I think Congressman Jordan said it best – “Dobbs is a win for life, a win for the Constitution and common sense.” There was widespread consensus, not only from conservatives but also from liberal scholars, that the 50 year old Roe v. Wade was wrongly decided. Even the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg criticized Roe as “heavy-handed judicial intervention” that wrongly halted a political process.
The Justices faced a number of obstacles in issuing this decision. First, the leaked draft opinion, then the protests outside their homes and in their neighborhoods and finally the assassination attempt on Justice Kavanaugh.
Then in another win for the Constitution, in the case of the New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen, the Supreme Court of the United States held that “New York’s proper-cause requirement violates the Fourteenth Amendment by preventing law-abiding citizens with ordinary self-defense needs from exercising their Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms in public for self-defense.”
“We know of no other constitutional rights that an individual may exercise only after demonstrating to government officers some special need,” Justice Clarence Thomas noted in the majority opinion. “That is not how the First Amendment works when it comes to unpopular speech or the free exercise of religion. It is not how the Sixth Amendment works when it comes to a defendant’s right to confront the witnesses against him. And it is not how the Second Amendment works when it comes to public carry for self-defense.”
Unfortunately, the New York legislature quickly introduced and passed a bill, and Gov. Hochul signed the bill on July 1, requiring concealed carry permit applicants to provide
1) current and former social media accounts from the last three years for review by the licensing officer – to weight the applicants “character and conduct.
2)At least 16 hours of in-person firearms safety training and at least two hours of training at a firing range to prove shooting proficiency
3)In person interview with the licensing officer and provide the names and contact information of their spouse or domestic partner, any other adults they live with and whether children are in the home…and four character references
4)A state database tracking ammunition sales to license holders buying certain kinds of ammunition
5)Private businesses will be presumed to be gun-free zones unless their owners say otherwise.
I predict there will be another lawsuit filed quickly.
And then the third win – In a 6-3 decision, the Supreme Court ruled in West Virginia v. EPA that the independent administrative agency does not possess the unilateral rule-making authority to implement emissions limits on existing power plants.
The Supreme Court issued two rulings relating to religion and publicly-funded education. The court ruled 6-3 that a Maine program that provides tuition assistance for students to attend private high schools must grant that assistance to religious schools as well.
The Supreme Court ruled in favor of former high school football coach Joseph Kennedy, who was suspended then not rehired after leading postgame prayers on the 50-yard line.
“The Constitution and the best of our traditions counsel mutual respect and tolerance, not censorship and suppression, for religious and nonreligious views alike,” Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote for the majority.
Kudos to President Trump for nominating three outstanding Supreme Court Justices, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett. Justices who abide by their oath to administer justice without respect to persons, do equal right to the poor and to the rich, faithfully and impartially discharge and perform all duties under the Constitution and laws of the United States and to support and defend the Constitution of the United States. True Constitutional Justices!
