Gorsuch sides with liberals in 5-4 decision against Trump administration

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-court-guns/us-supreme-court-strikes-down-stiff-firearms-penalties-idUSKCN1TP1YR

Not saying this guy is a stealth liberal, but nice he's disappointing the right a lot.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

Gorsuch is a twit but he does seem to have some semblance of a judicial philosophy beyond just dictating his party's policy preferences unaccountably from the bench, so that's something.

[President Johnson]

Good. Credit where credit due.

[Dr Oz Lost Party!]

I'm growing more relaxed with every SCOTUS ruling knowing that Roe v. Wade is probably safe... something I didn't imagine happening.

[Tender Branson]

I’m only interested in how they will vote on the Census citizenship question.

This should be out in the next days ...

[President Johnson]

I'm growing more relaxed with every SCOTUS ruling knowing that Roe v. Wade is probably safe... something I didn't imagine happening.

Not if, god forbid, something happens to RBG or Breyer. Even if Trump gets ousted in 2020, he may have another pick.

[🐒Gods of Prosperity🔱🐲💸]

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-court-guns/us-supreme-court-strikes-down-stiff-firearms-penalties-idUSKCN1TP1YR

Not saying this guy is a stealth liberal, but nice he's disappointing the right a lot.

Why would this decision be disappointing to the right?   I wouldn't have predicted a traditional left/right split, and Gorsuch's decision here is unsurprising.   Seems misleading to emphasize he went against the Trump Administration.  This is a law from 3 decades ago, it's not like a Democratic administration wouldn't have defended it in court too. 

[RI]

The left applauding looser firearms sentencing just because Trump bad. lol

[QAnonKelly]

All things considered, Gorsuch has been decent

[Sprouts Farmers Market ✘]

The left applauding looser firearms sentencing just because Trump bad. lol

My initial reaction was also that this was not good ruling from a firearm culture perspective, but the sentences were clearly extreme and unfair.

[Nyvin]

The left applauding looser firearms sentencing just because Trump bad. lol

The sentences were 41 years and 50 years for robbery with a firearm.   

[Progressive Pessimist]

I'm growing more relaxed with every SCOTUS ruling knowing that Roe v. Wade is probably safe... something I didn't imagine happening.

Never, ever relax when it comes to the Supreme Court. Not until both McConnell and Trump are gone, if we're ever even so lucky for that to happen!

As for this ruling, that's great! But Gorsuch, in terms of rulings, is usually worse than Kavanaugh. So this is still partial credit only. He is still an ideologue whose seat was hijacked.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

The left applauding looser firearms sentencing just because Trump bad. lol

Laws that are unfairly vague are always wrong, even if they involve firearms.

[🐒Gods of Prosperity🔱🐲💸]

Seeing this opening paragraph I'm surprised the liberals signed onto Gorsuch's opinion.  Almost reads like something that could be written in a decision broadly curtailing the regulatory powers of administrative agencies.

https://twitter.com/Rafa_Mangual/status/1143160456992952320?s=20

[An American Tail: Fubart Goes West]

Gorsuch is basically Scalia 2.0. There’s somethings, namely bill of rights issues (especially stuff to do crime) that we agree on. Otherwise, we generally disagree.

I’m only interested in how they will vote on the Census citizenship question.

This should be out in the next days ...

I’m curious about Carpenter v. Murphy. That case could decide whether most of eastern Oklahoma is still actually an Indian reservation. Gorsuch is recused as he dealt with it before his promotion.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

I have not heard a single Trump supporter here or on Twitter, much less in real life, complain about this today. Gorsuch is a fantastic judge with a consistent philosophy. If he continues to apply himself by that standard, than he’s doing his job whether I agree with the ruling or not.

[MarkD]

I have not heard a single Trump supporter here or on Twitter, much less in real life, complain about this today. Gorsuch is a fantastic judge with a consistent philosophy. If he continues to apply himself by that standard, than he’s doing his job whether I agree with the ruling or not.

Yeah, but is his philosophy rooted on an objective interpretation of the Constitution or not? If he really is a lot like Scalia, then I doubt that there's much objectivity there. Scalia disappointed me a lot and he was certainly not a consistent adherent to originalism. I'm going to have to see and read more of Gorsuch, especially on subjects handled under the rubric of substantive due process, as well as how does Gorsuch tinker with the Equal Protection Clause, before I'm satisfied that he's a great Justice.

[Rules for me, but not for thee]

Gorsuch is the best. Strict constructionists ftw.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

The left applauding looser firearms sentencing just because Trump bad. lol

The idea that """""the left""""" should reflexively support throwing the book at gun owners regardless of proportionality or context is stupid and enmity-blinded even for your Trump-era incarnation, RI.

[emailking]

Sounds like he's consistent in that he doesn't like vague laws. That was his issue with the other case where he sided with the liberals.

[RI]

The left applauding looser firearms sentencing just because Trump bad. lol

The idea that """""the left""""" should reflexively support throwing the book at gun owners regardless of proportionality or context is stupid and enmity-blinded even for your Trump-era incarnation, RI.

"Enmity-blinded" is exactly how I'd describe the left's current attitude toward guns and gun-owners, because it certainly isn't nuanced or informed.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

The left applauding looser firearms sentencing just because Trump bad. lol

The idea that """""the left""""" should reflexively support throwing the book at gun owners regardless of proportionality or context is stupid and enmity-blinded even for your Trump-era incarnation, RI.

"Enmity-blinded" is exactly how I'd describe the left's current attitude toward guns and gun-owners, because it certainly isn't nuanced or informed.

You're really going with the "no u" response here? Come on, you used to be better than this.

[Sestak]

This is just the same court composition as Dimaya, on a case that's mostly on the same stuff.

Dimaya was about vague definitions of crime types related to immigration law.

This case was about vague definitions of crime types related to gun ownership.

The reasoning of the majority (Gorsuch + liberals) was the same in both cases.


The vast majority of Gorsuch's jurisprudence indicates that he's not at all a closet liberal - he just has some libertarianish tendencies in certain specific areas. This is even more true now than it was when Dimaya came out, as that was much earlier in his term before we could really pinpoint him clearly.

[Badger]

Strict constructionist have a long history of picking and choosing when and how to adhere to this philosophy in order to get to their stated goals. Heller vs. DC is just one example among many.

[MarkD]

Gorsuch is the best. Strict constructionists ftw.

I tend to beware of that term strict constructionist, since it seems to mean different things to different people. Scalia, as it says it Wikipedia, argued that no one ought to be a "strict constructionist." I tend to associate the term with people who insist on construing the powers of the federal government very narrowly, with a very old-fashioned definition of interstate commerce. But however one feels about having a broad or narrow interpretation of the Commerce Clause, "strict constructionist" seems to be an ironically loose term that does not have a singular, clear meaning behind it.