this post was submitted on 10 Jan 2024
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[–] m_f@midwest.social 133 points 8 months ago (6 children)

Because there were not enough justices for a quorum—the court needs at least six and only Justices Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson remained—the court affirmed the judgment of a lower court to dismiss the lawsuit.

Clever. Appearing to do the right thing at face value coincides nicely with getting the case against you dropped. It's likely impossible to sue a majority of the Supreme Court if they don't care to be sued.

[–] partial_accumen@lemmy.world 44 points 8 months ago (2 children)

Also sounds like a good justification for Biden to increase the number of Justices.

Statement could go like this:

"There are not enough sitting justices to adjudicate important issues before the court as demonstrated by the recent actions of honorable recusals. Therefore I calling for the addition of new seats on the court to supplement the body so it can carry out its important work as a check on Legislative and Executive branches of our government, just as the framers intended. We will begin confirmation hearings for new justices next week"

[–] Jessica@discuss.tchncs.de 14 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (1 children)

Nothing will fundamentally change.

Joe Biden to donors during the election campaign

[–] FlashMobOfOne@lemmy.world 1 points 8 months ago (2 children)

It's one of the few promises Biden will make that he actually intends to follow through with if he wins, but he won't, not with how much people are struggling economically.

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[–] givesomefucks@lemmy.world 43 points 8 months ago (1 children)

If a lower court ruled against them, they wouldn't excuse themselves and rule in their own favor.

And claim nothing hypocritical about it.

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[–] VintageTech@sh.itjust.works 32 points 8 months ago (1 children)

This is a tactic Oregon representatives use quite often. So we voted on a bill stating that if you miss 10 or more sessions you're in eligible to run for office again.

[–] ShepherdPie@midwest.social 7 points 8 months ago

They're already trying to weasel out of it by claiming that the language of the law means they still get to serve one more term.

[–] Supermariofan67@programming.dev 15 points 8 months ago

It's a frivolous troll lawsuit and this is a clickbait article

https://casetext.com/case/mactruong-v-abbott

In his Complaint, Plaintiff alleges that he is an inventor of “Tele-Sex or Tele-Mining on Jupiter and other planets of the Solar System,” and appears to assert a claim for copyright infringement and constitutional violations.

In his brief, Plaintiff makes fantastical allegations, stating, for example, that “Defendants are dangerous liars, criminals, traitors and co-conspirators.” Dkt. 18 at 31. He further states that Supreme Court Justices Alito, Thomas, Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, and Barrett “deserve the death penalty or at least to be disbenched from the U.S. Supreme Court.” Dkt. 18 at 40.

[–] GiddyGap@lemm.ee 11 points 8 months ago (1 children)

It's likely impossible to sue a majority of the Supreme Court if they don't care to be sued.

Only as long as you have the majority. If this had been a case against the liberal minority, they would not have been able to do the same.

[–] givesomefucks@lemmy.world 4 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Not even a majority.

They need six for quorum. And there's 9 total.

So any four justices can do this. And it's not a coincidence they didn't pull this out of their sleeves until there was only 3 non conservative justices.

Conservatives can make their own quorum, and they don't expect to lose that majority for a very long time even worst case scenario.

The whole system is broken. One party exploits it and one tries to ignore it's broken.

[–] bostonbananarama@lemmy.world 6 points 8 months ago (3 children)

One party exploits it and one tries to ignore it's broken.

Why are you "both sides"-ing this? One party is exploiting the flaws of the system...full stop. The system is flawed, one side doesn't want it to work, and the other doesn't have the numbers to change the system.

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[–] BombOmOm@lemmy.world 4 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (1 children)

The lower court's decision was upheld. A lower court that didn't have the issue of defendants being asked to preside over their own case.

[–] m_f@midwest.social 11 points 8 months ago (4 children)

Sure, but do you think if the lower court decided that the case could move forward, the justices would've sat out? I doubt it.

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[–] BombOmOm@lemmy.world 39 points 8 months ago (3 children)

The six justices were named as defendants in the case.

Makes sense they sat out then. Presiding over your own trial doesn't make much sense.

[–] givesomefucks@lemmy.world 49 points 8 months ago (3 children)

Nope that's not it.

They have the majority, so if they all sit out the SC can't hear the case.

So it's more of a pocket veto than anything else.

Especially since the lower courts decision was to dismiss the case against the Justices who vetoed the SC case

[–] RaoulDook@lemmy.world 20 points 8 months ago (1 children)

If you read the article, it says that the justices are following the code of ethics that they agreed to, which precludes a justice from judging a case against them.

The decision of the lower court also was sound as the plaintiff did not have standing to sue, being a NJ resident suing over TX law.

These are simple facts, easy to understand, and hatred of the justices won't change that. It's important to take an objective look at facts to be fair to your own mind.

[–] Kyre@kbin.social 6 points 8 months ago

They deserve the scrutiny and criticism regardless of their legal status. Anything they do at this point is suspect. If it was reversed and it was a court of all democrats, you better believe that a bunch of redneck fucktard assholes would be using their second amendment rights in an attempt to "fix" the court. With lifetime appointments, it doesn't leave much room for options.

[–] BombOmOm@lemmy.world 4 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (1 children)

So it’s more of a pocket veto than anything else.

"the court affirmed the judgment of a lower court to dismiss the lawsuit"

They upheld the judgment from the lower court. Should they instead preside over their own case? That hardly seems like a better choice than upholding the lower court's judgement.

[–] Pollo_Jack@lemmy.world 4 points 8 months ago (2 children)

They could have provided enough SC justices to have a quorom but not provided any input into the quorom. Essentially, be present and go along with whatever the other justices decide.

[–] Semi-Hemi-Demigod@kbin.social 3 points 8 months ago (1 children)

There's nothing in the Constitution about how many justices there has to be. I would argue that if the Supreme Court can't get quorum we need to nominate Justices until they get it.

[–] nicetriangle@kbin.social 2 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (1 children)

There does appear to be some law on the books stipulating the rules around a quorum and such a law is considered valid unless struck down by said court.

https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/28/1

The Supreme Court of the United States shall consist of a Chief Justice of the United States and eight associate justices, any six of whom shall constitute a quorum.

Same way the court technically is not limited in headcout by the constitution, either. In that case, it's set by congress.

[–] JustZ@lemmy.world 1 points 8 months ago

This statute and earlier versions were upheld by the Supreme Court. Congress may change the size of the court and set its non-original jurisdiction.

[–] IHeartBadCode@kbin.social 1 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Just my opinion, but that sounds janky af.

Because it’s vastly different if the four to maintain quorum were Alito, Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, and Barrett versus Roberts, Gorsuch, Thomas, and Barrett.

Basically you can stack justices to fit an outcome and that’s kind of what we don’t want.

[–] snooggums@kbin.social 1 points 8 months ago

They got the outcome they wanted though.

[–] ricecake@sh.itjust.works 3 points 8 months ago (2 children)

I mean, they could have just as easily voted to just not accept the case.
Recusal is literally the only ethical option available, and they had other perfectly routine ways of getting the same result.

Like, what would you have had them do instead? Vote to hear it and then decide their own guilt? Vote to hear a case and then recuse themselves from hearing it? Or just say "no, we believe the lower court ruled correctly/the case doesn't meet our criteria"?

[–] givesomefucks@lemmy.world 2 points 8 months ago

Yeah, but this way they can pretend theyre taking the high road and also flex that they control the SC...

My point is when 6 members of the SC are all defendants in a case the Supreme Court has been asked to rule on, we've got some serious fucking problems with our system.

We've tried ignoring it for a decade now. And shit is clearly just getting worse

[–] JustZ@lemmy.world 2 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

I think this was a message. "Don't sue the Supreme Court Justices for their official work, because we won't even dignifiy it with a response."

Supreme Court Justices are absolutely immune from suit for their official acts and decisions. All judges are. The remedy to a bad call by a judge is an appeal, not a collateral lawsuit.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judicial_immunity

[–] snooggums@kbin.social 7 points 8 months ago

In a vacuum, sure. But with the context they were able to get the result they wanted by doing sitting out.

[–] Reverendender@sh.itjust.works 2 points 8 months ago

Seriously, this isn’t the NYPD for cripes’ sake.

[–] JustZ@lemmy.world 36 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (3 children)

I think this was a clear message: "Don't sue the Supreme Court Justices for their official work, because we won't even dignifiy it with a response." Otherwise, they could have just voted not to hear it.

Supreme Court Justices are absolutely immune from suit for their official acts and decisions. All judges are. The remedy to a bad call by a judge is an appeal, not a collateral lawsuit.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judicial_immunity

https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/collateral_attack

The underlying case was dismissed on the papers by a district judge. It had no chance at trial and even less chance on appeal.

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[–] corsicanguppy@lemmy.ca 26 points 8 months ago

So. Ultimately a woman has no autonomy over her own body with deviant growths still? Is that what I'm reading?

[–] ForestOrca@kbin.social 23 points 8 months ago (1 children)

SYAC:
"In a rare move, Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett all sat out deciding whether to hear MacTruong v. Abbott, a case arguing that the Texas Heartbeat Act (THA) is constitutional and that the state law violates federal law. The six justices were named as defendants in the case. They did not give a detailed justification as to why they chose not to weigh in, and are not required to do so."

[–] mozz@mander.xyz 15 points 8 months ago (1 children)

The six justices were named as defendants in the case. They did not give a detailed justification as to why they chose not to weigh in, and are not required to do so.

As Hunter Thompson said: "To ask the question is to answer the question."

[–] GentlemanLoser@ttrpg.network 3 points 8 months ago (1 children)

And that's the original meaning of "begs the question"

[–] nymwit@lemm.ee 2 points 8 months ago (1 children)

I guess I don't understand. Can you elaborate how that fits the meaning? wikipedia: "Historically, begging the question refers to a fault in a dialectical argument in which the speaker assumes some premise that has not been demonstrated to be true. In modern usage, it has come to refer to an argument in which the premises assume the conclusion without supporting it."

[–] mozz@mander.xyz 2 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (1 children)

So there's a bunch of different things going on.

Real historically, it meant to assert something without proving it, and base your logic on the unproved assertion and go on from there. "I couldn't have been driving drunk, because I wasn't driving." You can keep saying that any number of times, and insist that your logic is flawless (because in terms of the pure logic, it is), but if someone saw you driving, it's kind of a moot point.

Saying "begging the question" to mean that is weird. The phrase is a word-for-word translation of a Greek phrase into pretty much nonsensical English. Wikipedia talks about it more but that's the short summary.

So after that meaning came what Wikipedia calls "modern usage," which is where "begging the question" means not just something you haven't proved, but the central premise under debate. You assume it's true out of the gate and it's obviously true, and then go on from there. "We know God exists, because God made the world, and we can see the world all around us, and the world is wonderful, so God exists. QED."

In actual modern usage, no one cares about any of that, and just uses "begs the question" to mean "invites the question." Like you're saying something and anyone with a brain in their head is obviously going to ask you some particular question. It has nothing to do with the original meaning, but the original meaning never actually meant that in English, so pedants like myself that prefer the original meaning are engaged in a pure exercise in futility.

[–] nymwit@lemm.ee 2 points 8 months ago

Thank you for your explanation! My head hurts but I think it's worth it.

[–] tsonfeir@lemm.ee 15 points 8 months ago

I really wish I could “sit out” of my job and not get fired.

[–] JustZ@lemmy.world 9 points 8 months ago

The dude that brought this case is absolutely insane and in need of mental treatment.

[–] ook_the_librarian@lemmy.world 8 points 8 months ago

This is a nothing story. It's notable as a quirk.

This guy tried to sue Supreme Court justices to change a ruling. Every judge on the way up to the Supreme Court said, "no, that's not how law works."

He appealed all the way to the Supreme Court, as is his right. The non-named justices affirmed that "no, that's not how law works."

[–] ShaggySnacks@lemmy.myserv.one 4 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Badas noted that MacTruong has other pending cases involving the same issue, but it is likely that they will end like this case, "with him losing and the courts issuing decisions arguing that he lacks standing."

I thought standing didn't mean anything anymore.

[–] mojofrododojo@lemmy.world 2 points 8 months ago

only if you're a student loan apparently

[–] werefreeatlast@lemmy.world 3 points 8 months ago

I wanna be a judge too!

[–] theodewere@kbin.social 3 points 8 months ago

who do these trolls work for

[–] crusa187@lemmy.ml 2 points 8 months ago

Sounds like we need to resize the court and add enough justices to get this decided.

[–] LadyAutumn@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (2 children)

6 of the worst human beings in the world. Dead women's and dead girls, for that matter, blood is on their hands. I do not understand how it has been one and a half years since they literally made women unequal in law and nothing has been done about the monopoly they have on the entire country.

They are not enacting the will of the people. They do not represent the common voice. Why should they be allowed to force disease death and suffering onto millions of women? Why should they be allowed to do that? What kind of democracy allows such a thing?

[–] MaxVoltage@lemmy.world 6 points 8 months ago

go to en evangelical church sometime you will see and hear some things

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