Three decisions handed out so far, including Arizona's SB 1070, but Obamacare put off til the 28th.
Arizona v. United StatesThis is the SB 1070 case for which we already have a
thread.
Majority opinion by Kennedy with Roberts, Ginsburg, Breyer, and Sotomayor in support. Kagan was recused. Scalia, Thomas, and Alito gave opinions that concurred in part and dissented in part.
Thr district court and the Ninth circuit struck four sections of SB 1070. The opinion of the court upheld three of the strikes, but overturned the fourth strike. Scalia and Thomas would have upheld all of SB 1070. Alito would have struck section 3, but upheld the rest.
Section 2(B) allowing for document checks in certain circumstances was upheld for now, pending how it is implemented.
Section 3 making it a state crime to not comply with federal alien-registration requirements is struck.
Section 5(C) making it a state crime for an illegal alien to seek or engage in work in Arizona is struck.
Section 6 authorizing warrantless detention of suspected illegal aliens is struck.
In general, I prefer Alito's opinion, tho I am uncertain whether I would uphold section 6 since I am uncertain whether its effects are as narrow as Alito posits.
Miller v. AlabamaKagan wrote the 5-4 decision of the court with Kennedy, Ginsburg, Breyer, and Sotomayor joining that struck down mandatory life without parole sentences for juvenile murderers.
Breyer wrote a concurrence that Sotomayor joined expressing that for a court to choose to impose such a sentence, a juvenile must have killed or have intended to kill, not merely been a party to crime during which someone died.
Roberts wrote the primary dissent that Scalia, Thomas, and Alito joined. He denied that there was n Right Amendment question here.
Thomas and Alito both wrote a secondary dissent that Scalia joined.
Like Scalia, I support all three dissents. The court is imposing its own subjective view of what the law should be an usurping to itself the role of the legislative branch. This is most pointedly apparent in Breyer's concurrence.
American Tradition Partnership, Inc. v. BullockCitizens United is upheld per curiam since no one has changed their opinion in the meantime. Whyte Rayne started a
thread for the case.