The Supreme Court's next decisions: On free speech and taking our rights

The Supreme Court starts their new session Monday so I thought I'd point out a couple (few?) of my favorites--one I've got more of a "dog in the fight".

The first one is this whole thing of those judgemental, damning and condemning crackpots from Topeka, the Phelps clan.  As you likely know, they've gotten their case on their ability to protest at military service people's funerals all the way to the Supreme Court.  Pitiful, isn't it?  Doesn't it seem like these nut cases should be able to "protest" these things--gays in the military--some several hundred feet AWAY from the service person's funeral, so the family can have their peace and quiet while they bury their son or daughter but these pathetic people can have their precious say and First Amendment rights?  Doesn't that seem fair and workable?  Hopefully, that's what the court will decide.  Here's hoping.

Second: Another case involves a different aspect of the First Amendment, the government's relationship to religion. The justices will decide whether Arizona's income tax credit scholarship program, in essence, directs state money to religious schools in violation of the constitutional separation of church and state.

My feeling on this is always the same:  government out of religion, religion out of government.  Any "non-denominational" group or person, along with Christians in this country will immediately go ballistic and protest the first time a Muslim or other religious group wants to go for this same thing.  It's crazy.  We should stop it now, here, and be done with it.

Here's one that really gets me going:  Several cases that pit consumers against business also revolve around when federal law trumps state action. In one case, parents of a child who suffered severe, lasting damage from a vaccine want to use state law to sue a drugmaker, even though Congress has established a special court to hear disputes over vaccines.


The business community is asking the court to rein in the use of class actions in suits and arbitrations in state courts. Plaintiffs often can force large settlements without a trial if they succeed in pooling the claims of everyone who might be affected.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc., backed by many business groups, wants the court to toss out an enormous class-action sex discrimination suit over allegations that it pays women less than men and promotes women less frequently. The case could involve millions of women who once worked at the world's largest private employer.

And you know what that means, folks.  Here we go again.  This court will, I'd almost wager, side with the big corporations and their lawyers, making it that much easier for corporations to do whatever they want in the marketplace all for the sake of profits.  Then, if/when they get caught doing something illegal, as in this case with discrimination which, I remind you, has been declared illegal decades ago (and decades, at least, later than it should have been declared illegal), they want to be able to reduce their damages big time, weakening your and my rights that much more but making it easier for them to keep pocketing profits.  It's disgusting. 

Finally, not any more cases but on the specter of this President possibly, hopefully, replacing more justices:

In recent years, the start of a new term has been accompanied by speculation over who might soon retire. The same nine justices served together from 1994 to 2005, an unusually long period of stability. Since 2005, four new justices have joined the court.


The oldest justice is Ginsburg, at 77. Scalia and Kennedy are 74, while Justice Stephen Breyer is 72.

Ginsburg has said she intends to stay on the court for five more years or so, and the other three septuagenarians have given no indication they are leaving anytime soon.

Here's hoping President Obama can and does end up getting to select a replacement for Antonin Scalia. 

What a happy day that would be.

Have a great weekend, y'all.

Link to original post:  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/10/02/free-speech-cases-at-top-_n_748039.html