{"id":8018,"date":"2005-06-27T14:03:50","date_gmt":"2005-06-27T21:03:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/2005\/06\/27\/supremes-cases.html"},"modified":"2013-06-05T10:35:42","modified_gmt":"2013-06-05T16:35:42","slug":"supremes_cases","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2005\/06\/27\/supremes_cases.html","title":{"rendered":"Supremes cases"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Here&#8217;s my uninformed (i.e., I haven&#8217;t read much more beyond just the news stories) opinions on some of the recent end-of-session flurry of Supreme Court cases:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2005\/LAW\/06\/27\/scotus.ten.commandments\/index.html\" target=\"_blank\">Ten<\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/stories\/2005\/06\/27\/supremecourt\/main704367.shtml\" target=\"_blank\">Commandments<\/a>: Two split (and split) decisions on public display of the Ten Commandments. In decisions sure to displease both absolutist sides (and close enough at 5-4 each to make both sides of any upcoming Justice confirmation froth at the mouth even further), the Court neither outright banned nor outright allowed 10C displays in public buildings. Instead, it provided various factors to consider.In the case of a <a href=\"http:\/\/caselaw.lp.findlaw.com\/scripts\/getcase.pl?court=US&amp;vol=000&amp;invol=03-1500\" target=\"_blank\">Texas granite monument<\/a> at the state capitol, the historical nature of the monument (as well as its presence on the grounds of the capitol as opposed to inside of a courtroom) argued for its retention. It had been in place since 1961, and that seems to have been the deciding factor. While some might argue that the length of time an evil has persisted is no argument to allow it to continue to persist, the passage of time also alters the nature of the offense; clearly, what was seen as a permissible display of state\/religious entanglement in 1961 (and over decades afterward) is not necessarily the same as what&#8217;s acceptable to do today.\n<p>Which was what the <a href=\"http:\/\/caselaw.lp.findlaw.com\/scripts\/getcase.pl?court=US&amp;vol=000&amp;invol=03-1693\" target=\"_blank\">Kentucky case<\/a> seemed to revolve around. They were an attempt to put the 10C into courtrooms today, both the location and timing of which was seen as sending an unacceptable message of religious preference.<\/p>\n<p>Overall, the Court refused to offer an overall rule, but indicated that these things will need to be examined on a case-by-case basis, factoring in history, setting, and intent as to what message such an inscription sends. I&#8217;ll need to read more to get a better feel for it, but overall I&#8217;m at least not aghast.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/money.cnn.com\/2005\/06\/27\/technology\/grokster\/index.htm\" target=\"_blank\">Software<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/stories\/2005\/06\/27\/supremecourt\/main704459.shtml\" target=\"_blank\">Piracy<\/a>: The court agreed that software companies that produce technology which can be used for piracy and encourage (or do not somehow discourage) such use, can be sued for such piracy. Yeargh. On the one hand, yeah, despite all the legit uses of peer-to-peer, it&#8217;s clear that most folks see it as a way to (illegally) swap files, and &#8220;hear no evil, see no evil&#8221; is a dubious ethical code. On the other hand, not only do I have a visceral dislike for Big Media (even as I shovel dollars in their mouths), but find the idea that one is guilty for what someone else can do with your creation to be &#8230; worrisome.<\/li>\n<li>&nbsp;\n<p>I need to review this one more carefully. I fear, though, that most of the write-ups I read about it will consist of either Jack Valenti crowing or warnings of DOOOOM, and I suspect the reality will be somewhere in-between. On the bright side, the Court didn&#8217;t actually rule on the case at hand, only that the defense that &#8220;We aren&#8217;t committing the crime, therefore we can&#8217;t be sued for it&#8221; doesn&#8217;t apply. It seems that the lower court to which the Grokster case goes will still need to rule on whether Grokster intended that illegal file sharing would be allowed by its software.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/money.cnn.com\/2005\/06\/27\/technology\/broadband_ruling\/index.htm?cnn=yes\" target=\"_blank\">Cable Internet<\/a>: The Court ruled that a lower court was wrong to force the FCC to tell cable companies they must lease their lines for third party cable modem service. Legally (which, of course, is what matters) they may be on solid ground (the Court basically seems to have said that it&#8217;s an FCC decision, not a judiciary one), but it means less competition and higher prices, most likely, for cable modem service.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/stories\/2005\/06\/23\/supremecourt\/main703657.shtml\" target=\"_blank\">Eminent Domain<\/a>: The Court ruled last week that local governments can use eminent domain on behalf of private developers, not just for public development &#8212; i.e., jobs and tax revenue can represent a &#8220;public use&#8221; under the Fifth Amendment, if so desired by local communities. While on the one hand, I see eminent domain as something that should be a last resort (and hate to see neighborhoods and older buildings demolished on behalf of Big Development Companies who may or may not come through with promised tax revenues), it&#8217;s also a matter of (as Justice Stevens noted) recognizing that it is up to the local communities &#8212; the local government as elected by the voters, or even the state government &#8212; to make that decision, not the Feds. Federalism is funny in that way.<\/li>\n<li>&nbsp;\n<p>So, another one where I can see the legal justification, even if the Real World outcome is not what I&#8217;d like to see.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/stories\/2005\/06\/07\/supremecourt\/main700068.shtml\" target=\"_blank\">Medical Pot<\/a>: Bottom line, if it&#8217;s something that can be sold, it can be sold across state lines, which means that it can be restricted by Federal law under the &#8220;interstate commerce&#8221; clause. Which means that the Feds can enforce anti-marijuana use laws, even if a state has approved pot&#8217;s use for medical purposes. I understand the rationale (which has been used and abused by the Feds almost as much as the &#8220;promote the general welfare&#8221; phrase), but I&#8217;m not thrilled (nor surprised) with the application of it.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>And so it goes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Here&#8217;s my uninformed (i.e., I haven&#8217;t read much more beyond just the news stories) opinions on some of the recent end-of-session flurry of Supreme Court cases: Ten Commandments: Two split&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[35,109,79,28,9,27,371,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8018","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-big-business","category-church-state","category-media-intellectual-property","category-media-moguls","category-politics-law","category-religion","category-war-on-drugs","category-zt-pc"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":8811,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2006\/04\/11\/hang_ten_comman.html","url_meta":{"origin":8018,"position":0},"title":"Hang Ten (Commandments)","author":"***Dave","date":"Tue 11-Apr-06 5:43pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Haven't we already gone through this again and again and again and again? Evidently we have to go through another \"again.\" At a ceremonial signing today of a bill that...","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Politics &amp; Law&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Politics &amp; Law","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/politics-law"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":133746,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2017\/06\/28\/crashing-into-the-ten-commandments.html","url_meta":{"origin":8018,"position":1},"title":"Crashing into the Ten Commandments","author":"***Dave","date":"Wed 28-Jun-17 10:39pm","format":false,"excerpt":"While I object to the sectarian-ordained imposition of the holy writ of one religion on governmental grounds, vandalism (whether considered or the result of mental illness) is not the answer, and not something to be celebrated. Not only is it a temporary solution, and an unlawful one (though \"defacing an\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;~PlusPosts&quot;","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":362,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2003\/04\/28\/the_establishme.html","url_meta":{"origin":8018,"position":2},"title":"The Establishment","author":"***Dave","date":"Mon 28-Apr-03 1:18pm","format":false,"excerpt":"The Supremes have turned down (without comment) an appeal by Kentucky of an appeals court ruling which forbade erecting a Ten Commandments monument on the state capitol grounds. The governor...","rel":"","context":"In &quot;ZT &amp; PC&quot;","block_context":{"text":"ZT &amp; PC","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/zt-pc"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7187,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2004\/10\/12\/the_big_nine_ta.html","url_meta":{"origin":8018,"position":3},"title":"The Big Nine take on the Big Ten","author":"***Dave","date":"Tue 12-Oct-04 2:47pm","format":false,"excerpt":"The Supreme Court has agreed to take on a couple of \"state display of the Ten Commandments\" cases. Well, that'll guarantee some discussion topics in the blogosphere once the election...","rel":"","context":"In &quot;ZT &amp; PC&quot;","block_context":{"text":"ZT &amp; PC","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/zt-pc"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5125,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2003\/10\/29\/marked.html","url_meta":{"origin":8018,"position":4},"title":"Marked","author":"***Dave","date":"Wed 29-Oct-03 11:52am","format":false,"excerpt":"The Casper City Council is trying to take the middle road regarding its own Ten Commandments monument and a proposed Fred Phelps monument condemning Matthew Shepherd to hell. Bully for...","rel":"","context":"In &quot;ZT &amp; PC&quot;","block_context":{"text":"ZT &amp; PC","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/zt-pc"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":40017,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2013\/12\/11\/religious-monuments-for-the-goose-are-religious-monuments-for-the-gander.html","url_meta":{"origin":8018,"position":5},"title":"Religious Monuments for the Goose Are Religious Monuments for the Gander","author":"***Dave","date":"Wed 11-Dec-13 8:52pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Not to mention for the Monkey.'The Universal Society of Hinduism plans to submit an application to the Oklahoma State Capitol Preservation Commission for permission to place a statue of Lord Hanuman on the statehouse grounds.'All of this started with the Oklahoma State Legislature passed a special measure to allow for\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;~PlusPosts&quot;","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8018","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8018"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8018\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37485,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8018\/revisions\/37485"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8018"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8018"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8018"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}