Tag Archives: clarence

Clarence Thomas Just Did Something He Hasn’t Done in a Decade

Mother Jones

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For years, critics alleged that Justice Clarence Thomas was hiding behind his conservative compatriot, the late Justice Antonin Scalia, as a way of disguising a lack of intellectual heft or qualifications to be on the bench. Exhibit A has been the fact that it’s been a decade since Thomas asked a question during oral arguments. But today, in a courtroom still draped in black to honor Scalia, Thomas came out of that shadow to prove those critics wrong.

Thomas didn’t just ask one question—he asked many questions this morning and, in doing so, completely changed the direction of the oral arguments. In Voisine v. US, a somewhat obscure criminal case involving domestic violence and gun rights, the court is considering a case that could make it easier for people convicted of misdemeanor domestic violence offenses to keep their gun rights.

In 1996, Congress passed the Lautenberg Amendment to the Gun Control Act, which instituted a lifetime ban on gun possession for people convicted of misdemeanor domestic violence offenses. During most of the oral arguments this morning, lawyers and justices alike focused on the minutia of the definition of “battery,” as Congress might have intended it under the law. Then Thomas stepped in and raised a much larger constitutional question that might once have been asked by Scalia.

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Clarence Thomas Just Did Something He Hasn’t Done in a Decade

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Ruth Bader Ginsburg: America Is Ready to Accept a Pro-Gay-Marriage SCOTUS Ruling

Mother Jones

In a new interview with Bloomberg on Wednesday, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said she believes Americans are set to accept a constitutional decision legalizing gay marriage in the country, saying it would “not take a large adjustment” for people to eventually come around on the issue.

“I think it’s doubtful that it wouldn’t be accepted,” Ginsburg said. “The change in people’s attitudes on that issue has been enormous.”

The justice’s comments are yet another indication the Supreme Court will rule in favor of gay marriage this June, when justices will hear a monumental case deciding if the Constitution provides the right for same-sex marriages.

“In recent years, people have said, ‘This is the way I am,'” Ginsburg added. “And others looked around, and we discovered it’s our next-door neighbor–we’re very fond of them or it’s our child’s best friend, or even our child. I think that as more and more people came out and said that ‘this is who I am,’ the rest of us recognized that they are one of us.”

Earlier this week, President Obama said he thinks the court will make a historic “shift” in this summer’s ruling and that it’s time to recognize “same-sex couples should have the same rights as anybody else.”

In the court’s decision not to block gay marriage in Alabama on Monday, Justice Clarence Thomas wrote in his dissent that the ruling offered another “signal” that gay rights advocates will be similarly successful this summer. Despite the decision, however, several Alabama counties still refused to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. Even with such defiant opposition, Ginsburg maintained a positive outlook.

“One way or another it will be decided before we leave town in June.”

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Ruth Bader Ginsburg: America Is Ready to Accept a Pro-Gay-Marriage SCOTUS Ruling

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Black Man Lawfully Carrying Gun Gets Pummeled by White Vigilante at Walmart

Mother Jones

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There is no shortage of debate about whether allowing citizens to carry concealed guns makes society safer. You may be shocked to learn that the answer could depend in part on the color of a citizen’s skin.

Exhibit A this week, from Florida: A surveillance video from a Walmart located near Tampa shows 62-year-old Clarence Daniels trying to enter the store to purchase some coffee creamer for his wife this past Tuesday. He barely steps through the automatic doors before he is pummeled by shopper Michael Foster, a 43-year-old white man.

“He’s got a gun!” Foster shouts, to which Daniels replies, “I have a permit!”

According to local news reports, Foster originally spotted Daniels in the store’s parking lot placing his legally owned handgun underneath his coat. In keeping with Florida’s well-known vigilante spirit, Foster decided to take matters into his own hands by following Daniels into the Walmart. Without warning, he tackled Daniels and placed him in a chokehold.

Police soon arrived and confirmed Daniels indeed had a permit for the handgun.

“Unfortunately, he tackled a guy that was a law-abiding citizen,” said Larry McKinnon, a police spokesperson. “We understand it’s alarming for people to see other people with guns, but Florida has a large population of concealed weapons permit holders.”

Foster is now facing battery charges.

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Black Man Lawfully Carrying Gun Gets Pummeled by White Vigilante at Walmart

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