news
03-22-2016, 04:12 PM
The Supreme Court on Tuesday issued its first evenly split ruling since the death of Justice Antonin Scalia: a decision in a minor banking case (http://www.scotusblog.com/case-files/cases/hawkins-v-community-bank-of-raymore/) involving spouses who serve as guarantors for each other's debts.
The 4-to-4 ruling (http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/15pdf/14-520_d18f.pdf) was "per curiam," which means it was handed down in the name of the entire court, and nobody really knows what justice was on which side.
The opinion was just one line long: "The judgment is affirmed by an equally divided Court."
That means the ruling sets no nationwide precedent and leaves the lower-court ruling (http://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-8th-circuit/1674696.html) as the final decision in the case.
Leaving the law unsettled for now could potentially be good or bad news for major cases where future splits are a possibility -- including pending disputes on abortion (http://start.westnet.ca/newstempch.php?article=entry/supreme-court-abortion-rights_us_56d6f857e4b0871f60ed48e6), affirmative action (http://start.westnet.ca/newstempch.php?article=2015/12/09/supreme-court-affirmative-action-university_n_8760980.html), public union fees (http://start.westnet.ca/newstempch.php?article=entry/supreme-court-public-unions_us_5693ed2ee4b0a2b6fb70e579), immigration (http://start.westnet.ca/newstempch.php?article=entry/supreme-court-immigration-obama-executive-actions_us_56991e9ee4b0b4eb759e1e7e) and contraception coverage (http://start.westnet.ca/newstempch.php?article=entry/supreme-court-obamacare_us_563cf3f7e4b0b24aee4a2bf9) under the Affordable Care Act.
In the public union fees case, for example, a 4-to-4 split would be an important victory for labor (http://start.westnet.ca/newstempch.php?article=entry/scalia-public-sector-unions_us_56bfdb1ce4b0b40245c6f855), since union advocates won that case in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, which skews liberal. (The unions didn't do so well (http://start.westnet.ca/newstempch.php?article=entry/supreme-court-public-unions_us_5693ed2ee4b0a2b6fb70e579) when the Supreme Court heard the case.)
But a split ruling in the abortion case, which is coming from the more conservative 5th Circuit, would represent a blow for women's access to reproductive services, since the lower-court ruling upheld the Texas abortion clinic regulations being challenged.
If more splits do happen, the Supreme Court may consider these issues again in the future, but it probably won't until the Senate decides to confirm Scalia's replacement -- whether that will be the recently nominated Merrick Garland (http://start.westnet.ca/newstempch.php?article=entry/sri-srinivasan-supreme-court-nominee_us_56e313e3e4b0b25c9181dca6) or someone else is still anyone's guess.
Which all underscores the need for a fully functioning Supreme Court. As Justice Anthony Kennedy once said at a congressional hearing (http://www.c-span.org/video/?311494-1/supreme-court-fiscal-year-2014-budget), 4-4 ties "mean that everybody’s time is wasted."
Or as Scalia himself put it once (http://start.westnet.ca/newstempch.php?article=entry/republicans-could-honor-justice-scalia-by-replacing-him_us_56c7bb13e4b041136f171dcd): "The Court proceeds with eight Justices, raising the possibility that, by reason of a tie vote, it will find itself unable to resolve the significant legal issue presented by the case."
-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. (http://start.westnet.ca/newstempch.php?article=terms.html/) It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.
http://rc.feedsportal.com/r/247395623315/u/0/f/677045/c/35496/s/4e709cd2/sc/7/rc/1/rc.img (http://rc.feedsportal.com/r/247395623315/u/0/f/677045/c/35496/s/4e709cd2/sc/7/rc/1/rc.htm)
http://rc.feedsportal.com/r/247395623315/u/0/f/677045/c/35496/s/4e709cd2/sc/7/rc/2/rc.img (http://rc.feedsportal.com/r/247395623315/u/0/f/677045/c/35496/s/4e709cd2/sc/7/rc/2/rc.htm)
http://rc.feedsportal.com/r/247395623315/u/0/f/677045/c/35496/s/4e709cd2/sc/7/rc/3/rc.img (http://rc.feedsportal.com/r/247395623315/u/0/f/677045/c/35496/s/4e709cd2/sc/7/rc/3/rc.htm)
http://da.feedsportal.com/r/247395623315/u/0/f/677045/c/35496/s/4e709cd2/sc/7/a2.img (http://da.feedsportal.com/r/247395623315/u/0/f/677045/c/35496/s/4e709cd2/sc/7/a2.htm)
http://adchoice.feedsportal.com/r/247395623315/u/0/f/677045/c/35496/s/4e709cd2/sc/7/ach.img (http://adchoice.feedsportal.com/r/247395623315/u/0/f/677045/c/35496/s/4e709cd2/sc/7/ach.htm)http://pi.feedsportal.com/r/247395623315/u/0/f/677045/c/35496/s/4e709cd2/sc/7/a2t.imghttp://pi2.feedsportal.com/r/247395623315/u/0/f/677045/c/35496/s/4e709cd2/sc/7/a2t2.imghttp://feeds.huffingtonpost.com/c/35496/f/677045/s/4e709cd2/sc/7/mf.gif
More... (http://feeds.huffingtonpost.com/c/35496/f/677045/s/4e709cd2/sc/7/l/0L0Shuffingtonpost0N0C20A160C0A30C220Csupreme0Ecou rt0Efirst0E40E40Esplit0In0I95230A420Bhtml/story01.htm)
The 4-to-4 ruling (http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/15pdf/14-520_d18f.pdf) was "per curiam," which means it was handed down in the name of the entire court, and nobody really knows what justice was on which side.
The opinion was just one line long: "The judgment is affirmed by an equally divided Court."
That means the ruling sets no nationwide precedent and leaves the lower-court ruling (http://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-8th-circuit/1674696.html) as the final decision in the case.
Leaving the law unsettled for now could potentially be good or bad news for major cases where future splits are a possibility -- including pending disputes on abortion (http://start.westnet.ca/newstempch.php?article=entry/supreme-court-abortion-rights_us_56d6f857e4b0871f60ed48e6), affirmative action (http://start.westnet.ca/newstempch.php?article=2015/12/09/supreme-court-affirmative-action-university_n_8760980.html), public union fees (http://start.westnet.ca/newstempch.php?article=entry/supreme-court-public-unions_us_5693ed2ee4b0a2b6fb70e579), immigration (http://start.westnet.ca/newstempch.php?article=entry/supreme-court-immigration-obama-executive-actions_us_56991e9ee4b0b4eb759e1e7e) and contraception coverage (http://start.westnet.ca/newstempch.php?article=entry/supreme-court-obamacare_us_563cf3f7e4b0b24aee4a2bf9) under the Affordable Care Act.
In the public union fees case, for example, a 4-to-4 split would be an important victory for labor (http://start.westnet.ca/newstempch.php?article=entry/scalia-public-sector-unions_us_56bfdb1ce4b0b40245c6f855), since union advocates won that case in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, which skews liberal. (The unions didn't do so well (http://start.westnet.ca/newstempch.php?article=entry/supreme-court-public-unions_us_5693ed2ee4b0a2b6fb70e579) when the Supreme Court heard the case.)
But a split ruling in the abortion case, which is coming from the more conservative 5th Circuit, would represent a blow for women's access to reproductive services, since the lower-court ruling upheld the Texas abortion clinic regulations being challenged.
If more splits do happen, the Supreme Court may consider these issues again in the future, but it probably won't until the Senate decides to confirm Scalia's replacement -- whether that will be the recently nominated Merrick Garland (http://start.westnet.ca/newstempch.php?article=entry/sri-srinivasan-supreme-court-nominee_us_56e313e3e4b0b25c9181dca6) or someone else is still anyone's guess.
Which all underscores the need for a fully functioning Supreme Court. As Justice Anthony Kennedy once said at a congressional hearing (http://www.c-span.org/video/?311494-1/supreme-court-fiscal-year-2014-budget), 4-4 ties "mean that everybody’s time is wasted."
Or as Scalia himself put it once (http://start.westnet.ca/newstempch.php?article=entry/republicans-could-honor-justice-scalia-by-replacing-him_us_56c7bb13e4b041136f171dcd): "The Court proceeds with eight Justices, raising the possibility that, by reason of a tie vote, it will find itself unable to resolve the significant legal issue presented by the case."
-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. (http://start.westnet.ca/newstempch.php?article=terms.html/) It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.
http://rc.feedsportal.com/r/247395623315/u/0/f/677045/c/35496/s/4e709cd2/sc/7/rc/1/rc.img (http://rc.feedsportal.com/r/247395623315/u/0/f/677045/c/35496/s/4e709cd2/sc/7/rc/1/rc.htm)
http://rc.feedsportal.com/r/247395623315/u/0/f/677045/c/35496/s/4e709cd2/sc/7/rc/2/rc.img (http://rc.feedsportal.com/r/247395623315/u/0/f/677045/c/35496/s/4e709cd2/sc/7/rc/2/rc.htm)
http://rc.feedsportal.com/r/247395623315/u/0/f/677045/c/35496/s/4e709cd2/sc/7/rc/3/rc.img (http://rc.feedsportal.com/r/247395623315/u/0/f/677045/c/35496/s/4e709cd2/sc/7/rc/3/rc.htm)
http://da.feedsportal.com/r/247395623315/u/0/f/677045/c/35496/s/4e709cd2/sc/7/a2.img (http://da.feedsportal.com/r/247395623315/u/0/f/677045/c/35496/s/4e709cd2/sc/7/a2.htm)
http://adchoice.feedsportal.com/r/247395623315/u/0/f/677045/c/35496/s/4e709cd2/sc/7/ach.img (http://adchoice.feedsportal.com/r/247395623315/u/0/f/677045/c/35496/s/4e709cd2/sc/7/ach.htm)http://pi.feedsportal.com/r/247395623315/u/0/f/677045/c/35496/s/4e709cd2/sc/7/a2t.imghttp://pi2.feedsportal.com/r/247395623315/u/0/f/677045/c/35496/s/4e709cd2/sc/7/a2t2.imghttp://feeds.huffingtonpost.com/c/35496/f/677045/s/4e709cd2/sc/7/mf.gif
More... (http://feeds.huffingtonpost.com/c/35496/f/677045/s/4e709cd2/sc/7/l/0L0Shuffingtonpost0N0C20A160C0A30C220Csupreme0Ecou rt0Efirst0E40E40Esplit0In0I95230A420Bhtml/story01.htm)