@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: SCOTUS, on a 5-4 vote, allows Arizona to enforce AZ law requiring "documentary proof of citizenship" to register to vote on state forms, but, over 3 noted dissents, keeps other parts of the law blocked applying that requirement to those registering w/ the federal form.
BREAKING: The Eighth Circuit blocks the Biden administration from implementing the SAVE student loan forgiveness program. The court previously issued an administrative stay blocking the program. media.ca8.uscourts.gov/opndir/24/08/2…
This three-judge panel was all Republican appointees (but that's not really a surprise, given the fact that there's only one Democrat on the Eighth Circuit).
I will have more on this, a complicated set of cases in which one is already pending on the SCOTUS shadow docket and that has very real, day-by-day effects on people while this remains in litigation.
BREAKING: The full Fifth Circuit, on a 13-6 vote, upholds Mississippi’s lifetime ban on voting by those convicted of any of a number of felonies. A prior three-judge panel had held that the ban violates the 8th Amendment. The full court rejected that. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.usco…
Judge Edith Jones, a Reagan appointee, writes the court’s opinion upholding Section 241 of the Mississippi Constitution. Here is that provision, which lists the convictions subject to lifetime disenfranchisement.
Judge James Dennis, a Clinton appointee, wrote for the six dissenters.
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.