To write dissents to stand as historical record

Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer has announced he will retire at the end of the court’s term in June. Joan McCarter of Daily Kos linked to a confirmation on NBC News, then discussed possible reasons for his decision. There is the obvious reason to retire while Biden and a Democratic Senate can choose another liberal to replace him. There is also annoyance at what the current conservative majority is doing – taking cases with the intent to overturn precedent, taking cases that haven’t yet been through an appeals court, and the increased use of the shadow docket to hand down rulings with no public argument or transparency. McCarter also reported that Breyer’s decision thwarts the plans of Moscow Mitch. Mitch has already threatened that if the Republicans take the Senate in 2022 he would make sure none of Biden’s nominees to the Supremes would be confirmed.. Yup, the ten month refusal he pulled on Obama would be stretched to two years. Various sources have reported that Biden has declared his nominee will be a black woman. Rebekah Sager of Kos reported there are some mighty fine choices for a black woman justice. Sager discussed Ketanji Brown Jackson and Leondra Kruger as worthy candidates, then lists several more. Leah McElrath tweeted some comments that apply no matter who the nominee is:

The specifics of the candidate’s views are less important than their ability to question and draw out the harms of the cases to be brought forth in the foreseeable future and to write dissents to stand as historical record saying: We saw. We tried. The judicial trajectory for the next couple of decades is all but pre-determined, barring a major disruption. The work of civil rights activists now is going to be VERY different than it was for my generation. The work now is largely to be the shoulders for those who come next. This isn’t what anyone wants to hear, but this is where we are—and where we were on the morning of November 9, 2016. The urgency of defeating Trump because of SCOTUS was always about MUCH more than Roe v Wade. It was always about saving a CENTURY worth of progressive gains. The regressive right is now positioned to dismantle it all. We will fight to minimize harm, but most of what we will be doing is fighting—and losing—because fighting is the right thing to do. Most of the fights of the next couple of decades will be about legacy, not progress.

This person would be named to the Court to write strong dissents against a regressive bulldozer to leave instructions for future generations while having little current effect. I hope she’s up to it. Bruce Hinze summarized on McElrath’s thread:

Important thread: the way ahead is hard. Many legal doctrines that have underpinned our lives for almost 100 years will be summarily discarded. Our fight is to grimly bear witness, to fight knowing we will lose, to make it possible for future generations to restore.

Erika Wilson, a law professor, saw the conversation about a black woman might be nominated to the Supremes and also saw the Supremes agreed to hear cases on Affirmative Action at Harvard and UNC. She tweeted a thread about enrolling at UCLA under their “race-neutral” admissions policy and being one of 14 black people in a schools with 1,000 students.

I felt immense pressure to perform. I was hit hard by stereotype threat. It felt like being in a fishbowl. It was weird discussing cases like Brown being the only Blk person in the room. The experience really taught me how much the stigma is BEING BLACK, not affirmative action. Meritocracy is a social construct undergirded by anti-blackness & white supremacy. The club or institution can't be as elite or exclusive if Blk folks are in it. I say all that to say Affirmative action is actually a conservative measure used to mitigate the realities of structural racism that lead to Black exclusion from "elite" institutions. Race-conscious measures are a legitimate & necessary form of reparatory relief.

Bill in Portland, Maine, in his Cheers and Jeers column for Kos, included a cheer that San Jose, California has passed an ordinance requiring gun owners to pay a fee and to carry liability insurance. Mayor Sam Liccardo said the goal is to reduce the risk of gun harm and to relieve taxpayers the financial cost of gun violence. David Neiwert of Kos explained why citizen militias are not legal. The “well regulated” part in the Second Amedment is not about the members carefully training themselves. It is about permission and oversight by the state government for purposes the state deems appropriate. And all 50 states outlaw these militias. Increasingly these militias are not confined to one state. For example militia members from multiple states did their planning in Ohio and training in Michigan to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. These groups see themselves as adjuncts to the military and law enforcement. But they are accountable to no one. They declare they defend communities, bu their violent presence erodes communities and democratic institutions. If they are illegal in every state why aren’t they shut down? Neiwert wrote there are several factors. Law enforcement may not know the law since these militias have been tolerated for so long now. Though all 50 states have laws, they are all a bit different, leading to confusion. The militias themselves have been pushing the false idea they are protected by the Second Amendment. There is a lack of political will and “constitutional sheriffs” who are on the side of the militias. All those reasons are enough for Congress to act. There is a proposed bill with enforcement and the ability for the injured to sue. Alas, we know how likely it is for this Congress to act. April Siese of Kos reported that the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (the big part that passed) includes $12 billion for carbon capture and storage (CCS). Fossil fuel companies like this technology because it gives them the ability to claim they are a tiny bit more green than they actually are. CCS is simply too expensive to get to the scale we would need and even then can’t reduce emissions to zero. We should stop development into the idea and stop prolonging the end of fossil fuels. A few days ago Moscow Mitch made a comment about “African Americans” and “Americans.” He was roundly scolded for the implication that the first group was not a part of the second. Chitown Kev, in a pundit roundup for Kos, quoted Leonard Pitts on the issue:

But if you think McConnell is the only one who needs to be reminded that, as Black poet Langston Hughes once put it, “I, too, sing America,” you haven’t been paying attention. You missed Chuck Todd of NBC’s “Meet The Press” describing how “parents” are worried about critical race theory while “parents of color” might have a different view. You also missed CBS News’ tweet asking, “How young is too young to teach kids about race?” As if children of color don’t learn about race about the same time they learn about walking. Finally, you’ve missed all those news stories where reporters talk about “working-class voters,” “suburban moms” or “evangelicals” when they mean “white” — as if Black and brown people did not work, live outside the city or go to church.

Sager reported that Glenn Youngkin, new Republican governor of Virginia, has set up a “tip line” so conservative Virginians could rat out educators that might be teaching something about race. Monica Hutchinson, a parent of two black children, is outraged at Youngkin, but not surprised. Sager wrote:

When it comes to the topic of American history, which includes the subject of enslaved people and systemic racism, by the way, Hutchinson, who’s attended the recent explosive school board meetings, says “no one is trying to make your child feel bad. But, how do you think our children feel when you refuse to address the past and they’re forced to relive that trauma?” Hutchinson says she doesn’t think it’s even about white kids feeling bad; it’s about them coming home after learning about the history of white Americans and looking at their parents and grandparents and wondering where they stood in times of segregation. “It’s all about denying the truth,” she says, adding: “They talk about the rights of students, but, the rights of which students? And when they talk about how CRT will teach Black kids to be victims, I say it will not. It will teach them that after all of the barriers they’ve had, they’ve made it. They’re survivors.”

Will Bunch of the Philadelphia Inquirer tweeted a promo for one of his articles:

Banning civil-rights history and books from Maus to The Bluest Eye. Va. begging parents to reports teachers, like the Stasi Something terrible is sweeping across America at the start of 2022. What explains the frightening new McCarthyism?

I tried to look at another Inquirer article today. Now that I have a browser with a built in ad-blocker I got a message saying the Inquirer earns money through ads. Subscribe or turn off your blocker. While I understand their point of view at the moment, when faced with their choice, my answer is neither. Marissa Higgins of Kos reported that the school board of Mukilteo, Washington has downgraded the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee from required to optional. A teacher may teach it but no longer must teach it. The change isn’t because of the racism, but because it “perpetuates a ‘white savior’ complex, racial slurs (the N-word), and portrays Black characters as one-dimensional.” Those opposed to the change say the better way would be to keep Mockingbird as required and put alongside it a book by a black author, such as Invisible Man bu Ralph Ellison. In response to the news that a House committee in Florida passed a “Don’t Say Gay” bill, McElrath tweeted:

“According to the @TrevorProject, LGBTQ+ youth who learned about LGBTQ+ people or issues in school had 23% lower odds of reporting a suicide attempt in the last year than those who did not.” Which is the point. They don’t want LGBTQ people to exist. Literally. The research on the impact of positive impact of acceptance on the lives of LGBTQ youth is clear. You only promote policies that deny LGBTQ youth education—and even the ability to discuss their own lives—when you either don’t care if they live or die or if you want them to die.

McElrath also tweeted a half-minute advertisement from Field Team 6 for the upcoming show America Needs a Queen, Drag Queens do Democracy.