Enough legal news to make you forget the pandemic

Events in the U.S. are happening so quickly, it just makes my head spin. Nothing like a little diversion from the raging pandemic. In recent rulings, the Supreme Court filed several decisions that will make some people angry and others happy:

• In Trump v. Vance, the Court ruled that Trump must release his tax returns and financial records to the Manhattan D.A., who is pursuing him for hush money payouts. In the 7-2 decision written bu Chief Justice Roberts, and joined by Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh, the Court held a president is not absolutely immune from state criminal proceedings nor is he or she entitled to a heightened standard of need. Justice Kavanaugh acknowledged, “In our system of government, as this court has often stated, no one is above the law. That principle applies, of course, to a president.”  

• In another 7-2 ruling, the Court held religious schools are exempt from fair employment laws.  Two fifth-grade teachers at Catholic parochial schools in California filed lawsuits. One claimed age discrimination and the other claimed she was terminated when she told the school she had breast cancer and would need time off, a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Justices Sotomayor and Ginsburg dissented.

• In Little Sisters of the Poor Saints Peter and Paul Home v. Pennsylvania, the Court upheld the Trump Administration regulation that allows employers with religious or moral objections to opt of out of birth control coverage. This decision will limit womens’ access to birth control coverage under the Affordable Care Act and could impact over 126,000 women.

• In McGirt v. Oklahoma, the Court ruled in a 5-4 decision that a large chuck of eastern Oklahoma belongs to American Indians. The decision was written by Justice Gorsuch and casts doubt on hundreds of criminal convictions, finding the state cannot pursue criminal cases against American Indian defendants. The decision covers over 3 million acres, including most of Tulsa. 

In other legal news, a federal appeals court ordered the dismissal of Michael Flynn by U.S. District J. Emmett Sullivan. A lot of money was spent on this case, but ultimately Trump probably would have pardoned him anyway. 

Harvard and MIT have filed lawsuits to challege the Trump Administration’s rule that foreign students will lose their student visas and could be deported by ICE if their classes are held online. The University of California has also filed a similar lawsuit, claiming this regulation could affect 27,000 undergraduate international students, and 14,000 graduate students. It will also result in a significant loss of money to the University of California as many of these students pay full tuition. 

At least, Trump can enjoy the fact that he has appointed 200 federal judges, 53 appellate judges, 85% of whom are white and 75% male. What else would you expect? In less than four years, Trump has created a lot of litigation. I would love to know how much our government has spent on legal fees.