This week, the U.S. Supreme Court has handed down two egregious and catastrophic decisions, one granting greater rights to those who confuse their guns for their penises,[1] and one stripping women of the right to an abortion.[2]
People of conscience everywhere should be asking of the Democratic Party what it has actually done, not said, not performatively done, but actually done to prevent these outcomes. An honest answer will be that the Democratic Party has done absolutely nothing.
Abortion
Matt Ford, “Clarence Thomas Will Wipe Out Marriage Equality and Contraception Next,” New Republic June 24, 2022, https://newrepublic.com/article/166891/thomas-roe-marriage-equality-contraception
Brent Kendall and Jess Bravin, “Supreme Court Overturns Roe v. Wade, Eliminates Constitutional Right to Abortion,” Wall Street Journal, June 24, 2022, https://www.wsj.com/articles/supreme-court-overturns-roe-v-wade-eliminates-constitutional-right-to-abortion-11656080124
Pittsburgh
Infrastructure
The City of Pittsburgh is resisting pre-trial discovery needed to identify additional defendants in a lawsuit over the Fern Hollow Bridge collapse, saying the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is still investigating. Its investigation could take up to two years. Neither Paula Reed Ward’s nor Jesse Bunch’s story says if the NTSB was contacted for comment or how it is that release of the information might make the NTSB’s investigation not “clean”[3] and apparently records obtained by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in a “right to know” request[4] comprise only part of what plaintiffs need to identify defendants.[5]
Paula Reed Ward, “Pittsburgh argues against release of documents in Fern Hollow Bridge collapse civil case,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, June 23, 2022, https://triblive.com/local/pittsburgh-argues-against-release-of-documents-in-fern-hollow-bridge-collapse-civil-case/
Jesse Bunch, “City blocks lawyer’s request for Fern Hollow Bridge documents,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, June 24, 2022, https://www.post-gazette.com/news/crime-courts/2022/06/23/pittsburgh-blocks-lawyer-peter-giglione-request-for-fern-hollow-bridge-inspection-documents/stories/202206230150
Patrick Varine, “Turnpike interchange at I-79 and Southern Beltway now fully open,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, June 24, 2022, https://triblive.com/local/regional/turnpike-interchange-at-i-79-and-southern-beltway-now-fully-open/
Gun nuttery
Bill Chappell, “Texas GOP’s new platform says Biden didn’t really win. It also calls for secession,” National Public Radio, June 20, 2022, https://www.npr.org/2022/06/20/1106229988/texas-gops-new-platform-says-biden-didnt-really-win-it-also-calls-for-secession
Michael Tomasky, “The Founders Feared a Tyranny of the Majority, but What We Have Is a Tyranny of a Fanatical Minority,” New Republic, June 20, 2022, https://newrepublic.com/article/166848/gop-minority-rule-gun-safety
Eliza Collins and Natalie Andrews, “Senate Negotiators Release Text of Gun Bill,” Wall Street Journal, June 21, 2022, https://www.wsj.com/articles/gun-control-talks-held-up-by-abortion-provision-11655827268
Mark Scolforo, “GOP lawmakers block assault-style gun ban for those under 21,” Associated Press, June 21, 2022, https://apnews.com/article/shootings-violence-pennsylvania-united-states-gun-politics-7b3d9440bab4bdd96cf72c087ed2eb8a
Eliza Collins and and Natalie Andrews, “Bipartisan Gun Bill Advances in Senate,” Wall Street Journal, June 22, 2022, https://www.wsj.com/articles/gun-control-talks-held-up-by-abortion-provision-11655827268
Jess Bravin, “Supreme Court Strikes Down New York Law on Concealed Weapons,” Wall Street Journal, June 23, 2022, https://www.wsj.com/articles/supreme-court-strikes-down-new-york-law-on-concealed-weapons-11655995248
Mike DeBonis, “Senate passes bipartisan gun violence bill, marking breakthrough,” Washington Post, June 23, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/06/23/senate-gun-bill-vote/
Jon Healy, “Supreme Court throws out New York’s concealed weapons law. Here’s what it means for California,” Los Angeles Times, June 23, 2022, https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2022-06-23/supreme-court-concealed-carry-ruling-what-it-means-for-california
Jay Michaelson, “The Future of Gun Control Is in Danger,” New York, June 23, 2022, https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2022/06/supreme-court-gun-case-endangers-the-future-of-gun-control.html
David G. Savage, “Supreme Court bolsters gun owners’ right to carry a weapon in public,” Los Angeles Times, June 23, 2022, https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2022-06-23/supreme-court-gun-owners-right-to-carry-a-weapon-in-public
Ariane de Vogue, “Samuel Alito lashes out at liberals in guns case as tensions boil over at SCOTUS,” CNN, June 23, 2022, https://www.cnn.com/2022/06/23/politics/samuel-alito-stephen-breyer-guns/index.html
Marianna Sotomayor, “House approves gun bill, which heads to Biden for his signature,” Washington Post, June 24, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/06/24/house-approves-gun-bill/
Police White supremacist gangs
Notice the excruciatingly narrow construction[6] of the Fifth Amendment language protecting a person from being “compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself:”[7]
The [Supreme Court] clarified that while the Miranda warning protects a constitutional right, the warning itself is not a right that would trigger the ability to bring a civil lawsuit.
“Today’s ruling doesn’t get rid of the Miranda right,” said Steve Vladeck, CNN Supreme Court analyst and professor at the University of Texas School of Law. “But it does make it far harder to enforce. Under this ruling, the only remedy for a violation of Miranda is to suppress statements obtained from a suspect who’s not properly advised of his right to remain silent. But if the case never goes to trial, or if the government never seeks to use the statement, or if the statement is admitted notwithstanding the Miranda violation, there’s no remedy at all for the government’s misconduct.”
Justice Samuel Alito, joined by the five other Republican-appointed justices, said that a violation of the Miranda right “is not itself a violation of the Fifth Amendment,” and that “we see no justification for expanding Miranda to confer a right to sue,” under the relevant statute.[8]
Tierney Sneed and Ariane de Vogue, “Supreme Court limits ability to enforce Miranda rights,” CNN, June 23, 2022, https://www.cnn.com/2022/06/23/politics/supreme-court-miranda-rights/index.html
- [1]Jess Bravin, “Supreme Court Strikes Down New York Law on Concealed Weapons,” Wall Street Journal, June 23, 2022, https://www.wsj.com/articles/supreme-court-strikes-down-new-york-law-on-concealed-weapons-11655995248↩
- [2]Brent Kendall and Jess Bravin, “Supreme Court Overturns Roe v. Wade, Eliminates Constitutional Right to Abortion,” Wall Street Journal, June 24, 2022, https://www.wsj.com/articles/supreme-court-overturns-roe-v-wade-eliminates-constitutional-right-to-abortion-11656080124↩
- [3]Jesse Bunch, “City blocks lawyer’s request for Fern Hollow Bridge documents,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, June 24, 2022, https://www.post-gazette.com/news/crime-courts/2022/06/23/pittsburgh-blocks-lawyer-peter-giglione-request-for-fern-hollow-bridge-inspection-documents/stories/202206230150; Paula Reed Ward, “Pittsburgh argues against release of documents in Fern Hollow Bridge collapse civil case,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, June 23, 2022, https://triblive.com/local/pittsburgh-argues-against-release-of-documents-in-fern-hollow-bridge-collapse-civil-case/↩
- [4]Sam D. Hamill, “Fern Hollow Bridge was severely decaying before collapse, 2021 report indicates,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, May 19, 2022, https://www.post-gazette.com/local/city/2022/05/19/fern-hollow-bridge-inspection-2021-report-severely-decaying-rust-corrosion-penndot/stories/202205190154↩
- [5]Jesse Bunch, “City blocks lawyer’s request for Fern Hollow Bridge documents,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, June 24, 2022, https://www.post-gazette.com/news/crime-courts/2022/06/23/pittsburgh-blocks-lawyer-peter-giglione-request-for-fern-hollow-bridge-inspection-documents/stories/202206230150↩
- [6]Tierney Sneed and Ariane de Vogue, “Supreme Court limits ability to enforce Miranda rights,” CNN, June 23, 2022, https://www.cnn.com/2022/06/23/politics/supreme-court-miranda-rights/index.html↩
- [7]U.S. Const., Amend. V.↩
- [8]Tierney Sneed and Ariane de Vogue, “Supreme Court limits ability to enforce Miranda rights,” CNN, June 23, 2022, https://www.cnn.com/2022/06/23/politics/supreme-court-miranda-rights/index.html↩