Mock U.S. Supreme Court...

[Kaine for Senate '18]

Mr. Justice Constine
Mr. Justice HappyWarrior
Mr. Justice Purple State

[Kaine for Senate '18]

Mr. Justice Constine
Mr. Justice HappyWarrior
Mr. Justice Purple State
Mr. Justice Fezzyfestoon

[Devilman88]

I don't know a lot about the Court system, but I'll give it a try.

Dan

[RIP Robert H Bork]

I don't know a lot about the Court system, but I'll give it a try.

[Kaine for Senate '18]

Mr. Justice Constine
Mr. Justice HappyWarrior
Mr. Justice Purple State
Mr. Justice Fezzyfestoon
Mr. Justice Dan
Mr. Justice Officepark

[Hash]

I'll try.

[Kaine for Senate '18]

Mr. Justice Constine
Mr. Justice HappyWarrior
Mr. Justice Purple State
Mr. Justice Fezzyfestoon
Mr. Justice Dan
Mr. Justice Officepark
Mr. Justice Hashemite

[Devilman88]

Looks like there is going to be a moderate court.

[Kaine for Senate '18]

Looks like there is going to be a moderate court.

Maybe, maybe not.  You'd be surprised.  In the original version, I was to the right of people like Fezzy, so you never know.

[Purple State]

Looks like there is going to be a moderate court.

Maybe, maybe not.  You'd be surprised.  In the original version, I was to the right of people like Fezzy, so you never know.

Ideology is often different than constitutional interpretation.

[Hash]

Looks like there is going to be a moderate court.

Unless I adopt a Philippe de Villiers-type persona.

[Kaine for Senate '18]

I've gotten a PM from Xahar asking to join, so:

Mr. Justice Constine
Mr. Justice HappyWarrior
Mr. Justice Purple State
Mr. Justice Fezzyfestoon
Mr. Justice Dan
Mr. Justice Officepark
Mr. Justice Hashemite
Mr. Justice Xahar

[Devilman88]

So, what is next?

[Kaine for Senate '18]

So, what is next?

We get a 9th Justice, and then pick our first case.

[Kaine for Senate '18]

We only need one more Justice before we can start.

[justfollowingtheelections]

I'll join

[Kaine for Senate '18]

Mr. Justice Constine
Mr. Justice HappyWarrior
Mr. Justice Purple State
Mr. Justice Fezzyfestoon
Mr. Justice Dan
Mr. Justice Officepark
Mr. Justice Hashemite
Mr. Justice Xahar
Mr. Justice Blago

We now have 9 Justices, and can begin.  As a matter of convenience, I'll take Chief Justice, and let seniority be determined by who joined first.  Therefore, Mr. Justice HappyWarrior is the Senior Justice, and Mr. Justice Blago is our Junior Justice, etc.

Does anyone have a suggestion for our first case?

[Devilman88]

Engel v. Vitale

[Kaine for Senate '18]

Facts of the Case:
The Board of Regents for the State of New York authorized a short, voluntary prayer for recitation at the start of each school day. This was an attempt to defuse the politically potent issue by taking it out of the hands of local communities. The blandest of invocations read as follows: "Almighty God, we acknowledge our dependence upon Thee, and beg Thy blessings upon us, our teachers, and our country."

Question:
Does the reading of a nondenominational prayer at the start of the school day violate the "establishment of religion" clause of the First Amendment?

Conclusion:
Yes. Neither the prayer's nondenominational character nor its voluntary character saves it from unconstitutionality. By providing the prayer, New York officially approved religion. This was the first in a series of cases in which the Court used the establishment clause to eliminate religious activities of all sorts, which had traditionally been a part of public ceremonies. Despite the passage of time, the decision is still unpopular with a majority of Americans.

Justices in the Majority: Warren, Black, Douglas, Clark, Harlan, Brennan
Justices in the Minority: Stewart
Justices not participating: Frankfurter, White

Link to the Oral argument: http://www.oyez.org/cases/1960-1969/1961/1961_468/argument
Link to the various Opinions: http://supreme.justia.com/us/370/421/case.html

[justfollowingtheelections]

I vote against government directed-prayer in public schools for a number of reasons.  In a society as diverse as ours it is disrespectful towards people of different faiths to compose an official prayer and therefore establish an "official" religion.
It is also wrong because young minds should be encouraged to form their own beliefs, not forced to adopt the already existing ones without questioning.

[Devilman88]

Facts of the Case:
The Board of Regents for the State of New York authorized a short, voluntary prayer for recitation at the start of each school day. This was an attempt to defuse the politically potent issue by taking it out of the hands of local communities. The blandest of invocations read as follows: "Almighty God, we acknowledge our dependence upon Thee, and beg Thy blessings upon us, our teachers, and our country."

Question:
Does the reading of a nondenominational prayer at the start of the school day violate the "establishment of religion" clause of the First Amendment?

Conclusion:
Yes. Neither the prayer's nondenominational character nor its voluntary character saves it from unconstitutionality. By providing the prayer, New York officially approved religion. This was the first in a series of cases in which the Court used the establishment clause to eliminate religious activities of all sorts, which had traditionally been a part of public ceremonies. Despite the passage of time, the decision is still unpopular with a majority of Americans.

Justices in the Majority: Warren, Black, Douglas, Clark, Harlan, Brennan
Justices in the Minority: Stewart
Justices not participating: Frankfurter, White

Link to the Oral argument: http://www.oyez.org/cases/1960-1969/1961/1961_468/argument
Link to the various Opinions: http://supreme.justia.com/us/370/421/case.html

What do we do now, you going to have to go over the way you are going to run this.

[Kaine for Senate '18]

What do we do now, you going to have to go over the way you are going to run this.

I allow 36 hours for people to decide how they want to vote; once you decide, you PM me your vote.  After 36 hours, I tally up the vote, and the Senior Justice in the majority (or the Chief Justice), assigns the opinion.  The writer then circulates his opinion, and publishes once it has at least 4 other joins.  Justices can just join an opinion, or they can write their own dissent, concurrence, etc.

[Kaine for Senate '18]

Also, please post here when you've voted.  So far, the following have voted:

MR. CHIEF JUSTICE CONSTINE
MR. JUSTICE XAHAR
MR. JUSTICE BLAGO

[Devilman88]

I sent you my vote.

[Kaine for Senate '18]

So far, the following have voted:

MR. CHIEF JUSTICE CONSTINE
MR. JUSTICE XAHAR
MR. JUSTICE BLAGO
MR. JUSTICE DAN