Today in Supreme Court History: June 15, 1804

6/15/1804: The 12th Amendment is ratified.

Comments

[Dan Schiavetta]

Bostock v. Clayton County, 590 U.S. --- (decided June 15, 2020): Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII) prohibits firing an employee for being gay or transgender

Rosenberg v. United States, 345 U.S. 989 (decided June 15, 1953): denied stay of execution of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg (Julius could have cleared her; why didn't he?)

Aguilar v. Texas, 378 U.S. 108 (decided June 15, 1964): evidence based on search warrant which was vague (based on hearsay, did not identify informant or particulars as to why heroin possession was suspected) should have been excluded

Napue v. Illinois, 360 U.S. 264 (decided June 15, 1969): vacated conviction based on false testimony by state witness (that he was not being paid for his testimony) which prosecutor failed to correct

Reynolds v. Sims, 377 U.S. 533 (decided June 15, 1964): Alabama can't base its legislature on "federal model" (one senator per county); both houses have to be apportioned by population

Barrows v. Jackson, 346 U.S. 249 (decided June 15, 1953): throwing out suit by homeowners against seller who sold house to black family (in violation of racially restrictive covenant) because order enforcing covenant would be state action violating Equal Protection

Burns v. Ohio, 360 U.S. 252 (decided June 15, 1959): struck down state court requirement that indigent criminal defendant pay a fee to make motion for leave to appeal

Mulloy v. United States, 398 U.S. 410 (decided June 15, 1970): threw out conviction for draft evasion because draftee's documentation as to conscientious objector status was not formally considered

[John F. Carr]

I thought it was Connecticut, not Alabama, that set the precedent that the traditional model of basing legislative districts on municipal boundaries was no longer allowed. In the old days Massachusetts also granted towns their own legislators despite inequality of size. The state constitution still prohibits unnecessary division of cities and towns between districts but the state Supreme Court has held that clause unenforceable.

[Dan Schiavetta]

Thanks.

It's clear why Alabama wanted that system -- just as with the United States Senate, black people are concentrated in the cities, and most of the counties were rural. It was indeed the "federal model".

[Frank Drackman]

So why did Vermont, Idaho, Utah, Connecticut, Nevada, and New Hampshire have the same "Systems"??? To dilute all 7 votes in Vermont in 1964??

[Dan Schiavetta]

Alabama’s system was a new one and their intentions were obvious.
Even today all you have to do is look at the state flag.

[Bob from Ohio]

So ban a racially motivated system, that clearly denies equal protection.

The rest was just a judicial power grab. It haunts our system to this date, constant litigation.

[Frank Drackman]

The one that was inspired by the (current, for how long?) Flag of Britain???, and used by Scotland (notorious Race-ists!) Hawaii, Australia, Fiji, Nuie, Mosquito Coast, Florida (2 Mosquito Coasts) ???

You really shouldn't enter a battle of wits unarmed

Frank

[Dilan Esper]

Why didn't Julius exonerate Ethel? Good question. The answer? Because he would have had to admit his own guilt.

There's a real romance within activist movements (and Communism was, in America, at that time, an activist movement) to proclaiming your innocence, thereby indicting the system that labeled you guilty. E.g., Mumia Abu-Jamal will never admit he shot that police officer. Alger Hiss didn't admit his guilt.

Whereas if Julius Rosenberg had said "I admit it, I was working for the Soviets", he would have had no friends. The left would have considered that a great betrayal, and the right would see him as a Communist spy who tried to bring down our system.

So no, you can't admit guilt. Even to save your wife's life.

[DaivdBehar]

Aguilar v. Texas, 378 U.S. 108 (decided June 15, 1964): evidence based on search warrant which was vague (based on hearsay, did not identify informant or particulars as to why heroin possession was suspected) should have been excluded

Again, lawyer denial of reality. Was the evidence found? It is real. It should not be excluded. The Exclusionary Rule is just pro-criminal lawyer quackery and denial of reality. Does the police give a shit? More crime, more overtime for them. No, sue the police for malpractice. Take the damages from personal assets. To deter.

[Frank Drackman]

"The 12th Amendment is ratified." and saved the Repubic from a Vice President Trump in a Biden Administration (Trade off is a possible President Common-Law Harris when Biden's aneurysm clips blow)

[SMP0328]

There were Presidential tickets in Presidential elections before the 12th Amendment. The problem was that the Electors of either major party could easily screw things up, like what happened in the 1796 and 1800 elections.

The 12th Amendment was adopted to stabilize the Electoral College system and prevent the losing party from flipping the winning party's ticket, because all electoral votes were for President pre-12A. Imagine the Republican electors in 2008 giving all their votes to Biden to prevent Obama from being elected President. Imagine the Democrats doing the same thing regarding Trump and Pence in 2016.

BTW, what does the 12th Amendment have to do with Supreme Court history?

[Syd Henderson]

Presumably because it changed the Constitution and affected future Supreme Court decisions. More obvious for the 11th and 14th Amendments. We sometimes get amendments and cases appearing at several points in their history. For amendments, ratification seems the right day to choose, but I've seen him giving the date an amendment passed the Senate, which is not the most important date.

An Alabama type law would really give some extreme results in Texas: Harris County (4,728,030 people) and Loving Country (57 people) would have the same number of state senators. And people complain about California and Texas.

[apedad]

Twelfth Amendment
The Electors shall meet in their respective states and vote by ballot for President and Vice-President, one of whom, at least, shall not be an inhabitant of the same state with themselves. . . .

Someone mentioned in a previous blog that this precludes a Trump/DeSantis ticket.

[Sarcastr0]

Eh, lots of weasel room in 'inhabitant' seems to me.

[Dan Schiavetta]

Dick Cheney spent maybe five minutes in Wyoming.

[Rev. Arthur L. Kirkland]

I once hit a golf ball off Dick Cheney's house in Wyoming.

I do not know whether he was in the house when the ball struck the house, or whether that house was his home for any (or any particular) duration.

I did not know it was Cheney's house when I struck the ball.

[David Nieporent]

Someone mentioned in a previous blog that this precludes a Trump/DeSantis ticket.

Common error. It would make such a ticket politically impractical (there are many other reasons it is, of course!), but would not 'preclude' it.

The provision does not prohibit a president and veep from the same state. All it does is say that that state's electors can't cast their electoral votes for two people from the state. In other words, if there were a Trump/DeSantis ticket, then Florida's electors could vote for Trump for president but not DeSantis for vice president. (Or vice versa.)

Which would only matter if the Trump ticket won overall, but by less than Florida's margin. But even so, note that the ones who didn't vote for DeSantis would not be required to vote for Harris; they could vote for anyone. Which would mean that neither DeSantis nor Harris would have a majority of electoral votes for Veep, throwing the veep election to the Senate.

[Frank Drackman]

Do you blame him? Not like he could just get on the Gub-mint subsidized Amtrack like Sleepy used to.

[John F. Carr]

Trump declares a loophole, say he takes a few weeks on vacation in Scotland or Montana to be not a Florida resident, and runs with DeSantis and the ticket apparently wins. Congress has a choice:

1. Agree with Trump's loophole and count votes for Trump and DeSantis.

2. Count Florida's votes for Trump and not DeSantis.

3. Count Florida's votes for DeSantis and not Trump.

4. Throw out Florida's votes as invalid.

If nobody gets a majority the fun really begins. A single faithless elector could give us a wildcard president.

(Whatever Trump's loophole is, it need not convince a judge because the votes are counted by Congress.)

[John F. Carr]

The above was meant as a reply to "Someone mentioned in a previous blog that this precludes a Trump/DeSantis ticket."

[Frank Drackman]

The fun really begins if there's not a winner by January 20th, when the 20th Amendment kicks in...

"...and the Congress may by law provide for the case wherein neither a President-elect nor a Vice President-elect shall have qualified, declaring who shall then act as President, or the manner in which one who is to act shall be selected, and such person shall act accordingly until a President or Vice President shall have qualified."

Unfortunately, Congress hasn't provided by Law (with the current Majority, probably a good thang) in their defense, it's only been 89 years since the amendment was ratified, and they're too busy giving money to Ukraine, investigating the "Insurrection" (while avoiding mention of the only one killed)

Frank "Constitutionalist"

[SMP0328]

This is covered by the Presidential Succession Act of 1947. The Speaker of the House would become Acting President in that situation.

[Frank Drackman]

you mean the act that the Surpremes will find unconstitutional if it ever comes up?
But in truth it’s a nightmare scenario for all Americans because there is a powerful (though not airtight) argument that the Succession Act’s placement of the speaker in the line of presidential succession (and after her, the president pro tempore of the Senate) is contrary to the Constitution’s Succession Clause. That clause states that only an “Officer” may succeed and act as president. Most of the pertinent commentary maintains that the term “Officer” here does not include members of Congress. If that is right, Pelosi could not constitutionally “act as President,” even though the statute says she can.

[SMP0328]

I agree with you regarding the Presidential Succession Clause. That clause says Congress can determine "what Officer" becomes Acting President if there is no President or Vice President and the Constitution's Incompatibility Clause (Article I, Section 6, Clause 1) says members of Congress can not be Officers of the United States.

However, the situation covered by Section 3 of the 20th Amendment is different because that section says Congress can determine "who" (not "what Officer") becomes Acting President if there is neither a President-elect nor a Vice President-elect on Inauguration Day. In this situation, Congress could choose anybody who meets the Presidential qualifications to be Acting President.

[Frank Drackman]

Ahh So, Glasshopper,
But how about this scenario (couldn't happen? who ever really thought Sleepy would be POTUS?)
Early erection morning, November 5, 2024, Sleepy passes away peacefully in his sleep (I know, how would they know?)
Do any of "His" votes count? can you vote for a Dead Man? Hilarity (will) ensue...

Frank

[F.D. Wolf]

Does a vote for a deceased candidate count? It depends on where you are. The majority of jurisdictions in the United States follow the "American rule" in which a vote for a deceased (or disqualified) candidate is counted as a vote for a temporary vacancy in the office, and if that candidate wins, the office is treated as vacant, and the usual process, such as a special election or gubernatorial appointment, would be followed. A minority of jurisdictions follow the "English rule", in which a vote for a deceased candidate is treated as a nullity and thrown out.

But none of that is relevant in a presidential election, because a voter is not really voting for the named candidate, but for a slate of electors pledged to that candidate.

In the 1872 presidential election, GOP nominee President Ulysses S. Grant defeated Democratic nominee Horace Greeley 286-63 in the electoral college. Greeley died 24 days after the election, but before the electors met. Sixty of his electors voted for other candidates, but three cast their votes for Greeley. Congress decided those three votes were nullities and did not count them.

In the 1912 presidential election, incumbent President William Howard Taft finished third behind winner Woodrow Wilson and runner-up Theodore Roosevelt. Taft's running mate Vice President James Sherman had died six days before the election, not allowing enough time to place a substitute name on the ballot. After the election, the GOP per its rules substituted Nicholas Butler, who received the eight electoral votes that would have gone to Sherman.

[Dan Schiavetta]

Thanks

[Frank Drackman]

Wait until you find out about Recto-Neo-Vaginal-Fistulas (Layman's terms, Shit comes out Yo' Pussy*)

Frank
* don't blame me, blame whatever Surpreme Being put them so close together, and gave peoples the imagination to consider cutting off a man's penis/balls and inflicting a wound, calling it a "Vagina" is a medical procedure.

[Frank Drackman]

I apologize "Queen", should have realized basic Human Anatomy is "Literally" Greek to you.