@thewydown There is only one opinion from #SCOTUS this morning: Van Buren v. US, about the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. Barrett has the majority 6-3 opinion, reversing the 11th Circuit and FOR the defendant in the case. Thomas, joined by Roberts and Alito, dissents.
Congrats to @OrinKerr, getting that prominent, page 2 #SCOTUS citation. (And just one day into his 50s!)
This case serves as a great example of how broad federal criminal legislation often morphs and expands over time. (And duplicates existing state criminal statutes.)
The FBI apparently has enough time on its hands to spend all of this time and money to *create* criminal activity. (Which years later, so more time and money, is found by a very conservative Supreme Court to not even be criminal activity.)
[I know this isn't news to folks who know this stuff. But, we don't often get Republican-appointed judges laying it out so clearly.]
This section from Barrett's majority is stark. Her slicing-and-dicing of the dissent — which continues elsewhere — is some of her crispest writing since joining the Court.
And this part from Barrett, already referenced by others, is an important note about how much more broadly federal prosecutors and, at this point, the federal government were seeking to have criminal liability attach — beyond even the broad statute that Congress passed.
While Barrett's majority opinion is really impressive, it's also true that she was aided in writing an impressive majority by just how bad the dissent from Thomas is.
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Breaking: Booksellers' challenge to Texas's book-ban regime succeeds at the Fifth Circuit.
Today, the full Fifth Circuit announced that the far-right judges of the court LOST a vote for rehearing en banc 8-9 after a 3-judge panel had previously upheld the dist ct's injunction.
There is highly questionable action from the Fifth Circuit this weekend, flagged to me by @steve_vladeck. On Saturday, the Fifth Circuit issued "a temporary administrative stay," allowing Texas S.B. 4 — the challenged Texas immigration law — to go into effect in 7 days.
Here's my thread on the preliminary injunction ruling from Feb. 29:
BREAKING: Fifth Circuit holds that fed'l emergency room protections (EMTALA) do not mandate that physicians provide abortions when that is the "stabilizing treatment" needed, upholding an injunction issued in a lawsuit brought by Texas. More to come: lawdork.com
For background on this issue (while I'm reading and writing), here's some a post relating to the still-pending SCOTUS stay application filed by Idaho in the inverse EMTALA litigation, where DOJ sued Idaho: lawdork.com/i/139439910/th…
BREAKING: Supreme Court will NOT hear case over Washington's conversion therapy ban, over the objection of Thomas, Alito, and Kavanaugh. Thomas and Alito write.
Supreme Court also DENIES RFK Jr.'s request to intervene at SCOTUS in Murphy v. Missouri, the case over Biden administration social media influence out of the Fifth Circuit. Thomas notes his dissent.
BREAKING: On a 2-1 vote, the 11th Circuit DENIES Florida’s request that it be allowed to enforce its anti-drag law against everyone in the state except the plaintiffs during the appeal.
Jordan and Rosenbaum, both Obama appointees, hold that the district court did not abuse its discretion in granting an injunction prohibiting all enforcement of the ban, given its underlying finding that the law is likely overbroad and this likely facially unconstitutional.
Brasher, a Trump appointee, dissents and would grant a partial stay, finding the injunction to be, itself, overly broad to achieving the goal of protecting the plaintiff’s rights.