U.S. Supreme Court - The African Mirror

Nov

2022

Trump asks U.S. Supreme Court to block lawmakers from obtaining tax returns

ANDREW CHUNG FORMER President Donald Trump asked the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene in his fight to prevent a U.S. House of Representatives committee from gaining access to his tax returns for reasons he claims are politically motivated. Trump filed an emergency request to put on hold a lower court ruling against the Republican former president that upheld the Democratic-led House Ways and Means Committee's request for the tax materials as a justified part of its legislative work while his attorneys prepare an appeal. "If allowed to stand, it will undermine the separation of powers and render the office of…

Oct

2022

By The African Mirror

Justice Jackson’s history lesson exposes ‘reverse racism’ concerns

WORLD

HASSAN KANU THE newest U.S. Supreme Court justice made waves in one of her first days on the bench when she cited legislative history from the 1800s to point out that it’s permissible to consider race when drawing electoral maps. Justice Kentanji Brown Jackson said on October 4 that the Voting Rights Act was enacted explicitly to protect minority voting rights and is based on race-conscious Constitutional amendments. It’s clear that “the framers themselves adopted the equal protection clause, the Fourteenth Amendment, the Fifteenth Amendment, in a race-conscious way,” Jackson said, pushing back against conservatives’ long-running argument that the Constitution is “colour-blind.”…

Jul

2022

By The African Mirror

How will U.S. abortion ruling impact other countries?

HEALTH

EMMA BATHA and DIANA BAPTISTA THE U.S. Supreme Court's decision to revoke a woman's right to abortion could threaten efforts to liberalize laws in other countries and fuel calls to roll back progressive legislation, reproductive rights experts say. They warned that the court's bombshell ruling on June 24 would embolden anti-abortion groups and lawmakers in Africa, Latin America and beyond. It could also hurt funding for sexual and reproductive health services in developing nations, rights experts said. "When America sneezes, the world catches cold," said former New Zealand prime minister Helen Clark, chairwoman of the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and…

Jun

2021

By The African Mirror

U.S. Supreme Court rules for Nestle, Cargill over slavery lawsuit

HUMAN RIGHTS

THE U.S. Supreme Court yesterday threw out a lawsuit accusing Cargill Inc and a Nestle SA subsidiary of knowingly helping perpetuate slavery at Ivory Coast cocoa farms, but sidestepped a broader ruling on the permissibility of suits accusing American companies of human rights violations abroad. The 8-1 ruling authored by Justice Clarence Thomas reversed a lower court decision that had allowed the lawsuit, brought on behalf of former child slaves from Mali who worked at the farms, filed against the companies in 2005 to proceed. The court ruled the claim could not be brought under the Alien Tort Statute, which…

Feb

2021

By The African Mirror

U.S. Supreme Court scraps arguments in Trump-era immigration and wall cases

WORLD

LAWRENCE HURLEY THE U.S. Supreme Court yesterday cancelled upcoming scheduled arguments in appeals filed by Republican former President Donald Trump's administration defending his funding of the U.S.-Mexico border wall and his so-called "remain in Mexico" asylum policy. Democratic President Joe Biden's administration, which is in the process of changing course on both issues, on Monday had asked the justices to postpone further legal filings in the two cases and to remove them from their oral argument calendar. Biden's administration already has announced plans to discontinue wall construction and suspend the asylum program, potentially making the cases moot. The court was…

Dec

2020

By The African Mirror

U.S. Supreme Court sides with challenge to California’s COVID-19 religious service curbs

RELIGION

LAWRENCE HURLEY THE U.S. Supreme Court has delivered a blow to California Governor Gavin Newsom's pandemic-related ban on indoor religious services, siding with a church that defied the policy and challenged it as unconstitutional religious discrimination. The decision followed a similar action by the justices on November 25 that backed Christian and Jewish houses of worship that challenged New York state restrictions in coronavirus hot spots. California Governor Gavin Newsom The justices, with no noted dissents, set aside a lower court ruling that rejected a challenge to Newsom's policy by Harvest Rock Church Inc, which has several campuses in the…

Dec

2020

By The African Mirror

U.S. judges question Ivory Coast cocoa farm slavery claims against Nestle and Cargill

NEWS

LAWRENCE HURLEY U.S. Supreme Court justices have appeared wary of barring lawsuits against American companies over alleged human rights abuses abroad but signalled they could toss out a case accusing Cargill Inc and a Nestle SA subsidiary of knowingly helping perpetuate slavery at Ivory Coast cocoa farms. The two companies are asking the nine justices to reverse a lower court ruling that allowed the lawsuit, brought on behalf of former child slaves from Mali who worked at the farms, filed against them in 2005 to proceed. The case concerns a 1789 U.S. law called the Alien Tort Statute that lets…

Oct

2020

By The African Mirror

How Trump’s Supreme Court nominee applies the law to LGBT+ rights

LGBT+

MATTHEW LAVIETES US PRESIDENT Donald Trump's nomination of Amy Coney Barrett to the U.S. Supreme Court has alarmed many LGBT+ advocates, who fear the appointment of another conservative judge would jeopardise the rights of gay and trans people. If confirmed, Barrett, who has described conservative judge Antonin Scalia as her mentor, would push the country's highest court to a 6-3 conservative majority. At 48, she could serve for decades in the lifetime job, potentially leaving a lasting conservative legacy. "Confirming Barrett will drag America backwards," Sarah Kate Ellis, head of the LGBT+ advocacy group GLAAD, said in a statement when…

Sep

2020

By The African Mirror

U.S. Supreme Court nominee Barrett would have final say on recusal calls

WORLD

LAWRENCE HURLEY DEMOCRATS are urging U.S. Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett to recuse herself from any election-related cases because of President Donald Trump's comments that he expects the justices to potentially decide the outcome, but there is no way to force her to do so. Although U.S. law requires justices to step aside when there is a conflict of interest or genuine question of bias, it leaves the individual justice to decide whether such a conflict exists. Aside from direct financial and personal conflicts, they rarely do so. Trump on Saturday nominated Barrett to the vacancy created by the…

Sep

2020

By The African Mirror

Chief Justice Roberts memorializes Ginsburg at U.S. Supreme Court

WORLD

LAWRENCE HURLEY and ANDREW CHUNG THE United States has begun three days of tributes to Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, as pallbearers carried her flag-draped coffin into the white marble court building and mourners lined up to pay their respects. Wearing dark suits and black face masks due to the coronavirus pandemic, dozens of the liberal icon's former clerks stood at attention as the coffin was carried up the court's broad steps. "Her voice in court and in our conference room was soft. But when she spoke, people listened," Chief Justice John Roberts said in a private ceremony inside…