#state supreme court

[reasonsforhope]

It was a really, really good political news day today in the US (4/4/23)

For anyone who hasn't heard, not only did Trump get arrested, but also:

-We found out that the legal case against him in this prosecution (stormy daniels hush money case) is SIGNIFICANTLY stronger than people had speculated. Like, wow do they have receipts.

-In fact, the evidence was so entirely there that the new question on prime time news (well, at least on msnbc lol) is "Hey, why didn't the federal courts prosecute him for this already???)

-Trump FAILED UTTERLY in his attempts to rally mass protests and demands for "death and destruction" if he was arrested. There was no violence at the arrest at all, and as for Trump supporters? They failed to show up in any kind of numbers--reportedly only about a hundred people were protesting the arrest

-We (aka Judge Janet Protasiewicz) WON what is widely considered to be the most consequential election of 2023, a Wisconsin state supreme court election that handed control of the state supreme court to the left

-Because of that election win, it is now extremely likely that abortion will be legal in Wisconsin, and that Wisconsin won't be able to throw out electors in the 2024 presidential election

-ALSO bc of this, Wisconsin, the most gerrymandered state in the country, will probably get nonpartisan, accurate maps, which COULD FLIP THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES in 2024

-In Chicago, Brandon Johnson, union organizer and former teacher, won the election for mayor, in a decisive win progressives, esp for meaningful criminal justice reform and investment in mental health (whereas the other guy was campaigning on hiring hundreds of new cops and being super tough on crime)

#united states #us politics #wisconsin #supreme court #criminal justice reform #progressive politics #democrats #VOTING MATTERS #brandon johnson #janet protasiewicz #state supreme court #elections #gerrymandering #chicago #illinois #mayor #donald trump #trump indictment #trump arrest #alvin bragg #grand jury #manhattan #stormy daniels #good news #hope

[gwydionmisha]

Please, please, please vote!

#Pennsylvania #State Supreme Court #Election #Vote #News

[dontmeantobepoliticalbut]

Donald Trump is now calling on the Republican speaker of the Assembly in the Wisconsin state legislature to snatch back the state’s 2020 electoral votes to declare him the winner of the presidential race he lost in the wake of a court ruling on ballot drop boxes.

He pushed the astonishing plan a day after he baselessly declared himself the winner in the state when the Wisconsin Supreme Court on Friday restricted the number of absentee ballot boxes in future elections. He again insisted in his message Saturday that he is the “actual winner (by a lot!)” in the battleground state.

There is no evidence that the vote in Wisconsin, or anywhere else in the nation, was fraudulent. Dozens of court cases and several recounts state by state verified Biden’s victory.

Trump and his Republican allies have claimed that drop boxes facilitated cheating the last election, but have offered no evidence.

The conservative-controlled Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled 5-4 Friday that under current law, absentee ballot drop boxes may only be placed in election offices — and that no one other than the voter can return a ballot in person. “Ballot drop boxes appear nowhere in the detailed statutory system for absentee voting,” Justice Rebecca Bradley wrote.

Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Robin Vos could not immediately be reached for comment about Trump’s demand. Vos hailed the court’s decision in a statement Friday — and called the drop boxes “illegal” — but said nothing about throwing out election results.

Democratic Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers on Friday condemned the court’s decision, lashing it as part of the Republican effort to make it more difficult to vote.

Critics say the GOP goal is to significantly decrease the number of votes in the nation, which is generally considered beneficial to Republicans. One way to do that it to make voting as inconvenient as possible. Mail-in ballots and drop boxes have been popular during the COVID-19 pandemic so voters don’t have to risk their health — and lives — at crowded polling stations to vote.

Trump continues to push for single-day, in-person voting in elections — prohibiting convenient mail-in ballots and early voting that 69% of American voters used in 2020. (Trump himself votes by mail.) That would be challenging, especially for the disabled and the elderly, as well as for those working long hours or two jobs, along with juggling child care.

#us politics #news #huffington post #donald trump #Wisconsin #state supreme court #absentee ballot #ballot drop boxes #truth social #Justice Rebecca Bradley #Robin Vos #Gov. Tony Evers #Republicans #conservatives #gop #2022

[luckydiorxoxo]

#Supreme Court #the united states #state Supreme Court

[nodynasty4us]

Please notice that there are two lists in the article -- one for states where candidates for the state supreme court face off against each other and one for states where there is a yes/no choice to retain judges who are already in office.

#states #state supreme court

[viola-bitch]

Anyway Wisconsin had a really big state Supreme Court election today (like most expensive state Supreme Court election in the history of this country by like double) and it’s looking really good for Janet Protasiewicz thank god. Anyway we think she’ll help update our abortion law from 1849 and rule in favor of fixing the gerrymandering.

I’ve been crying watching the results come in because of how big of a difference this will make for us.

#Wisconsin #elections #state Supreme Court #Janet protasiewicz #me sobbing alone in my dorm room

[calicojack1718]

Tuberville and the Wisconsin Gerrymander: GOP's Gaslighting of Democracy

How much does the GOP not give a good goddamn about our democracy? They're willing to support Tuberville's blockade of military appointments by blaming it all on Chuck Schumer. They're willing to circumvent the will of the voters and keep a Supreme on ice

SUMMARY: Today we’ll look at two situations that highlight the GOP’s commitment to undermining democracy. The first situation involves Senator Tuberville blocking military appointments, the Republican Senators’ attempt to blame Democrats for the consequences. The second situation focuses on Wisconsin Republicans’ gerrymandering tactics to maintain control over the legislature and the state…

View On WordPress

#Democracy #Follow-the-Leader #Gaslighting #Impeachment #Janet Protasiewicz #Merrick Garland #Mitch McConnell #Sportification #State Supreme Court #Tommy Tuberville #Trial #Wisconsin

[generalgemini-booknerd]

Hey fellow Wisconsinites..

This one’s important. I know it doesn’t feel like it, but it’s super super important. GO VOTE!

#wisconsin #Wisconsinites #go vote! #state supreme court #voter suppression is real #fuck the gerrymandering!!

[vyeoh]

(The Washington Post)

For those who don't know, the US Supreme Court just ruled that states are allowed to enforce trans healthcare for minors. Undoubtedly, this will trigger a wave of other states that either hope to pass or have already passed policies to do the same. This is going to kill children, and harm more in long-lasting ways.

So, how can you help?

FUCKING VOTE. I don't care if you don't like Biden, he's not the only one on the ballot. Vote representatives into your city council who will turn our city into a sanctuary city. Vote for governors and state reps who will, even if they don't pass new protections, oppose bans being pushed through. Chsllenge and kick out conservative incumbents who are banking on their races being obscure enough for people to not vote in.

Anyone telling you voting is useless is either lying to you or grossly uninformed and think saying this is the edgy new take that will make them look hip and informed. Yes, the system is broken. But short of burning the whole thing to the ground (which personally I'm not a fan of as I quite enjoy having like. Roads and the FDA) what we can do is to change it for the better, by starting with the local races and working our way up.

#vio.txt #politics #us politics #lemme tell you when i read this story and my heart sank #the supreme court has set the tone on ruling on trans healthcare #the best thing we can do is ensure those decisions never reach them #this is your reminder that state court justices are an elected position #but god. im deeply worried for the upcoming election #transgender #lgbtq #lgbt #also on another note please vote for biden????? like trump is currently in several trials we cannot give him the power to pardon?????? #also im hoping he'll keep erasing student loans

[hornykylo]

#fuck the supreme court #every day i wake up #ramblings #adam driver #adam driver memes #abortion is healthcare #reproductive rights #memes #united states #roe v wade #feminism #marriage story

[gwydionmisha]

#South Carolina #Judiciary #State Supreme Court #Abortion Ban #News

[dontmeantobepoliticalbut]

A Travis County judge has ordered the state to stop child-abuse investigations into two families w ho are helping their transgender kids access gender-affirming care.

State District Judge Amy Clark Meachum wrote the investigations are "gross invasions of privacy" that intrude on parental rights and decision-making. The order bars the agency from expanding the definition of child abuse in order to investigate the families.

Meachum's order, delivered Friday evening, determined that the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services violated state law by improperly implementing a new rule on gender-affirming care at the insistence of Gov. Greg Abbott in February.

The judge said she was still weighing whether to provide additional relief to Texas members of PFLAG, an LGBTQ advocacy group that sued to block child-abuse investigations into families who are members of the group. She's also still weighing whether to provide more relief to a third family that sued but had already been cleared of abuse allegations.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton quickly appealed, as he did with a similar injunction issued by Meachum in March.

In a joint statement, lawyers for the families praised the judge for recognizing "that being subjected to an unlawful and unwarranted investigation causes irreparable harm for these families who are doing nothing more than caring for and affirming their children and seeking the best course of care for them in consultation with their medical providers."

In her order, Meachum said the families — identified in court documents under the pseudonyms Roe and Voe — would be placed in harm's way if the investigations were allowed to continue, including depriving or disrupting medically necessary care for their transgender teens.

The child abuse policy also infringes on the parents' right to make medical decisions for their children in consultation with health care providers and inflicts trauma on the adolescents, Meachum wrote.

Meachum's injunction blocked the child-welfare agency from taking any action against the families other than to close its investigations — if that can be done without further contact with the parents or children.

The ordeal began in February when Paxton issued a nonbinding legal opinion that said gender-affirming care could be grounds for child-abuse under state laws. National medical experts said Paxton relied on false claims, exaggerations and errors to reach that conclusion, but Abbott followed with a Feb. 22 letter directing the Department of Family and Protective Services to investigate such care as abuse, and the state's child-welfare agency agreed to do so.

ABBOTT FACES LEGAL ROADBLOCKS

In the months since Abbott ordered the state's child welfare agency to begin investigating parents of transgender children for "child abuse," experts have repeatedly argued the directive carries no legal weight and legal challenges have followed.

The first lawsuit was filed by a mother, identified only as Jane Doe, who worked for the Department of Family and Protective Services and came under investigation after asking a supervisor what Abbott's directive meant for her transgender teen. Meachum responded in March by issuing a statewide injunction barring all abuse investigations based solely on providing gender-affirming care.

Paxton's bid to overturn the injunction is still before the Austin-based 3rd Court of Appeals, but in the meantime, the Texas Supreme Court substantially limited the scope of the judge's order, striking down the statewide injunction in May while allowing it to apply only to the Doe family.

Experts say the Texas Supreme Court's ruling May ruling struck down the statewide injunction because the court still needs to be provided with more evidence to grant full protection to all families with transgender children in the state, not just families DFPS has already begun investigating.

"Though that protection is not at this time permanent it is because it's too early to grant final relief," Stephen Sheppard, former dean of St. Mary's School of Law in San Antonio told USA TODAY in May. "There's not been a trial yet. But this is an indication of what all three levels of Texas courts believe (will be) the outcome after the trial."

When Child Protective Services resumed child abuse investigations after the state Supreme Court's ruling, three more families filed suit, this time joined by PFLAG, a leading LGBTQ advocacy organization. Last month, a different Travis County judge responded by issuing a temporary restraining order blocking investigations into the three families and any member of PFLAG.

On Wednesday, during a daylong hearing in Austin on whether to convert the restraining order into a longer-lasting injunction, lawyers for Paxton argued state law gives the child-welfare agency the authority to protect minors from abuse, including the potentially improper use of puberty blockers and hormone therapy.

A lawyer for Texas also made false claims about the purpose of gender-affirming care and tried to broadly associate the medical care with political ideologies.

Lawyers for the families of transgender adolescents said the safety of the procedures is well established in science, and children are treated only in consultation with mental health professionals, family doctors and specialists.

Two mothers who are under CPS investigation testified about how the fear of being removed from their home worsened anxieties for their transgender teens, both of whom had to continue high school from virtually this spring.

Gender-affirmation typically begins with a social transition, with youths possibly adopting new names, pronouns and clothing that better expresses their gender identity.

Medical treatment for a diagnosis of gender dysphoria, the distress caused when a person's body does not match their gender identity, can include puberty blockers to delay body and voice changes so that a teen doesn't have to develop physical characteristics of a different gender after they have already transitioned socially. The effects of puberty blockers are reversible, doctors say.

Hormone therapy, which begins after the onset of puberty, can introduce lasting body changes, while surgery typically does not occur before age 18, doctors say.

Texas families with transgender children who are worried about being investigated by DFPS can gain protection through PFLAG membership, according to the organization. Because courts have only ruled on cases involving PFLAG members, families who are not a part of the group do not have full legal protection against state investigation at this time.

Bills that would ban gender-affirming care for transgender youth have been introduced in the Texas legislature but have failed to become law.

#us politics #news #2022 #lgbtqia+ #lgbtqia+ rights #texas #usa today #Judge Amy Clark Meachum #Texas Department of Family and Protective Services #Gov. Greg Abbott #PFLAG #ken paxton #state supreme court #Child Protective Services #gender affirming healthcare #hormone therapy #trans rights #trans pride #transgender

[genderqueerpositivity]

With the landmark ruling — which falls in line with many of the SCOTUS justices' conservative stances — a precedent has now been set that in certain instances, U.S. businesses can legally deny their services to LGBTQ+ people under the First Amendment.

A final fuck you to the LGBTQ community at the end of Pride Month, courtesy of the Supreme Court.

#scotus #LGBTQ #politics #us politics #usa politics #lgbtqia #queer #news #supreme court of the united states

[justsomeantifas]

honestly jokes on the supreme court bcuz if they eliminated 20k off my debt I woulda paid the rest in full, but now i aint neeeever paying that shit off lmao!

#politics #the united states #supreme court #student debt

[fremedon]

For U.S. folks, a guide to state supreme court races in your state this year: https://boltsmag.org/your-state-by-state-guide-to-the-2024-supreme-court-elections/

These downballot races can have a huge impact on life in your state. If you have judges on the ballot this year, please read up on the race!

#us politics #downballot races #state supreme courts