Wow, this past week will haunt us for the foreseeable future. The Supreme Court made multiple historic decisions that will impact the future of Americans. Last week, I posted about the court case Grant Pass v. Johnson. The case was a debate on whether cities can prohibit people experiencing homelessness from sleeping on public property. Two lower courts favored Johnson, deeming that criminalization of being homeless violates the 8th Amendment clause of cruel and unusual punishment. The Supreme Court reversed this decision as a majority does not feel that fines and jail time for involuntary homelessness are unjust. This decision, while seemingly returning power to the state, also poses a significant threat to the most vulnerable in our population. It will give states the power to put more people in jail instead of helping those who need it. The Supreme Court is enabling the cooperation of public servants and private prisons. Jail time will not help someone who is experiencing homelessness get back on their feet. It will only provide another barrier to entry. It is already hard enough to hold a job while homeless; adding a criminal record will make finding that job nearly impossible. This decision is a cause for concern, as it could exacerbate the plight of the homeless. Good job, Supreme Court! You are really looking out for the people. 😊  

The next stellar ruling pertains to the powers of federal agencies. A majority ruling struck down the 1984 decision in Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council, which enabled federal agencies to interpret laws if Congress had not explicitly spoken on the question and the interpretation was reasonable. These two requirements created a framework for courts to follow when evaluating agency interpretations. The new ruling, however, raises serious concerns. Congress does not have the time to answer every question on policies they pass for federal agencies, and courts do not have time to go through every decision federal agencies make. Judges also lack training in these technical fields. Our own Chief Justice Roberts believes that courts should instead rely on friends of the court to explain microbiology to individuals with only legal training. This could lead to a chaotic situation where federal agencies struggle to function effectively. Our government already moves at a snail’s pace so let’s see what further polarization and courts relearning scientific processes does to improve that speed!

I may have saved the best for last with this case. Trump may have been handed a get-out-of-jail-free card, but only time will tell. This specific ruling is about Trump’s court case on his involvement in the January 6th coup. Our favorite Chief Justice Roberts had a lot to say about this decision. Respectably, he noted that a president cannot be prosecuted for actions relating to their core powers in office, such as vetoing, nominating their Cabinet members, or entertaining foreign guests. You can look here for a list of presidential rules (https://www.trumanlibrary.gov/education/three-branches/what-president-can-do-cannot-do). The president is mostly a face for our country; they are not a dictator who can overturn results from elections that happened during their time in office. Roberts is giving Trump a possible escape route. I can only hope that it does not work.

I have so many questions for our lovely Supreme Court justices. I am first confused as to why they even had to say anything about not prosecuting a president regarding their office duties. This is obvious. It is in our social contract that the president has those powers. We all agree on that every day. They even made a statement about those powers just to give Trump a chance to escape this case. Our current Supreme Court loves to think as fundamentalists, but we are not in the 1700s anymore. We have gas-powered cars and computers that think faster than humans. They should be acting like that is the age we are in because, in the 1700s, most people were homesteaders who did not interact with people outside of half a day’s horse ride away. We are globally connected and must uphold our part as a nation that sets a precedent for positively moving society forward. Society’s passions and needs are ever-changing. These rulings only hold us back from adapting to global challenges that threaten humans as a species. Humans are not infinite beings. The Earth can easily wipe us out.