US supreme court to hear Affordable Care Act appeal that could cast doubt on law

Lower court’s ruling that individual mandate was unconstitutional to be reviewed after 19 Democratic states appealed the decision

US supreme court to hear third Affordable Care Act challenge

The US supreme court has announced it will hear a case on whether a part of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is unconstitutional. A decision is not expected until after the 2020 election.

In December, a federal appeals court ruled that the ACA’s individual mandate, which requires every American to have health insurance, was unconstitutional. The ruling cast doubt upon the rest of the law, which is known colloquially as Obamacare.

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More than 200 members of Congress urge US supreme court to reconsider Roe v Wade

Appeal in an amicus brief in a Louisiana case was signed by 205 Republicans and two Democrats

More than two hundred members of Congress have urged the US supreme court to reconsider the landmark 1973 Roe v Wade ruling which legalized abortion nationwide.

The appeal came in an amicus brief in a Louisiana case, and was signed by 205 Republicans and two Democrats, and calls on the high court to revisit the ruling, which affirmed that access to safe abortion is a constitutional right.

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The decade that shook America

2010 to 2020 was a contradictory decade that will confound future historians with a simple question: how did America go from Obama to Trump?

Lin-Manuel Miranda was touring his award-winning musical, In the Heights, to his parents’ homeland of Puerto Rico. Donald Trump was awarding first prize on his reality TV show, The Apprentice, to a corporate lawyer turned mobile cupcake entrepreneur.

The year was 2010 and, in the decade that followed, these two hustlers from New York with fiercely devoted followings would come to represent the two faces of America.

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Donald Trump: supreme court to rule on release of bank, tax and finance records

  • Congress and prosecutors have sought Trump’s tax returns
  • Court likely to issue a ruling in June during election campaign

The supreme court said on Friday it will hear Donald Trump’s pleas to keep his tax, bank and financial records private, a major tussle between the president and Congress that could also affect the 2020 presidential campaign.

Related: Trump: New York prosecutors subpoena eight years of tax returns

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National Coming Out Day marked by worry over supreme court LGBTQ case

National Coming Out Day festivities across the US were tempered this year by anxiety that some LGBTQ people may have to go back into the closet so they can make a living, depending on what the supreme court decides about workplace discrimination.

Related: The US decision on LGBT workers could turn employers into the gender police | Arwa Mahdawi

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Trump blasts calls for impeachment of Brett Kavanaugh after new allegations

  • New York Times details new claims against supreme court judge
  • Harris, Castro and Sanders lead calls for constitutional action

Donald Trump came storming to the defence of Brett Kavanaugh on Sunday, after the publication of new allegations about the supreme court justice’s behaviour while he was a student at Yale led to renewed calls for his impeachment.

Related: Trump is seriously, frighteningly unstable - the world is in danger | Robert Reich

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Supreme court allows Trump to use $2.5bn in Pentagon funds for border wall

Move allows administration to redirect money despite lawmakers’ refusal to provide funding

The US supreme court cleared the way for Donald Trump to use billions in Pentagon funds to build a border wall.

The decision allows the Trump administration to redirect approximately $2.5bn approved by Congress for the Pentagon to help build his promised wall along the US-Mexico border even though lawmakers refused to provide funding.

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Supreme court to rule on Obama-era Daca program for young migrants

Court expected to hear arguments late this year, with a decision on Dreamers likely to come before 2020 election

The supreme court will review the constitutionality of an Obama-era program allowing undocumented immigrants who came to the US as children to get temporary deportation relief and work permits.

Trump ended the program, called Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (Daca), but the decision was challenged in several lawsuits. The program protected about 700,000 people known as Dreamers.

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Supreme court gerrymandering decision raises alarm as Kagan issues searing dissent – live

Justice says move ‘imperils system of government’ as court blocks 2020 census citizenship question for now in blow to Trump

The big question around the citizenship/census ruling: will the Trump administration have the time / organization to mount a new effort to put the question in place before 2020 Census season (and it’s unclear just when the cutoff here is)?:

This seems like the same “unring the bell” logic of the Muslim ban decision. “Come back and lie to us about your motives more convincingly, please.” https://t.co/LjgGeyc6Xx

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This ruling on gerrymandering is exactly why it is not enough to just win the next election. The Supreme Court is helping Republicans *rig* the elections. Democrats need a *proactive* plan to confront the partisan capture of the Court.

On the census, the Trump administration’s lies went so far that even this Supreme Court had to say no. If this leads to a result with no citizenship question, that would be a very welcome outcome, and it would also preserve the status quo. This should have been an easy case, and in the end, it was.

But Chief Justice Roberts’ ruling that no federal court can ever consider claims of extreme and unconstitutional partisan gerrymandering is truly appalling for the long term health of our democracy. It’s a judicial green light for egregious partisanship, a permission slip for politicians to entrench themselves without fear of judicial intervention.

This is a victory for all New Yorkers who refuse to be undercounted, discriminated against, or driven into the shadows. The Trump administration must not be allowed to weaponize the census in its war on immigrants, people of color, and the poor. From the very beginning, the administration has hoped to add a citizenship question in order to undercount, marginalize, and limit the political power of immigrant communities. The justices saw through the Trump administration’s absurd excuses for the addition of the question. We will do everything we can with our partners to ensure that all New Yorkers are counted.”

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Curtis Flowers’ conviction overturned over removal of black jurors

Justice Brett Kavanaugh said Flowers’ trial record showed ‘relentless effort’ by prosecutor to rid jury of black individuals

The supreme court has thrown out the murder conviction and death sentence of a black man in Mississippi because of a prosecutor’s efforts to keep African Americans off the jury.

The justices ruled 7-2 that the removal of black prospective jurors had deprived Curtis Flowers of a fair trial.

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White House blocks Trump’s ex-counsel from testifying before Congress – live

Justice department said Don McGahn, who was subpoenaed by the House judiciary committee, cannot be compelled to answer questions under oath

President Trump’s attorneys have been fighting a House oversight committee subpoena of one of the president’s accounting firms, Mazars USA, for eight years of Trump’s personal and business records.

Today, Judge Amit Mehta ruled in favor of the House oversight committee.

BREAKING: A federal judge in DC will not block a House subpoena to Trump's accounting firm — expect a quick notice of appeal from Trump's lawyers https://t.co/Izk2q1F2Yh More shortly. pic.twitter.com/ZlgQnFPT6c

MONEY QUOTE: Congress says it wants Trump files to guide future legislation. "[I]t is not for the court to question whether the Committee’s actions are truly motivated by political considerations. Accordingly, the court will enter judgment in favor of the Oversight Committee.

Hey all, Vivian Ho taking over for Sabrina Siddiqui. It appears a federal judge has ruled against the efforts of President Trump’s attorneys to overturn the House oversight committee subpoena for the president’s financial documents.

BREAKING: U.S. District Court Judge Amit Mehta rules in favor of House Democrats in their subpoena to Mazars for Trump’s financial records.

More TK

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Better the devil they know: how Christians came to terms with Trump

Evangelical backing for a thrice-married celebrity is not as odd as it seems: on abortion, the supreme court and more, the president keeps delivering

After bowing his head in prayer, Donald Trump addressed faith leaders in the sunshine of the White House rose garden.

Related: Trump wants Barr to consider investigating Biden – Giuliani

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Supreme court gives Trump victory on detaining immigrants with criminal convictions

Court rules 5-4 that authorities can detain immigrants awaiting deportation anytime after they have completed prison terms

The US supreme court on Tuesday endorsed US government authority to detain immigrants awaiting deportation at any time – potentially even years – after they have completed prison terms for criminal convictions, handing Donald Trump a victory as he pursues hardline immigration policies.

The court ruled 5-4, with its conservative justices in the majority and its liberal justices dissenting, that federal authorities could pick up such immigrants and place them into indefinite detention at any time, not just immediately after they finish their prison sentences.

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Ruth Bader Ginsburg misses supreme court arguments for first time in 25 years

Court spokeswoman says Ginsburg, 85, is working from home as she recuperates from cancer surgery last month

Ruth Bader Ginsburg was on Monday missing supreme court arguments for the first time in more than 25 years, as she recuperates from cancer surgery last month, the court said.

Ginsburg was not on the bench as the court met to hear arguments. It was not clear when she would return to the court, which will hear more cases on Tuesday and Wednesday and again next week.

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9 gay things I’m grateful for this Thanksgiving

In some ways, 2018 has felt like the worst of times: mass shootings becoming a new normal, the continued rise of nationalism, earthquakes, hurricanes, wildfires ravaging California, a U.S. Supreme Court that protects homophobia masquerading as freedom of religion, and of course, President Donald Trump. Yes, there has been an abundance of darkness in 2018, but as a gay, black man, I'm thankful for occasional bursts of sunshine.

Dems’ sad history includes segregation, abortion; Independents…

The Democratic Party has almost always been on the wrong side of history, as it is now by favoring abortion rights, denying those little people who live in the first "habitat for humanity" their "life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness." Our leftist media, ably assisted by a woefully inadequate and misguided public education system, has succeeded in keeping the truth of this party from the people.