Supreme Court justice

On Monday the U.S. Supreme Court overturned a lower court’s ruling in Utah v. Strieff that an illegal stop that uncovered evidence of criminal activity excluded that evidence from being used against the defendant.

There was no question that it was an illegal stop. In 2006, a police officer, after surveilling potential drug activity in a private home in Salt Lake City, stopped an individual exiting the house and asked him what he was doing there. He demanded his identification, and when the information was relayed to his police dispatcher, he learned that the defendant, Edward Strieff, had an outstanding warrant for a traffic violation.

That permitted the narcotics detective, Douglas Fackrell, to

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Supreme Court Rejects Challenge to Gun Restrictions

Wednesday, 09 December 2015 06:43

This article appeared online at TheNewAmerican.com on Tuesday, December 8, 2015:

View image | gettyimages.com

With Monday’s refusal by the Supreme Court to hear on appeal Friedman v. City of Highland Park, Illinois, the Second Amendment has, by default, suffered a grievous blow.

After the New Town, Connecticut, shooting, the Highland Park city council, following a contentious public debate, enacted a law banning possession of semi-automatic “assault rifles” similar to the one used at Sandy Hook Elementary School. It also banned possession of “high-capacity” magazines (those containing more than 10 rounds). Law-abiding citizens owning them were instantly — and now, apparently permanently — turned into criminals unless they could get rid of the now-illegal items within 60 days, as they would face either fines or jail.

Appeals by Dr. Arie Friedman and the National Rifle Association (NRA), along with those of 24 states’ attorneys general, were turned back

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Latest Supreme Court Decision Already Impacting Prayers in Public Places

Wednesday, 07 May 2014 10:33

East Carolina University

East Carolina University (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

This article first appeared at The McAlvany Intelligence Advisor on Wednesday, May 7, 2014:

On Thursday, May 1, an associate chemistry professor sent out his guidelines to his chemistry majors to use during their speeches upon graduation: 35 words max, and no mention of God. Here’s this from his email sent to his students at East Carolina University:

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The Supreme Court’s Docket is Full of Cases that could Endanger Liberty

Wednesday, 09 October 2013 14:08

This article first appeared at The McAlvany Intelligence Advisor on Wednesday, October 9th, 2013:

The potential for liberty’s shrinkage during the Supreme Court’s session that began on Monday is significant, with some exceptions. The cases on the docket range all across the spectrum:

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Supreme Court’s Docket Full of Potential Mischief

Tuesday, 08 October 2013 12:06

As the Supreme Court opens its review of pending cases this week, there is substantial risk of constitutional mischief in many of them. The court will be ruling on

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Unanimous Supreme Court Ruling on Human Genes is a Split Decision

Friday, 14 June 2013 11:27

On Thursday the Supreme Court ruled unanimously that patents on human genes are now void, while the successful creation of synthetic genes may continue to be patented. Both sides of the lawsuit celebrated victory. Mike Adams of Natural News exclaimed: “Sanity prevails: human genes are not eligible for patent protection!” while the ACLU declared: “Victory! Supreme Court Decides Our Genes Belong to Us!”

On the other hand, Myriad Genetics, Inc., the biotechnology company that holds dozens of patents on human genes, wrote:

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White House Shifts Legal Gears as ObamaCare Heads to Supreme Court

Wednesday, 21 March 2012 11:17

The pressure of the continuing countdown to Monday, March 26, when the Supreme Court takes on the challenge to ObamaCare, has forced legal advisors to the White House to change their strategy in hopes of successfully rebuffing it and preserving the Obama administration’s key legislative victory signed into law in March, 2010.

It’s all about the mandate and whether it can be sustained by claiming justification for it under a generous reading of the Commerce Clause (Article 1, Section 8, Clause 3) in the Constitution. Without that mandate, the administration claims that the rest of the law would necessarily fail due to its excessive costs. The Congressional Budget Office just reported that those costs would be double what the Obama administration touted in its cram-down of the law two years ago. And another CBO study said that, if implemented, millions of citizens—between 3 million and 20 million—would actually lose their present coverage, while public polls continue to show declining support for the whole idea of the federal government’s virtual takeover of the country’s health delivery system.

An ABC News/Washington Post poll taken in January showed that most of those polled think that ObamaCare, if implemented, will cost jobs, hurt the economy, and cost more than projected. Last week’s poll from the same source showed that two-thirds of those polled “say the U.S. Supreme Court should throw out either the individual mandate…or the law in its entirety.” According to the pollsters, “[T]he law has never earned majority support in ABC/Post polls—and this update…finds a strong sense its critics are dominating the debate. Seventy percent of Americans report hearing mainly negative things about the law…”

Another measure of the intensity surrounding the pending Supreme Court hearings (a record six hours are scheduled over three days next week) is the number of “amicus” or “friend of the court” briefs that have been submitted by parties who are interested in influencing the outcome of a lawsuit but who are not parties to it. Reuters reported that 136 briefs have been filed with the court (a stack about two feet high), a third more than

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WikiLeaks: More Evidence of Monsanto’s Bullying and Influence-Buying

Monday, 16 January 2012 04:50

The latest revelations from WikiLeaks confirm Monsanto’s continuing efforts to influence governments worldwide to rule in its favor and punish those who won’t.

A cable written in 2007 and released recently by WikiLeaks confirmed the company’s important influence at the very highest levels of the U.S. government. Authored by Craig Stapleton, a friend and business partner of then-president George Bush, the cable outlined a response to resistance from various members of the European Union to adopting GM (genetically modified) crops. At issue specifically was France’s move to ban Monsanto’s GM corn variety:

Country team Paris [Stapleton’s code name] recommends that we calibrate a target retaliation list that causes some pain across the EU since this [resistance] is a collective responsibility, but that also focuses in part on the worst culprits. [Emphasis added.]

The list should be measured rather than vicious and must be sustainable over the long term, since we should not expect an early victory. Moving to retaliation will make clear that the current path [of resistance to the adoption of GM crops] has real costs to EU interests and could help strengthen European pro-biotech [pro-GM] voices.

Other leaked cables documented attempts to influence the Pope himself, who was resistant to

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The Supreme Court Gets it Right on the First Amendment

Saturday, 14 January 2012 04:07

Calling it the “most significant religious liberty decision in two decades,” the New York Times announced the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold the “ministerial exception” whereby churches and other religious organizations are exempt from governmental interference in their hiring and firing practices.

In a unanimous 9-0 decision, the Court said that churches have an overriding “interest…in choosing who will preach their beliefs, teach their faith and carry out their mission.”

The case started when a teacher at a Lutheran school in Redford, Michigan was fired for threatening to sue the school over an alleged discrimination violation. Cheryl Perich was diagnosed with narcolepsy and took a leave of absence. When she tried to return, she learned that the school had hired someone else to take her place. When she threatened a lawsuit under the Americans with Disabilities Act, she was fired for

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