Posted on 02/29/2016 8:11:17 AM PST by TontoKowalski
It is fortunate that a Republican got to pick the Chief Justice. Better Roberts in that seat for decades than someone that Obama or Clinton appoints.
But, maybe that's not the norm. Certainly it doesn't appear to have excited this reporter very much. Still, I'm glad she tweeted the breaking news.
Right on!
Here's the entire exchange...(any formatting errors are mine- I just did a quick copy/paste and paragraph markers. I haven't actually read through the entire argument yet.
JUSTICE THOMAS: Ms. Eisenstein, one question.
Can you give me this is a misdemeanor violation. It suspends a constitutional right. Can you give me another area where a misdemeanor violation suspends a constitutional right?
MS. EISENSTEIN: Your Honor, I I'm thinking about that, but I think that the the question is not as I understand Your Honor's question, the culpability necessarily of the act or in terms of the offense
JUSTICE THOMAS: Well, I'm I'm looking at the you're saying that recklessness is sufficient to trigger a violation misdemeanor violation of domestic conduct that results in a lifetime ban on possession of a gun, which, at least as of now, is still a constitutional right.
MS. EISENSTEIN: Your Honor, to address JUSTICE THOMAS: Can you think of another constitutional right that can be suspended based upon a misdemeanor violation of a State law?
MS. EISENSTEIN: Your Honor, while I can't think of specifically triggered by a misdemeanor violation, other examples, for example, in the First Amendment context, have allowed for suspension or limitation of a right to free speech or even free association in contexts where there is a compelling interest and risks associated in some cases less than a compelling interest under intermediate scrutiny.
JUSTICE THOMAS: I'm this is a how long is this suspension of the right to own a firearm?
MS. EISENSTEIN: Your Honor, the right is suspended indefinitely.
JUSTICE THOMAS: Okay. So can you think of a First Amendment suspension or a suspension of a First Amendment right that is permanent?
MS. EISENSTEIN: Your Honor, it's not necessarily permanent as to the individual, but it may be permanent as to a particular harm. And here Congress decided to intervene at the first instance that an individual is convicted of battering their family members because it it relied on substantial and welldocumented evidence that those individuals pose a a longterm and substantial
JUSTICE THOMAS: So in each of these cases had did any of the defendants, or in this case Petitioners, use a weapon against a family member?
MS. EISENSTEIN: In neither case did they, but these Petitioners
JUSTICE THOMAS: So that the again, the suspension is not directly related to the use of the weapon. It is a suspension that is actually indirectly related or actually unrelated. It's just a family member's involved in a misdemeanor violation; therefore, a constitutional right is suspended.
MS. EISENSTEIN: Yes, Your Honor, but I believe that in terms of the the relationship between Congress's decision to try to prevent domestic gun violence and its means of doing so
JUSTICE THOMAS: Even if that if even if that violence is unrelated to the use the possession of a gun?
MS. EISENSTEIN: Well, Your Honor, I think the studies that Congress relied upon in formulating the the misdemeanor crime of domestic violence ban didn't were directly about the use of a gun because what they showed is that individuals who have previously been battered their spouses, pose up to a sixfold greater risk of killing, by a gun, their family member.
JUSTICE THOMAS: Well, let's let's say that a publisher is reckless about the use of children, and what could be considered indecent displace and that that triggers a violation of, say, a hypothetical law against the use of children in these ads, and let's say it's a misdemeanor violation. Could you suspend that publisher's right to ever publish again?
MS. EISENSTEIN: Your Honor, I don't think you could suspend the right to ever publish again, but I think that you could limit, for example, the manner and means by which publisher
JUSTICE THOMAS: So how is that different from suspending your Second Amendment right?
MS. EISENSTEIN: Your Honor, I think that in terms of a the compelling purpose that was identified here, which was the prevention of gun violence and the individual nature of the of the underlying offense, so here this isn't a misdemeanor crime directed at any person at large. These are misdemeanor batteries directed at members specified members of the of that individual's family. Congress
JUSTICE THOMAS: Would you have a better case if this were a gun crime?
MS. EISENSTEIN: Your Honor, I think it would be perhaps a better case, except that the evidence that Congress relied on and and that the courts below that have addressed the Second Amendment concerns that Your Honor is highlighting have even gone into a more robust analysis of the the evidence that ties initial crimes of battery to future gun violence. That evidence is extremely strong. And Congress recognized that this was a recurring escalating offense.
Petitioners are good examples of this. While they didn't reach, thankfully, the point where they were able to reach for a firearm and were prohibited from having a firearm under Federal law, they have each been convicted multiple times of domestic violence offenses and possess the firearms in close proximity. So these aren't individuals who had longago convictions and are suffering from that ban. Congress also contemplated exactly the lifetime nature of the ban that Your Honor suggested and left it in States' hands to resolve that by allowing States to expunge or pardon convictions in cases where an individual either petitions to do so or in some States as a matter of course.
So so I understand Your Honor's concern that that this is a potential infringement of individual's Second Amendment rights, but I believe that Congress has identified a compelling purpose and has found a reasonable means of achieving that purpose.
The great ones always make it look so easy.
Stepping Up, thank you Justice Thomas, we are relying on you.
Yeah. He definitely digs right to the fundamental heart of the issue. I will be interested in reading the rest of the transcript tonight to see if the other justices were avoiding the obvious issue before Thomas spoke up.
Of course, they’re hoping people will not vote for Trump because they think they know who he will appoint.
Same for Ted Cruz.
However, Hollywood never seems to worry about how the DemocRATS are going to vote .. Hmmmmm ..??
I believe Christian movies have made a significant leap into focus .. and I have not heard a word about any of them winning anything. This is the basic reason I never watch any of the awards shows .. they get paid enough; and now we have to watch them strut around like a bunch of pampered peacocks ..??
I have better things to do.
Doesn't a replacement for the chief depend on the current sitting POTUS? WWTD? What Would TRUMP Do?
He sounds a tad bit lazy.
Has someone in the kitchen been slipping LSD into the SCOTUS soup for the past 50 years ?
Term limits!
What is this case about?
Normally an associate justice isn’t elevated to CJ when the sitting Chief dies or retires because then you’d have to go through two confirmations instead of one, and for no reason anyway. As I understand it, the CJ doesn’t have much influence over and above any of the associates.
Damn straight. I’ve always preferred Thomas to Scalia.
Thanks. That makes perfect sense. Of course, being inquisitive, now you've got me wondering how "normal" that is. I broke my fibula today and will be laid up awhile, so perhaps I'll research it. Should be easy enough: just see how many CJs were promoted. If I actually do it, I'll send you the result.
Excluding the first CJ, Jay, who had no opportunity to serve previously as AJ, and excluding several who served only as Acting CJ, there have been sixteen full Chief Justices, of whom only five (Rutledge/White/Stone/Hughes/Rehnquist) had been AJs.
Touch 'em all!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.