How many weeks so far for conservatives? On Tuesday, the Supreme Court revoked Maine law prohibiting religious private schools from receiving taxpayer dollars. And on Thursday, it invalidated New York’s gun safety legislation, which limits the public carrying of firearms.Results in these cases It wasn’t surprising. The court ruled in favor of religious proceedings in an overwhelming number of cases, and the outcome of the gun case was clear from the judge’s oral argument in November.
Surprisingly, the Maine case of Carson vs. Makin’s 6-3 decision isn’t really a problem. And the reason is hoped for those who are worried about the future dominated by a conservative majority of courts, including many Americans plagued by court decisions in gun cases, including the New York Rifle and Pistol Association vs. Brune. I will give you a glimpse of.
Let’s start with Carson. In anticipation of this week’s decision, Maine parliamentarians enacted a significant amendment to the state’s anti-discrimination law last year to counter the expected ruling. The revised law prohibits discrimination based on gender identity or sexual orientation and applies to all private schools that choose to accept public funds regardless of religion.
The impact was immediate. The two religious schools in question in the Carson case, Bangor Christian School and Temple Academy, need to change their way of operation by accepting state funding, as required by the new law in Maine. He said he would refuse state funding. Change their “admission criteria” to accept LGBTQ students.
The legislative amendments made by Maine lawmakers provide a model for lawmakers elsewhere who are wary of aggressive swings to the right of the court. The Maine example shows that the losers of a case can often defeat the court and avoid the outcome of the judgment.
By enacting a law, Maine was able to ensure that taxpayers would not be involved in discriminating against LGBTQ students, as discriminating private schools would not be subject to public funding. Assuming that other religious schools refuse to fund for the same reasons as Carson’s school, the law limits the entanglement of the Church state. And while non-discriminatory private schools can receive public funds, Maine can abolish the program at any time. This is a fact that the court admitted. (Whether it or not should do it A closer question that needs to enable the program’s impact on educational equity. )
Other states should follow the initiative of Maine. A few blue states, including Illinois, Maryland, Nevada, and Vermont, offer vouchers or similar tax credit scholarships to low-income students enrolled in private schools. However, no private school receiving funding has enacted a law prohibiting discrimination against LGBTQ students. A bill to do so is pending at the Maryland State House General Assembly. The legislators there need to enact it immediately. Other states should also ban such discrimination.
And lawmakers who are worried about the court’s gun safety decisions and worried about the looming decision on abortion should also take a page from the Maine playbook.
As the courts broke New York’s restrictions on who can carry guns in public, state legislators there and in other states should pass new legislation to stop gun violence. The majority opinion of Judge Clarence Thomas is that the constitutionality of restrictions has historically been “solved” in “sensitive places” such as legislatures, courts and polling stations, and “modern regulations” have been firearms in “new” places. It has been revealed that there is a possibility of “prohibiting” the carrying of. With that in mind, the state should establish an extensive list of so-called sensitive locations where guns may not be carried. Judge Thomas did not identify which of them, but during the November oral argument, some judges were offered public transport, crowded venues, college campuses, and alcohol. I thought it might include some places.
In addition, Judge Brett Kavanaugh imposes restrictions on the state’s agreement in which Judge John Roberts participated to prevent “citizens who comply with ordinary law” from carrying guns to protect themselves. Although it cannot, the state can still establish strict requirements for public works, he said. Permission to have a strict background, check mental health records, and complete regular training courses.
Another promising reform the state is considering is to require gun owners to own firearm liability insurance. Such requirements not only ensure that victims of gun violence recover their losses and “provide financial incentives for the carrying of responsible weapons,” but are also the majority of the 19th century recognized in court opinion. It draws strong historical support from the “guarantee law” of. ..
Dobbsv. We are still waiting for the court’s decision to have an abortion at Jackson Women’s Health Organization. If Judge Samuel Alito’s leaked draft opinion overturning the Roe v. Wade case is enacted, upholding the right to abortion should be free to respond by any means. Legislators need to act vigorously to help abortion providers serve out-of-state patients who cannot receive care in their own country. At the national level, the Biden administration must argue that the Food and Drug Administration’s rules, which allow abortion of pregnancy using mifepristone, invalidate the opposite state law. Congress should also continue to work to enact women’s health protection legislation to enshrine the right to abortion as a matter of federal law, even if filibuster remains an obstacle.
Last fall, Judge Sonia Sotomayor, who I was in charge of from 2013 to 2014, predicted that there would be “a lot of disappointment in the law” in the current court. We are now looking at the reason. For comprehensible reasons, some current court critics are fighting to increase the number of judges. Maine has shown another promising path. Sometimes the best way to protect against overkill by conservative courts is through good old legislation.
Aaron Tang (@AaronTangLaw) is a professor of law at the University of California, Davis and a former Justice Officer of Judge Sonia Sotomayor.