#robertscourt — Public Fediverse posts

Supreme Court's 37 Conservative Judges Vote to Preserve Sperm Rights - Remaining 6 Moderate Judges Dissent
.
#2050BreakingNews
#HashtagGames
#RobertsCourt

RE: https://masto.nyc/@GetMisch/117430099884484666

Hey NYC, see you at the #NoKings marches/ rallies!
>11am = Battery Park
>1pm = Moynihan Station
>2pm = Washingnton Square Park
I'll be the one wearing an ICE = Our GESTAPO sign and carrying a Target Loves Ice sign.
#BoycottTarget #march #peaceful #protest #rally #vote #voting #rights #voter #intimidation #polling #stations #NationalGuard #military #ConstitutionalCrisis #RussianAsset #OurPutin #PresidentMusk #EverybodyHatesElon #fascist #USA #GOP #KKK #DEI #DHS #ICE #SCOTUS #corrupt #RobertsCourt

https://www.europesays.com/people/244928/ We Can’t Blame the Supreme Court for Congress’s Problems #BrownVBoardOfEducation #Congress #DaphnaRenan #JohnRoberts #NikolasBowie #RobertsCourt #RoeVWade #RuthBaderGinsburg #TheSupremeCourt

A Fitting End for Trump’s Gaudy Ballroom

Donald Trump is going to get his gaudy ballroom. But with a little imagination, a Democratic president could…
#UnitedStates #US #USA #Communitycenters #congress #historicalpreservation #ObamaPresidentialCenter #presidentialimmunity #richardnixon #RobertsCourt #trump #Trumpballroom
https://www.europesays.com/3230538/

https://www.europesays.com/3230538/ A Fitting End for Trump’s Gaudy Ballroom #CommunityCenters #congress #HistoricalPreservation #ObamaPresidentialCenter #PresidentialImmunity #RichardNixon #RobertsCourt #trump #TrumpBallroom

He is quite progressive. Hard to challenge him from the left.
Where do you land on term limits? I'm against them, I think there are good civil servants.
The real problem is closed primaries, no proportional representation, plus we need a federal law against gerrymandering.
Passing the Democracy for All amendment would end Citizens United; that's long game.
#fascist #USA #GOP #KKK #expand #SCOTUS #kangaroo #RobertsCourt #money #speech #captured #SupremeCourt #ExpandSCOTUS
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/in-massachusetts-u-s-senate-race-challenger-moulton-says-markey-80-is-too-old-for-another-term-young-democrats-are-divided

Typical #SCOTUS:
1. When there's obvious harm to minority voters: "Oh, we have to wait, there's no harm yet"
2. When there's potential preservation of minority voting rights, but some white supremacist claims victim: "Oh, we have to hurry, allow states to use discriminatory maps!"
3. When there's obvious overreach plus baseless complaints over the other side cheating: "Oh, it's too soon to let states stop what Dear Leader wants to do!"
#partisan #RobertsCourt #GOP #KKK
https://apnews.com/article/trump-mail-voting-supreme-court-157afc3c195ce0a62c522da5ce904b04

https://www.europesays.com/people/200290/ The Roberts Court: Poised to Bless the Trump Ballroom #BillBarr #CongressPowerOfThePurse #DanCaine #JayClayton #JohnRoberts #RobertsCourt #ToddBlanche #TrumpBallroom #WhiteHouse

https://www.europesays.com/people/182332/ Alabama ruling demolishes John Roberts’ claim that justices aren’t ‘political actors’ #Alabama #Callais #ChiefJusticeJohnRoberts #JohnRoberts #JusticeElenaKagan #JusticeSoniaSotomayor #PoliticalActors #RobertsCourt #SupremeCourt #TrumpAppointees

Using crack left open by #RobertsCourt, Trump restarts battle to evict Fed Governor #LisaCook https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/07/business/trump-lisa-cook-fed.html?unlocked_article_code=1.3lA.N9W2.EVHyGYyWfhRs&smid=nytcore-ios-share

POPCORN TIME next Tue Jul 14
>First time SCotUS judges to #testify before #Congress in forever
Supposedly about #federal #judicial #budget request, but
>the mic's open for questions...
[ #Kagan, #ConeyBarrett to testify.]
[Remember when #Senator #DickDurbin called #Roberts and he said Nope, I'm above the #law(?) We remember.]
#fascist #USA #bought #captured #SCotUS #SupremeCourt #RobertsCourt #billionaire #playground #ethics #violations #bribed #UncleThomas #HarlanCrow
https://rollcall.com/2026/07/07/justices-to-face-congress-after-contentious-court-rulings/

The crew at Strict Scrutiny did their usual excellent analysis of the 2025-26 Roberts Court term which you can find at https://www.listennotes.com/podcasts/strict-scrutiny/surveying-the-wreckage-of-hwPnpjOmclZ/.

If that's too long & dense for you, then the now annual parallel episode on Why Is This Happening with Chris Hayes, that they fondly refer to as the annual conjugal pod, does an equally excellent review in an hour which you can find at https://www.listennotes.com/podcasts/why-is-this/strict-scrutiny-x-withpod-urC9cDgfsZ2/.

One or the other is a must listen...

#RobertsCourt

https://www.europesays.com/people/143017/ JOHN YOO: The left’s Supreme Court panic collapses under the weight of the facts #ChiefJusticeJohnRoberts #ConservativeJustices #DonaldTrump #JohnRoberts #KamalaHarris #PresidentialRace #RobertsCourt #SupremeCourt

https://www.europesays.com/people/?p=139258 The Roberts Court and the Disappearing Congress #ElenaKagan #ExecutiveAuthority #ExecutivePower #FederalReserve #Humphrey'sExecutor #JohnRoberts #MajorQuestionsDoctrine #RobertsCourt #TrumpVSlaughter #TrumpVCook

#RobertsCourt #ExtremistSCOTUS #AntiDemocracy

RE: https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:k4jt6heuiamymgi46yeuxtpt/post/3mplhrmhw7k2x

>To say that birthright won 5-4 makes it look better than it is.

>Of his SCotUS six, they voted 4-2 against the Constitution.

>The *first judges in the country* to side with Stephen Miller's fever dream, are on the Supreme Court of the USA(!)
Alito Gorsuch Thomas Kavanaugh

[Partly paraphrasing Grudgie the Whale here.]
#fascist #SCOTUS #USA #KangarooCourt #SupremeCourt #RobertsCourt #Alito #Gorsuch #Kavanaugh #captured #supreme #court #judge #jury #constitution #originalist #UncleThomas

“Matthew Sheffield
‪@matthew.flux.community‬

🧵 Extremism researchers have been shouting the larger point behind this for decades, but Democratic, media, & corporate elites couldn't fathom the possibility--and so they refused to humble themselves and learn.

#SCOTUS was the latent threat that the founders saw. Progress is safest when it's voted.”

#JohnRoberts #RobertsCourt #Constitution #Republicans #Fascism

https://bsky.app/profile/matthew.flux.community/post/3mpjtkxe7ls2u

1. Children born on U.S. soil are U.S. citizens (Thomas/ Alito/ Gorsuch dissent, Kavanaugh on fence)
2. Corporations can own politicians, w/ unlimited donations
3. The small handful of trans women who are competing college-level w/ hopes for professional careers, are singled out & shamed by the pious bigots
#KangarooCourt #RobertsCourt #UncleThomas #SCotUS #captured #SupremeCourt #judge #jury #nacho #supreme #court #summer #recess #safe #Constitution #fascist #USA #GOP
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2026/06/30/supreme-court-decisions-rulings-birthright-citizenship--live/90740949007/

#SCotUS is so rotten and partisan, the talking heads are saying "At least it makes the pre-writes easier"
Meaning when they're writing the articles about cases we know the #SupremeCourt agreed to hear and are waiting for a #verdict, the court's fascist-leaning #judgements are easily predictable.
#welcome to #your #dystopian #present #RobertsCourt #KangarooCourt #UncleThomas #fasicst #USA #GOP #KKK #WhiteSupremacy #ChristoFascism #judge #jury #snowflake #victims of #religious #persecution #LOLs

#Trump #robertscourt #SCOTUS #executivepower

Next step to an “imperial Presidency”? https://lyldenlawnews.com/2026/06/28/next-step-to-an-imperial-presidency/

https://www.europesays.com/people/130890/ The Roberts Court closes the courthouse door — and the border #ClarenceThomas #JohnRoberts #KetanjiBrownJackson #RobertsCourt #rulings #SamuelAlito #SoniaSotomayor #TheSupremeCourt

On this day in 1892, Homer Plessy, a free-born "octoroon" (one-eighth black), agreed to be arrested for riding in the whites only car, New Orleans to Covington LA.
It would lead to one of the worst #SupremeCourt decisions in history, Plessy v. Ferguson 1896, which legitimized "separate but equal" & ushered in the #JimCrow era.
Of course, the #RobertsCourt recently said "hold my beer" w the Callais decision...
#compromised #SCotUS #crowned #king #OurPutin #DEI #GOP #KKK
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plessy_v._Ferguson

https://www.europesays.com/people/65912/ The Supreme Court’s Path To Killing The Voting Rights Act Is Paved With ******** #Callais #ChiefJusticeJohnRoberts #CongressionalDistrict #JohnRoberts #JusticeSamuelAlito #Louisiana #MajorityOpinion #RacialGerrymander #Republicans #RobertsCourt #VotingRightsAct

FOR YEARS, SCotUS would force black & brown people to vote in unfair systems because it was too close to an election.
NOW, SCotUS sees their fav fascists about to lose this election, and they not only HALT AN ELECTION IN PROGRESS but they tell LA, others, go ahead, we won't stop you, hurry (to stop the whites from losing)!
And he has the gall to claim they're not policital?
#RobertsCourt #DredScott #Callais #decision #supreme #kangaroo #court #JohnRoberts #fascist #USA #Alito #flag #DEI

https://www.europesays.com/people/64031/ John Roberts’ effort to gut the Voting Rights Act is complete #1965VotingRightsAct #ChiefJusticeJohnRoberts #ConservativeJustices #Discrimination #IntentionalDiscrimination #JohnRoberts #JusticeElenaKagan #Louisiana #MajorityOpinion #RaceDiscrimination #RobertsCourt #RonaldReagan #SamuelAlito #TheSupremeCourt #VotingPower

Just to be clear: The recent Supreme Court decision gutting what remained of the VRA (Voting Rights Act) says that when states protect voting rights of black people, that's discriminatory against white people.
But when white people use the same process to deny blacks their vote, that's completely legal.
In case his hypocrisy was not in full view. Just to be clear.
#SCOTUS #crowned #King #POTUS #RobertsCourt #kangaroo #supreme #court #JohnRoberts #SupremeCourt #ExpandTheCourt #VRA #DEI

RE: https://mastodon.social/@heidilifeldman/116519999064276706

DO NOT MISS THIS.
*ALL* OF THIS.
AND YES I AM IN FACT SHOUTING.

#MustRead all of this @heidilifeldman thread.

#Law #Racism #Misogyny #Patriarchy #WhiteSupremacy #Judiciary #RuleOfLaw #Fascism #SCOTUS #RobertsCourt #Alito #ImpeachAndRemove #ExpandTheCourt

>The Supreme Court *PERMITS the race-conscious* travel ban.
_The Supreme Court *BANS race-conscious* university admissions, to remedy inequality.
>The Supreme Court *PERMITS race-conscious* ICE policing, deportation.
_The Supreme Court *BANS race-conscious* mapmaking, to prevent voter dilution.
...that sounds about white.
#fascist #USA #ExpandTheCourt #captured #kangaroo #SCotUS #GOP #KKK #RobertsCourt #JohnRoberts #UncleThomas #SupremeCourt #crowned #king #OurPutin #AnotherOrban #gerrymander

LA yesterday, AL today. They're asking the #SupremeCourt to help them; they will.
They are literally admitting, their party plans to prevent brown people from getting #elected or from #voting.
If #Congress does not act, this will be generational. The GOP could control the House for decades.
#fascist #USA #kangaroo #SCotUS #crowned a #King #OurPutin #AnotherOrban #GOP #KKK #DEI #diversity #equity #inclusion #Calais #decision #RobertsCourt #JohnRoberts #UncleThomas
https://www.al.com/politics/2026/04/alabama-asks-us-supreme-court-to-allow-it-to-redistrict-congressional-maps.html

RE: https://mastodon.social/@QasimRashid/116489299784659411

Today the Roberts Court spits on graves of hundreds of thousands who died for the idea that black people are people.
The Civil War really was a thing.
But Uncle #ClarenceThomas won't be happy until he can't vote.
#JohnRoberts #RobertsCourt #SCOTUS #crowned #King #OurPutin #VotingRightsAct #VRA #GOP #KKK #DEI #fascist #USA #Constitution #Alito #Kavanaugh #ComeyBarrett #Gorsuch #SupremeCourt #voting #civil #rights

Wednesday Reads: Everything is Awful and Stupid.

Good Day!!

I’ve been getting more sleep than usual lately, but my chronic insomnia kicked in last night. I got almost no sleep. I’m really not ready to face another day with Trump and his antics, but I’ll do the best I can.

This news just broke from the Supreme Court:

The Washington Post (gift link): Supreme Court limits key provision of the landmark Voting Rights Act.

The Supreme Court on Wednesday sharply weakened a key provision of the landmark Voting Rights Act, a ruling that limits the consideration of race in drawing voting maps and could usher in Republican gains in the House.

The decision could touch off a scramble by Republicans to redraw minority-majority districts, especially in the South. New districts could shiftthe balance of power in Congress by imperiling the reelection prospects of some Black Democrats, possibly as soon as November’s midterms in some instances.

Samuel Alito (with Neil Gorsuch in the background on the left.)

The ruling also carries significant symbolic weight, effectively scaling backthe last major pillar of a 60-year-old law long considered one of the marquee achievements of the civil rights era. The Voting Rights Act bans discriminatory voting practices such as literacy tests and poll taxes, and has helped greatly increase minority representation in state and federal offices.

The ruling also carries significant symbolic weight, effectively scaling backthe last major pillar of a 60-year-old law long considered one of the marquee achievements of the civil rights era. The Voting Rights Act bans discriminatory voting practices such as literacy tests and poll taxes, and has helped greatly increase minority representation in state and federal offices.

In an ideologically divided 6-3 ruling, the conservative justices created a higher bar for the law’s powerful provision that allows states to use race to draw maps that help minority communities elect candidates of their choice. Section 2, as it is known, is aimed at combating discriminatory gerrymandering that weakens the power of Black, Latino, Native American and Asian voters.

States must walk a careful line when drawing maps for voting districts. The Voting Rights Act directsstates to consider race to some degreewhen redistricting to ensure that racial minority groups have an opportunity to elect representatives who reflect their priorities. Maps explicitly drawn along racial lines, however, violate the equal-protection clause of the 14th Amendment and the 15th Amendment’s ban on racial discrimination in voting practices.

Specifically:

The court’s conservative majority found Louisiana unlawfully discriminated by race when it created a second majority-Black congressional district to comply with the VRA. Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. wrote the opinion for the majority.

“Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act … was designed to enforce the Constitution — not collide with it,” Alito wrote. “Unfortunately, lower courts have sometimes applied this Court’s [Section] 2 precedents in a way that forces States to engage in the very race-based discrimination that the Constitution forbids.”

The decision came over the sharp objections of the court’s three liberals. Justice Elena Kagan delivered the dissent from the bench, signaling strong disagreement.

“Under the Court’s new view of Section 2, a State can, without legal consequence, systematically dilute minority citizens’ voting power,” Kagan wrote in the dissent.

Kate Riga at Talking Points Memo: Alito Pens Decision That ‘Eviscerates’ The Voting Rights Act.

The Roberts Court finally achieved its years-long goal of killing the Voting Rights Act Wednesday, publishing a ruling that, the liberal justices say, will make proving racial discrimination in redistricting virtually impossible.

“Under the Court’s new view of Section 2, a State can, without legal consequence, systematically dilute minority citizens’ voting power,” wrote Justice Elena Kagan in her dissent.

“Of course, the majority does not announce today’s holding that way. Its opinion is understated, even antiseptic,” she continued. “The majority claims only to be “updat[ing]” our Section 2 law, as though through a few technical tweaks. But in fact, those ‘updates’ eviscerate the law…”

Justice Samuel Alito wrote the majority opinion, joined by all five other justices inthe bench’s right wing. Kagan was joined in her dissent by Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson. Justice Clarence Thomas also wrote a concurrence joined by Justice Neil Gorsuch.

Alito defangs the law by unilaterally cancelling out congressional fixes to it — primarily, that plaintiffs bringing claims of racial vote dilution no longer have to prove that the legislators drawing the maps did so to purposefully discriminate. This bar had proved so difficult to overcome, especially as legislators became more adept at using facially neutral language, that Congress adopted amendments to the VRA asserting that if the maps have a discriminatory effect, that’s enough. Chief Justice John Roberts, then working in the Reagan administration, spearheaded the unsuccessful effort to doom the passage of those amendments.

Alito hand waves this history away, in part, by echoing Roberts’ reasoning in an earlier decision that eviscerated the VRA’s preclearance requirement, which required jurisdictions with histories of racial discrimination in voting to submit changes in election laws to the federal government for clearance before they could take effect. Roberts, in Shelby County v. Holder, said that the country had made such great strides in racial equality that the preventative measure was no longer necessary — ushering in a flood of new voter restrictions, particularly in the states that comprised the old Confederacy.

Read the rest at TPM.

Trump has insomnia too, it seems. He posted an idiotic message to Iran at an ungodly hour:

Trump posted this insanity at 4 in the morning

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) 2026-04-29T13:17:33.611Z

He is such an embarrassment! Of course the corporate media report this as if it’s perfectly normal. Here’s the latest on the Iran situation:

NBC News: Trump warns Iran ‘better get smart soon’ as he weighs military options over Strait of Hormuz.

President Donald Trump warned Iran “better get smart soon” Wednesday, as he weighed military options for the Strait of Hormuz with peace talks at an impasse.

Members of Trump’s national security team presented him with multiple options this week for how to handle the continuing bottleneck in the strait after negotiations failed to reopen the critical waterway, a U.S. official and a person familiar with the meeting told NBC News.

The standoff between Washington and Tehran, including the continued U.S. naval blockade, means the key trade route has been effectively blocked for two months.

The threat of prolonged disruption to the global economy has sent energy prices soaring — gas price averages in the U.S. reached $4.23 a gallon,the highest level in nearly four years, while the international benchmark price for oil, Brent crude, surged to $115 a barrel early Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Iran’s national rial currency hit a record low against the dollar, as Tehran’s economy also showed growing signs of strain.

The options discussed during Monday’s meeting in the Situation Room included whether the U.S. military presence in the strait should change — either increase or decrease — and whether the military should become more aggressive in conducting operations there, the U.S. official said.

Trump has not made any decisions about the way forward, the sources said, and it’s not clear when he might make a decision.

They don’t even note that the warning from Trump came in an idiotic Truth Social post until paragraph 11!

Trump and other top administration officials met with a group of energy industry executives on Tuesday, discussing possible next steps in continuing the blockade of Iran’s ports “for months if needed” and how to minimize impacts on American consumers, a White House official told NBC News.

The meeting was hosted by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent included executives from Chevron, Trafi, Vitol and Mecuria, among other companies.

The U.S. showed little immediate enthusiasm for a new Iranian proposal that would end the war and reopen the strait without resolving the impasse over the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program — a key stumbling block in the stalled peace talks.

There’s quite a bit more information at the link.

Raw Story: Trump quietly telling insiders to prepare for ‘extended’ blockade of Iran: report.

President Donald Trump is quietly telling administration insiders to prepare for an “extended” blockade of Iran as negotiations to end the war with the regime drag on.

On Tuesday, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing “U.S. officials,” that Trump has told his aides that the blockade of Iran will continue, as the two sides remain far apart on Trump’s stated goal of getting the regime to give up its nuclear arms capabilities altogether. The report followed a meeting in the Situation Room on Monday, where Trump administration officials reviewed an offer to end the war from the Iranian regime that included reopening the Strait of Hormuz in exchange for delaying talks about nuclear weapons.

The report also suggests that Trump appears to be digging in and trying to tighten the screws on Iran’s economy.

“In recent meetings, including a Monday discussion in the Situation Room, Trump opted to continue squeezing Iran’s economy and oil exports by preventing shipping to and from its ports,” according to the report. “He assessed that his other options—resume bombing or walk away from the conflict—carried more risk than maintaining the blockade, officials said.”

“Yet continuing the blockade also prolongs a conflict that has driven up gas prices, hurt Trump’s poll numbers and further darkened Republicans’ prospects in the midterm elections,” it continued. “It has also caused the lowest number of transits through the Strait of Hormuz since the war began.”

In other Middle East news, the UAE is leaving OPEC. AP: The UAE’s departure from OPEC shakes up the alliance that influences oil prices worldwide.

The decision by the United Arab Emirates to leave the OPEC oil cartel shook up the 65-year-old alliance that produces some 40% of the world’s crude oil and exerts major influence over the price of energy around the globe.

OPEC countries

The UAE said in the announcement Tuesday that when it leaves OPEC this Friday, it plans to carry on with its long-held goal of increasing crude production “in a gradual and measured manner, aligned with demand and market conditions.”

Right now, that’s academic as far as oil prices go, since Iran is still blocking the Strait of Hormuz, which means much of the oil from Persian Gulf producers such as the UAE cannot be exported. But the departure could have long-term effects on oil prices….

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries was formed in Baghdad in September 1960 by Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela. It has 12 members — counting the UAE — that hold more than 80% of the world’s proven oil reserves. Other members are Algeria, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Libya, Nigeria and the Republic of the Congo….

The group, headquartered in Vienna, aims to regulate oil prices by coordinating increases or decreases in production.

The goal has been to keep prices high enough so member governments can balance their budgets and reap the benefits of their natural resources — but not so high as to cause a recession in consuming countries or to halt energy-consuming activity, a phenomenon known as demand destruction.

Trump has really screwed us and the rest of the world with his illegal Iran war. Analysis by Andrew Roth at The Guardian: Trump in tough spot as he tries to avoid deal that highlights US failures in Iran.

Donald Trump is learning first-hand about the perils of mission creep.

The US-Israel war in Iran has just passed its eighth week – twice as long as the president predicted it would take when US warplanes launched their joint attack with Israeli forces to decapitate the Iranian leadership and paralyse its military. The military attacks were successful. The predictions about the political cause-and-effect to follow were not.

Iran has survived the initial strikes and remains defiant, closing the strait of Hormuz in a move that has blocked off a fifth of the global oil trade. The US has responded with its own blockade to lock in Iranian oil, inflicting losses of an estimated $500m daily on Tehran and threatening the country’s long-term energy production – but negotiations have stalled and it is not clear if the White House is willing to withstand the pain of a sustained economic war or the risk of a military operation to open the strait.

“This has gone from being a war of choice to a war of necessity,” said Aaron David Miller, an analyst at the Carnegie Endowment and a former US diplomat and Middle East negotiator.

The war had transformed from a conflict involving Iran, the US and Israel to a “global economic crisis which shows no signs of abating”. Just this week, petrol prices in the US approached a four-year high, and they are expected to continue to rise before a crucial midterm election that could allow the Democrats to retake congress.

“The status quo is not tolerable … there has to be a fix to it,” Miller said. “It strikes me that the administration is in a very tough spot.”

But the solution remains elusive. One option would be to negotiate a temporary reopening of the strait of Hormuz but to delay nuclear talks on the fate of the more than 400kg of highly enriched uranium (HEU) – as well as the country’s right to enrich uranium in the future.

Read the rest at The Guardian.

Yesterday the “Justice” Department indicted James Comey for the second time. The indictment is unbelievably stupid. He is accused of threatening to assassinate Trump because he posted on social media a photo of some seashells spelling “86 47.”

This Comey indictment should be in Comic Sans

— Tim Dickinson (@timdickinson.bsky.social) 2026-04-28T21:09:18.050Z

Attorney Ken White AKA Popehat wrote about it at The Popehat Report: The Comey Threat Indictment Is A Grave Embarrassment To The United States Department of Justice And The Rule of Law.

I wrote up the Comey indictment.https://www.popehat.com/p/the-comey-…

— 8647 Hat (@kenwhite.bsky.social) 2026-04-28T21:37:00.166Z

On April 28, 2026, the United States Department of Justice indicted former FBI Director James Comey over a mildly sassy arrangement of seashells. The charge is preposterous and no competent or honest prosecutor would bring it. It represents a betrayal of the professional and ethical obligations of every U.S. Department of Justice attorney involved, and reflects the complete collapse of the Department’s credibility and independence in favor of a cultish and cretinous devotion to Donald Trump.

The indictment concerns James Comey’s May 25, 2025 post to his Instagram account remarking “Cool shell formation on my beach walk” and showing shells arranged to spell out “86 47.” [….]

47 is Donald Trump, the 47th President of the United States, and “86” is slang for ditch, get rid of, or discard.

Based on this, the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina — the venue of the sassy beach stroll — secured an indictment against Comey for two federal felonies: threatening the President of the United States in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 871 and transmitting a threat in interstate commerce in violation of Title 18, United States Code, 875(c). In both counts, the government asserts that “a reasonable recipient who is familiar with the circumstances would interpret as a serious expression of intent to do harm.” That is, of course, a preposterous lie….

Let’s look at what the government would have to prove to convict Comey of these offenses, using cases from the Fourth Circuit, which governs this district. To prove a threat against the President in violation of Section 871, the prosecution must offer “(1) the proof of “a true threat” and (2) that the threat is made “knowingly and willfully.”“ United States v. Lockhart, 382 F.3d 447, 449-450 (4th Cir. 2004). To prove a threat in interstate commerce in violation of Section 875(c), the government must prove that “(1) that the defendant knowingly transmitted a communication in interstate or foreign commerce; (2) that the defendant subjectively intended the communication as a threat; and (3) that the content of the communication contained a “true threat” to kidnap or injure.” United States v. White, 810 F.3d 212, 220-21 (4th Cir. 2016). For purposes of both statutes, a “true threat” is a statement which an “ordinary, reasonable recipient who is familiar with the context in which the statement is made would interpret it as a serious expression of an intent to do harm.” White, 810 F.3d at 221.

Prosecutions for threats against the President played a substantial role in developing the First Amendment doctrine of “true threats,” which separates bluster and rhetoric from actual threats to do harm. In Watts v. United States, 394 U.S. 705 (1969), the United States Supreme Court took up the conviction of an 18-year-old man who said this during an anti-draft protest during Vietnam: “They always holler at us to get an education. And now I have already received my draft classification as 1-A and I have got to report for my physical this Monday coming. I am not going. If they ever make me carry a rifle the first man I want to get in my sights is L. B. J. . . . . They are not going to make me kill my black brothers.” The Court articulated the core of the “true threat” doctrine, noting that political rhetoric, hyperbole, and robust debate that does not convey an intent to do harm is protected by the First Amendment:

“But whatever the “willfullness” requirement implies, the statute initially requires the Government to prove a true threat. We do not believe that the kind of political hyperbole indulged in by petitioner fits within that statutory term. For we must interpret the language Congress chose “against the background of a profound national commitment to the principle that debate on public issues should be uninhibited, robust, and wide-open, and that it may well include vehement, caustic, and sometimes unpleasantly sharp attacks on government and public officials.” New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, 376 U.S. 254, 270 (1964). The language  [**1402]  of the political arena, like the language used in labor disputes, see Linn v. United Plant Guard Workers of America, 383 U.S. 53, 58 (1966), is often vituperative, abusive, and inexact. We agree with petitioner that his only offense here was “a kind of very crude offensive method of stating a political opposition to the President.” Taken in context, and regarding the expressly conditional nature of the statement and the reaction of the listeners, we do not see how it could be interpreted  otherwise. Watts, 394 U.S. at 708.”

No minimally rationally person could possibly conclude, seeing James Comey’s beachside dad joke, that he was expressing a sincere intent to harm the President. Nobody could look at it and conclude that Comey intended to convey that message. In evaluating whether a threat is “true,” the trier of fact must consider the context. Here the context is seashells. The context is the former Director of the FBI, a lifetime member of law enforcement, who is a well-known critic of the President and a target of the President’s wrath, using a campy mechanism to express opposition to the President, using slang for “ditch” or “eject” or “get rid of.” No rational person could see that and say “the former director of the FBI is saying he’s going to kill the President”!”

I could now cite to you a legion of cases for that proposition, finding rhetoric far more concerning than this protected by the First Amendment, analyzing language and context to show this is protected. But it wouldn’t matter, would it? If you are a minimally rational person, you don’t need to see the precedent, and if you’re a cultist, no amount of precedent matters to you.

He does go on; read the rest at the link above.

From Blanche’s press conference yesterday:

Q: Should we expect more indictments of this sort? For example, in 2020 Gretchen Whitmer did a TV hit with "8645" in the background." Would you pursue that?BLANCHE: As far as other instances of threats against the president — those will be investigated

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) 2026-04-28T20:49:30.385Z

I hope Blanche doesn’t have plans to continue legal work in the future. I don’t think he’s going to have a license. The same goes for the lawyers who prosecute this case.

One more from The Washington Post: Prosecutions of Trump’s foes add to GOP’s headaches in midterms.

Republicans hoping their party’s standard-bearer will stay focused on voters’ priorities heading into the November midterms caught no relief on Tuesday as the Trump administration announced charges against former FBI director James B. Comey and an aide to former chief medical adviser Anthony S. Fauci, as well as a review of Disney’s broadcast licenses.

The latest instances of turning government power against President Donald Trump’s critics and pursuing years-old grievances added to frustrations felt by Republicans who say the president isn’t doing enough to address the signature issues that won him a second term.

Two-thirds of Americans said Trump hasn’t paid enough attention to the country’s most important problems in a CNN survey conducted late last month, up from 52 percent in February 2025 and higher than at any point in his first term.

“No Republican wants to run on ‘I stand with Donald Trump’s retribution tour’” while gas prices are so high, said Barrett Marson, a GOP strategist in Arizona. “There is no doubt that the vast majority of non-MAGA voters want Trump to focus on anything but his personal animus toward a wide variety of people.”

The White House said the Comey prosecution has no bearing on Trump’s efforts to bring down costs — moves that include signing a tax-cut bill, adding discounted drugs to a government-run portal, expanding domestic beef production, releasing oil reserves and easing restrictions on tankers moving fuel between U.S. ports.

“The idea that President Trump and his Cabinet agencies cannot execute multiple actions simultaneously is so laughably false,” spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said. “The insinuation that a grand jury returning an indictment is mutually exclusive with the administration’s strong efforts on the economy is objectively false.”

Other Republicans, however, asked about the administration’s priorities. Sen. Thom Tillis (R-North Carolina), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, questioned whether the Comey case was the best use of time and resources for the acting U.S. attorney from his state who brought the charges, W. Ellis Boyle. Trump renominated Boyle to the position in January after the Senate took no action on his nomination last year.

This is just who Trump is. We can only hope the Democrats will win the House and Senate and impeach him.

That’s it for me today. What’s on your mind?

As Lauren Egan notes, with upcoming empty seats on the Supreme Court anticipated, "the possibility of a Supreme Court confirmation fight has been the subject of rampant chatter among the Washington political class."

#JohnRoberts #SupremeCourt #RobertsCourt #transparency #accountability #corruption #WhiteChristianNationalism #LeonardLeo #FederalistSociety #OpusDei #ShadowDocket
/7

https://www.thebulwark.com/p/democrats-arent-buying-reports-of-justice-samuel-alito-staying-put-supreme-court-scotus-retirements-clarence-thomas

"Remember when Amy Coney Barrett said of her colleagues 'we’re not a bunch of partisan hacks?' Well, they are a bunch of partisan hacks. And the number one partisan hack is John Roberts."

~ Norman Ornstein

#JohnRoberts #SupremeCourt #RobertsCourt #transparency #accountability #corruption #WhiteChristianNationalism #LeonardLeo #FederalistSociety #OpusDei #ShadowDocket
/6

https://xcancel.com/NormOrnstein/status/2045843172828295264#m

(continued from /4)

"whatever was necessary to advance a conservative, pro-business, pro-religious cultural agenda seemingly dictated by The Federalist Society, the Koch Brothers network of billionaires, and arch-conservative Catholic Leonard Leo."

#JohnRoberts #SupremeCourt #RobertsCourt #transparency #accountability #corruption #WhiteChristianNationalism #LeonardLeo #FederalistSociety #OpusDei #ShadowDocket
/5

"In conjunction with other conservative justices (notably Scalia, Alito, Thomas, and Kennedy), Roberts began reshaping long-standing jurisprudence by expanding and contracting the 'strike zone' at will—" (continued in /5)

#JohnRoberts #SupremeCourt #RobertsCourt #transparency #accountability #corruption #WhiteChristianNationalism #LeonardLeo #FederalistSociety #OpusDei #ShadowDocket
/4

"The memos leaked to the NYTimes confirm what many court observers have long believed: that Roberts is manipulating the rules of the Court to advance his personal and political beliefs, which are centered around a conservative, pro-business, white Christian worldview."

~ Robert B. Hubbell

#JohnRoberts #SupremeCourt #RobertsCourt #transparency #accountability #corruption #WhiteChristianNationalism #LeonardLeo #FederalistSociety #OpusDei #ShadowDocket
/3

https://roberthubbell.substack.com/p/john-roberts-isnt-calling-balls-and

"The scoop highlights the conservative justices’ brazen disregard for their own rules — both then and now — and the ways in which they are now ignoring the concerns that allegedly animated their action a decade ago."

The NY Times report by Jodi Kantor and Adam Liptak is linked below.

#JohnRoberts #SupremeCourt #RobertsCourt #transparency #accountability #corruption #WhiteChristianNationalism #LeonardLeo #FederalistSociety #OpusDei #ShadowDocket
/2

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/18/us/politics/supreme-court-shadow-docket.html

"On Saturday, The New York Times published a story about the U.S. Supreme Court’s actions a decade ago blocking the Obama administration’s Clean Power Plan on what has become known as the shadow docket."

~ Chris Geidner

#JohnRoberts #SupremeCourt #RobertsCourt #transparency #accountability #corruption #WhiteChristianNationalism #LeonardLeo #FederalistSociety #OpusDei #ShadowDocket
/1

https://www.lawdork.com/p/the-2016-memos-roberts-supreme-court-mess

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/mar/17/john-roberts-hostility-toward-judges

This made me laugh, and now I have to consider my own cynicism.

“Neville Chamberlain mad that Hitler wants more, feels he gave him enough.”

#uspol #trump #robertscourt #scotus

The Roberts court broadly expanded Trump’s power in 2025, with these key exceptions – Los Angeles Times

Politics

The Supreme Court broadly expanded Trump’s power in 2025, with key exceptions

By David G. Savage, Staff Writer Follow. Jan. 1, 2026 3 AM PT

• For much of the year, U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and the five other conservatives were in the majority ruling for Trump.
• The court has been criticized for handing down temporary unsigned orders with little or no explanation.

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court, led by Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., ended the first year of President Trump’s second term with a record of rulings that gave him much broader power to control the federal government.

In a series of fast-track decisions, the justices granted emergency appeals and set aside rulings from district judges who blocked Trump’s orders from taking effect.

With the court’s approval, the administration dismissed thousands of federal employees, cut funding for education and health research grants, dismantled the agency that funds foreign aid and cleared the way for the U.S. military to reject transgender troops.

But the court also put two important checks on the president’s power.

In April, the court twice ruled — including in a post-midnight order — that the Trump administration could not secretly whisk immigrants out of the country without giving them a hearing before a judge.

Upon taking office, Trump claimed migrants who were alleged to belong to “foreign terrorist” gangs could be arrested as “enemy aliens” and flown secretly to a prison in El Salvador.

https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2025-12-23/supreme-court-trump-national-guard-chicago – See more at the above link.

Politics

Supreme Court rules against Trump, bars National Guard deployment in Chicago, Dec. 23, 2025

Roberts and the court blocked such secret deportations and said the 5th Amendment entitles immigrants, like citizens, a right to “due process of law.” Many of the arrested men had no criminal records and said they never belonged to a criminal gang.
Those who face deportation “are entitled to notice and opportunity to challenge their removal,” the justices said in Trump vs. J.G.G.

They also required the government to “facilitate” the release of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who had been wrongly deported to El Salvador. He is now back in Maryland with his wife, but may face further criminal charges or efforts to deport him.

And last week, Roberts and the court barred Trump from deploying the National Guard in Chicago to enforce the immigration laws.

Trump had claimed he had the power to defy state governors and deploy the Guard troops in Los Angeles, Portland, Ore., Chicago and other Democratic-led states and cities.

The Supreme Court disagreed over dissents from conservative Justices Samuel A. Alito, Clarence Thomas and Neil M. Gorsuch.

Editor’s Note: Read the rest of the story, at the below link.

Continue/Read Original Article Here: The Roberts court broadly expanded Trump’s power in 2025, with these key exceptions – Los Angeles Times