I am back to reading the news and blogging about it. Yesterday the Supreme Court just announced its decisions on many of the cases that it heard this term. The media for the most part is reporting this the way they would talk about two rival football teams – who won a few yards, who scored a touchdown, whose quarterback got sacked, what are the ‘rebuild’ plans for next season, etc. There is little in the press about whether these rulings are helpful or harmful to Americans. Even ChatGPT chose to summarize the cases in terms of whether Trump won or lost. The news should be about whether Americans won or lost, not just our President.

So here goes my personal view, with my comments about each of the most significant cases.

The Court decided that Birthright citizenship is still a thing. Good. Duh. This is so clearly spelled out in the 14th amendment that even a fourth grader would have to agree, and the Supreme Court has already ruled for it in the past. I don’t have any idea why this Trump pet peeve got this far, other than that he is hoping that it would hurt people whose skin is not white enough for him, and his supporters have rallied to his cause. If overturned, it would have hurt millions of families, and quite badly. And yet it barely passed with four of the nine justices ruling to cancel the 14th amendment. (Justice Kavanaugh technically concurred with the majority, but wrote in his own opinion that the Constitutional part was wrong, but he would agree with a majority interpretation of a Congressional law.)

Immigrants who are here legally awaiting a court procedure under Congress’ Temporary Protected Status Act have been stripped of their rights under the law to continue to pursue permanent residency. They are now subject to deportation to countries they fled from because they were being abused, threatened with death, or otherwise harmed. This will separate families who have been working hard to realize the American dream, paying taxes, and generally contributing to the America that we all love. Some Republicans realized at the last minute that many of these people are health care workers, but this insight came to them too late to change the ruling and save their own moms from understaffed nursing homes and hospitals.

In a related ruling, Border Patrol agents are now allowed to reject asylum seekers while they are standing in front of the border, still technically in Mexico, but while the immigrants are following all the laws and regulations that are supposed to allow people to come here from places where their lives are threatened. This one, which is contrary to Congressional immigration law, will not have as much impact because Border Patrol agents were already doing this. IMHO, that shouldn’t make it ok.

The President can’t fire a Congressionally appointed independent Fed board member, but he can randomly (and illegally) fire without cause other independent board members whose chartering language from Congress is nearly identical. This says that the majority is doing the bidding of the fearless leader regardless of the law, but drew the line (barely) at one specific independent board, specifically the one that operates our central bank.

There is now no limit to the amount of money that can be used to corrupt Federal elections. I am dumbfounded by this ruling. You can now donate as much as you want to a PAC, which can give it legally and openly to any person running for Federal office. The identity of the donor does not have to be disclosed. How can this be ok?

States are now allowed to ban transgender students from playing on school athletic teams. This endorses a Republican fear tactic that hurts people who have not harmed them, and it hurts children who are already struggling. The Court did not impose a national ban, but upheld the rights of states to enforce them within their own borders. About half the states currently impose some sort of ban on transgender children’s athletics, so the upshot is that children with the medical condition of gender dysphoria are only allowed to live in half the country. Let’s not forget Matthew 25:40 “Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.” (KJV)

Melania Trump had this to say about the ruling: “As many of you may know, I fully support the LGBTQIA+ community.  But we must also ensure that our female athletes are protected and respected.” I am at a loss to understand how this represents ‘full support of the LGBTQIA+ community’. It’s like saying “I fully support protecting homeowners from criminals and vandals, but we need to make it legal for arsonists to burn down more houses, as they are just doing what they think is right.”

The Voting Rights Act was further compromised. It is now even more difficult to challenge a state law on elections; this case was focused on Southern states’ efforts to redraw voting districts so that disfavored minorities lose their representation in Congress. Our President has been pushing for this ruling because if he loses control of his office and of Congress, he will probably go to jail. Gerrymandering of election districts is very bad – it hurts American’s ability to be represented by their Government, and leads to corruption and tyranny. I don’t have to look far to understand how this works, since my Congressional Representative is ignoring me after being gerrymandered into a semi-permanent one-party office.

We are now in a race to the bottom where Republican and Democratic legislatures are competing to find out who can draw the most corrupt voting district boundaries. This practice started with Southern Republicans who wanted to disenfranchise Black people, but our current President has poured gasoline on the fire. Democrats are now saying that they have to “fight fire with fire.”

Mail-in ballots continue to be ok, and can be counted after election day as long as they are postmarked on or before that day. Why was this a case? The Constitution is clear on this point, that elections are conducted by the states who have sole authority to determine how they should be conducted, not the Federal government. Ask any fourth grader. Evidently, our Fearless Leader believes that because Democrats tend to vote by mail more often, that making these votes illegal will cause his votes to be favored. Which is cheating, essentially. He could have decided to get more votes by doing things that people want to vote for, but no. And by the way, his understanding of how this rule will favor his votes is delusional.

It is now illegal for owners of a business in Hawaii to exclude customers who are carrying a gun into the store. This will endanger people in Hawaii, who have long been protected from weapon-wielding fellow shoppers. There is a tradition of this protection in the state, going back to when Hawaii was a sovereign kingdom. Hawaii also has strict regulations about who can own a gun. This is a case where ‘states rights’ are paramount unless the state wants to assert a right that the Republicans disagree with. Recall that the Second Amendment has been dramatically twisted from its original meaning; it was written as a way to resolve a dispute over whether each of the thirteen original colonies (now states) should have the authority to train and equip its own standing army. The states were concerned about Federal over-reach regarding mustering an army, and nothing to do with individual gun rights, which everyone at the time took for granted.

The President cannot impose tariffs using the authority of the International Emergency Economic Powers (IEEP) Act. This decision (announced in February) reversed the tariffs imposed by executive fiat on virtually every country that the US does business with, based on the balance of traded goods between us and them, but which imposed a minimum of a 10% tariff. A lot of money had already been collected under this edict which the court said should be returned, but it is entirely unclear how the refunds can possibly take place. These tariffs served primarily to alienate our trading partners, who have begun to partner with “enemy” nations for their trade instead of with us. This has hurt American farmers and businesses who were selling goods abroad, and who lost their customers. All for nothing. Worse than nothing, because the Federal Government will be tempted to compensate businesses (like farmers) with our tax dollars for these administration-induced losses.

Stepping back, we now seem to be looking to the Supreme Court instead of to Congress to make and to refine our laws. This is wrong. It leads to gaming of the Supreme Court membership, and disenfranchises voters who, per the Constitution, are supposed to elect members to Congress in order to draft Federal laws. It is not a coincidence that Article 1 of the Constitution – the first one – is about the authority of Congress. Not the President. Not the Courts.

If you agree, then let your members of Congress know how you feel. They need to take back the authority granted them in the Constitution.