Today in Supreme Court History: January 6, 1964

1/6/1964: New York Times Co. v. Sullivan argued.

 

Comments

[Dan Schiavetta]

Jan. 6, 2021:

Our long tradition of peaceful transfer of power was destroyed.

[Mr. Bumble]

You mean this has been like Dallas for the last four years and Biden hasn't been President, wrecking the country?
Just a bad dream?

[Michael P]

That day was totally unlike January 20, 2017 because Reasons Such As And Therefore.

[John F. Carr]

It was a riot of a scale seen many times in the previous year, followed by a routine transfer of power. Politico reports today that Mike Pence credits Al Gore for inspiring him to do his job instead of obeying Trump. Pence was a new Congressman when he watched Vice President Gore respect the results of the 2000 election and make himself a loser. Pence did the same 20 years later. https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2025/01/05/jan-6-mike-pence-al-gore-certification-00196119

[Dan Schiavetta]

“It was a riot of a scale seen many times in the previous year,”

Strange that a normally well informed and thoughtful person like you would say such a thing.

[JoeFromtheBronx]

Multiple people around here are selectively thoughtful when partisan issues arise.

[Life of Brian]

Strange that a normally well informed and thoughtful person like you would say such a thing.

You're so close to having an introspective moment. Don't stop.

[Dan Schiavetta]

I refer you to my many movie reviews posted here during the summer of 2023. Otherwise I don't think you know what introspection means, never having shown evidence of it yourself.

[Stupid Government Tricks]

Of course it means only what you want it to mean.

[Life of Brian]

I'm not at all sure what movie reviews have to do with giving yourself permission to explore the notion that maybe --- just maybe -- if someone you generally consider to be well-informed and thoughtful voices what you consider to be a dreadfully ill-informed, thoughtless perspective, it's worth at least a few minutes of quiet consideration whether they're really the one out of step.

[Stupid Government Tricks]

Not at all strange that so many lefties refuse to recognize the BLM/Antifa riots as anything but mostly peaceful.

[David Nieporent]

It was a riot of a scale seen many times in the previous year,

This is idiotic and beneath you. It's not the "scale" of the insurrection but the goal of it that made it stand out. You might as well argue that assassinating the president is on the same scale as shooting a convenience store clerk in a late night holdup because after all, each involves one victim.

[JoeFromtheBronx]

Jan. 6, 2024: we peacefully transfer power to the person who aided and abetted ending the peaceful transfer of power.

It's like rain on your wedding day or something.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jne9t8sHpUc

[John F. Carr]

It's like 10,000 protesters when all you need is a good loser.

[SMP0328]

It was a peaceful transfer a power, despite a group of morons illegally entering the Capitol unarmed.

[Dan Schiavetta]

The fact that power was ultimately transferred to the proper person does not by itself mean that the transfer was peaceful. Congress had to flee for their safety before order was restored and lawful procedure took place.

[Stupid Government Tricks]

The fact that peaceful government authority was ultimately restored to the CHAZ and other deadly rebel areas does not by itself mean that the restorations were peaceful. Citizens and police had to flee for their safety before order was restored and lawful procedures took place.

[The Margrave of Azilia]

How long a tradition? Let's get specific.

[jdgalt1]

Our long tradition of peaceful transfer of power was destroyed.

That's true, but not in the way the Left tells it. All the planned, staged violence by hundreds of Fed infiltrators and informers under a false flag was planned by Pelosi so that she could skip past the time for VP Pence to use his power to attempt to reject electors from the jurisdictions where the major cheating occurred. This is why she refused Trump's offer of National Guard troops. The cheat by Pelosi succeeded, and in the bargain the feds turned hundreds of innocent demonstrators into political prisoners, killing two. Many of them are still, today, awaiting trial.

Not that Pence would have done his job even if he had been given the opportunity.

[Mr. Bumble]

Hey Capt. Dan, maybe you should go back to posting SC cases.
Of course you won't see this because I've offended your delicate sensibilities and have been muted.

[JoeFromtheBronx]

So, we are back? Was there a Hanukkah break or something?

(Evening of Wed, Dec 25, 2024 – Thu, Jan 2, 2025)

Today is Epiphany. Greek Orthodox Christmas is tomorrow. So, if you are the sort who doesn't like to take the lights down, you have a reason to keep them up.

County of Allegheny v. American Civil Liberties Union involved a creche display [representation of the Magi meeting a new king as portrayed in Matthew*] and a separate display involving a liberty sign, a menorah, and a Christmas tree.

A splintered Court upheld the latter as a symbol of diversity. Blackmun and O'Connor were the swing votes and had somewhat different arguments on what was acceptable.

The opinion influenced Capitol Square Review and Advisory Bd. v. Pinette because the board decided a menorah should be allowed if a tree was. This helped the KKK to decide to use the public area involved to put up a cross.

The somewhat splattered Court said the cross should be allowed because there was no Establishment Clause problem. Three justices said sometimes such a private display could be a problem but not here. Two justices said it was a problem.

The rules are if anything weaker these days though by how much is unclear. I don't know how much the lower courts debate holiday displays these days. Freedom From Religion Foundation does continue to worry about such things.

Happy Holidays.

==

* The meeting of the Magi according to the gospel account was not specifically at the birth of Jesus though that is often how it is portrayed. One sign of this is the massacre of the innocents involving children under two years old.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hap8ZGDNtTM

[apedad]

"I don't know how much the lower courts debate holiday displays these days."

Actually it's more fun to watch the state and local govts toss and turn when faced with holiday display decisions.

Why A Satanic Holiday Display At The Iowa Capitol Building Has Been Allowed To Stay Up Despite Backlash

Outrage as Minnesota Satanists Given Holiday Display at State Capitol

New Hampshire capital includes Satanic symbol as part of their holiday display ‘to avoid litigation’

[not guilty]

"The meeting of the Magi according to the gospel account was not specifically at the birth of Jesus though that is often how it is portrayed."

Right. Matthew 2:11 indicates that the visit took place at Mary and Joseph's house:

When they had heard the king they went their way; and lo, the star which they had seen in the East went before them, till it came to rest over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy; and going into the house they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh.

And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way.

Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, "Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there till I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him." And he rose and took the child and his mother by night, and departed to Egypt, and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfil what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, "Out of Egypt have I called my son."

Matthew 2:9-15 (RSV).

As another commenter here has observed, it is fortunate that no Make Egypt Great Again movement turned the immigrants away at the border.

[The Margrave of Azilia]

Technically they were internally displaced persons within the Roman Empire, so no international frontiers were involved.

Later, the Romans experimented with a liberal immigration policy where the German barbarians were concerned. Spoiler: The Germans weren't the Holy Family.

[JoeFromtheBronx]

Matthew and Luke provide different accounts of the birth of Jesus with details that cannot all be reasonably mixed into one account. The same is true for each gospel in certain respects. Nonetheless, people often try to do so. A closer reading is informative.

[John F. Carr]

I think Josh Blackman queues up a long list of scheduled posts every few months and sometimes forgets when the queue runs out.

[David Nieporent]

Since he runs the same ones every year, I don't see how they can run out. I think it's most likely there was a glitch in whatever software he uses, and he just sorted it out.

[JoeFromtheBronx]

New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, arising out of a NYT ad involving the civil rights movement, set forth the modern-day view of the rules of libel for public figures. Three justices would have taken a more absolutist approach. Justice Brennan provided a legal tour de force, using history and legal precedent to promote a certain vision.

[David Nieporent]

Sullivan is the seminal case, but it took a number of successor cases to really get us to the modern rule. (As just one example, Sullivan itself was about public officials, not public figures.)

[JoeFromtheBronx]

Yes. Seminal cases tend to be clarified with later cases clarifying just what the rules are.

And, yes, public officials and public figures are different constitutional categories. See, e.g., Gertz v. Robert Welch.

[Dan Schiavetta]

United States v. Watts, 519 U.S. 148 (decided January 6, 1997): court can take into account “preponderance of evidence” of illegal possession of guns in sentencing for cocaine offense, even though acquitted of gun charge (where “beyond reasonable doubt” standard had been applied)

Polar Ice Cream & Creamery Co. v. Andrews, 375 U.S. 361 (decided January 6, 1964): Florida can’t require ice cream makers to buy milk in-state (violates Dormant Commerce Clause)

Heikkinen v. United States, 355 U.S. 273 (decided January 6, 1958): vacating conviction for disobeying deportation order (due to Communist Party membership) because 1) no evidence that any country was willing to receive him and 2) never told where to report for deportation

United States v. Butler, 297 U.S. 1 (decided January 6, 1936): what Congress called a “tax” is not really a tax and is outside the Taxing Power (this was a “processing tax” which served to shift expenses of complying with agricultural regulations from farmers to food processors) (the Court later abandoned this restrictive view of enumerated powers, see citations in 403 F.3d 272 n.65)

[John F. Carr]

Watts was abrogated by the 2024 amendments to the Sentencing Guidelines.

1B1.3(c) Relevant conduct does not include conduct for which the defendant was criminally charged and acquitted in federal court, unless such conduct also establishes, in whole or in part, the instant offense of conviction.