This month, the Supreme Court will
not be hearing arguments or meeting for conference until February 20th. The last arguments that they heard took place
on Tuesday, January 20th, and Wednesday, January 21st,
and are listed below.
- Williams-Yulee v. Florida Bar
- Armstrong v. Exceptional Child Center, Inc.
- Rodriguez v. United States
- Texas Dept. of Housing and Community Affairs v.Inclusive Communities Project, Inc.
On Monday, February 9th,
the Supreme Court made a controversial decision in its denial of Alabama’s
request to stay a federal judge’s ruling striking down the state’s ban on
same-sex marriage. The Court order cleared the way for same-sex marriage in
Alabama, and couples there are already getting married in the now 37th
same-sex marriage state. While this decision is a step in the right direction,
away from discrimination, and towards equality, Justices Antonin Scalia and
Clarence Thomas made a good point in their dissenting opinion.
They argued that “when courts
declare state laws unconstitutional, the ordinary practice is to suspend those
injunctions from taking effect pending appellate review,” as opposed to simply
ignoring this process and striking down laws seemingly on a whim. While the use
of such a strategy to remove a discriminatory ban on same-sex marriage may not
seem incredibly concerning, it sets a precedent of improper use of power on the
Court’s part. Even bad laws should be disposed of correctly, so that in the
future good laws are not disposed of incorrectly.
