Today in Supreme Court History: December 27, 1771

12/27/1771: Justice William Johnson's birthday.

Justice William Johnson

Comments

[Martinned]

The Flushing Remonstrance was a [27 December] 1657 petition to Director-General of New Netherland Peter Stuyvesant, in which some thirty residents of the small settlement at Flushing requested an exemption to his ban on Quaker worship. It is considered a precursor to the United States Constitution's provision on freedom of religion in the Bill of Rights.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flushing_Remonstrance

[JoeFromtheBronx]

Richard Brookhiser in Give Me Liberty has a chapter on the Flushing Remonstrance.

https://tif.ssrc.org/2014/01/15/the-forgotten-story-of-the-flushing-remonstrance/

OTD in 2022:

The Supreme Court on Tuesday blocked a federal judge’s ruling that had ordered the government to end a Trump-era border policy that allows immigration officials to quickly turn away migrants seeking asylum. The justices agreed to hear argument in late February or early March on whether 19 states with Republican attorneys general can step in to defend the policy against a challenge by migrant families.

https://www.scotusblog.com/2022/12/trump-era-border-policy-will-remain-in-place-while-justices-hear-argument-on-procedural-question/

"The application for stay pending certiorari presented to THE CHIEF JUSTICE and by him referred to the Court is granted. " Justice Gorsuch and the liberals dissented.

The policy later expired in May, and the Court declared the matter moot. Gorsuch added a jeremiad on COVID polices as a threat to liberty. His concern about federal power is somewhat selective, as seen by his dissent earlier this week.