https://cleverpeople.com/blog/view/148799/scotus-updates https://cleverpeople.com/blog/view/148799/scotus-updates Mon, 08 Dec 2025 14:09:49 -0500 https://cleverpeople.com/blog/view/148799/scotus-updates This morning the Supreme Court heard Trump v. Slaughter and they seem eager to overturn the 90 year old legal precedent from Humphrey’s Executor v. United States. This would expand Trump's executive powers and allow him to fire anyone he wants. We would no longer have truly independent federal agencies. 😢 You can find the recording and transcript of the oral argument on their website later this afternoon.

Tomorrow, they will hear NRSC v. FEC where they'll likely destroy a Nixon-era corruption law that prevents donors from funneling money to the political candidate through committees. This will be yet another one of our systems of checks and balances that will disappear. It sounds like legalizing political money laundering to me! 🤬

On Friday, SCOTUS halted a free speech case filed by immigration judges. The judges challenged a policy that prevents them from speaking out on immigration issues without prior approval. The 4th Circuit Court of Appeals had revived the case, but the Supreme Court has issued a stay. 😡

This morning SCOTUS also refused to hear the appeal for a Texas case about banning books with race or LGBTQIA+ content from libraries. That means the lower court ruling stands, and the library bans are legal. Some of the lower courts have said that removing books from a library do not equate to banning the book itself. I'd prefer that libraries be free of censorship, but through the Internet we'll hopefully find ways to preserve and share those censored books for future generations to read them. 😭

Here's a link with more background on the library censorship case:
https://www.reuters.com/world/us-supreme-court-turns-away-appeal-texas-library-book-ban-2025-12-08/

]]> Gary Wright II