A pair of seismic cases before the Supreme Court could upend the government's ability to regulate industry as we know it.

Wednesday, January 17, 2024
BY JULIA CLAIRE & CROOKED MEDIA
- Rep. Robert Garcia ([link removed]) (D-CA) just doing a quick fact check with an immigration scholar on GOP proposed “solutions” for the U.S.-Mexico border

The Supreme Court heard opening arguments on Wednesday in a case that could change the course of American history, and you probably haven’t heard of it.

* The conservative movement is on the precipice of achieving one of its long-held dreams: A Supreme Court decision that dramatically curtails the federal government’s ability to regulate industry as we know it. On Wednesday, the high court heard opening arguments in twin cases seeking to overturn one of the most-cited cases in American law ([link removed]) : Chevron vs. National Resources Defense Counsel. The Chevron decision from 1984 mandates that when it comes to federal regulations, judges must defer to government agencies’ reasonable interpretations of ambiguous laws, and the views of the agency take precedence. So you can see why corporations and conservative special interest groups would do everything in their power to tear it up. Chevron has been arguably as central to the field of administrative law as the 1954 Brown vs. Board of Education decision has been to racial equity in the United States.

* Overturning Chevron could threaten regulations related to the environment, healthcare, consumer safety, nuclear energy, and social safety net programs, and would be a massive transfer of power from the agencies to Congress and the courts. The cases SCOTUS will hear were brought on behalf of two sets of fishermen from Rhode Island and New Jersey, respectively, who objected to a maritime agency’s interpretation of a 1976 law that requires them to carry observers on trips to prevent overfishing, at the expense of the fishing companies.

* The U.S. Court of Appeals in the District of Columbia rejected a challenge to the regulation in the New Jersey case, writing, “Congress has delegated broad authority to an agency with expertise and experience within a specific industry,” and adding that “the court’s review thus is limited to the familiar questions of whether Congress has spoken clearly and if not, whether the implementing agency’s interpretation is reasonable.” A unanimous panel of First Circuit judges came to essentially the same conclusion in the Rhode Island case, calling the National Marine Fisheries Service’s interpretation of the 1976 law “certainly reasonable.”

It will shock no one to learn that there are mountains of conservative dark money dollars flowing into this case.

* Our humble fishermen are, naturally, represented by two conservative groups backed by evil anti-regulation billionaire Charles Koch ([link removed]) . Liberal justice Ketanji Brown Jackson is recused from the New Jersey case, because she ruled on it as a federal judge, but not the Rhode Island case. In Wednesday’s arguments, four of the Court’s archconservatives who have also taken a “precedent, schmechedent” approach to jurisprudence in recent years, absolutely railed against the Chevron decision ([link removed]) . The four horsemen of the bullshit apocalypse, Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch, and Brett Kavanaugh, spoke about the 1984 ruling as if it personally murdered their families in cold blood, and made it clear they want to send it to the electric chair. That leaves the fate of the
federal government’s ability to regulate and administrate in the hands of Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Amy Coney Barrett. Not a great place to be, if we’re honest!

* Of the two, Barrett appeared more open to preserving Chevron, and repeatedly expressed concerns about the cataclysmic disruption that would stem from overruling a decision that, as Justice Elena Kagan noted, has been cited by over 17,000 lower court decisions. Barrett seemed at least outwardly troubled by a possible “flood of litigation” that would result from every federal agency’s decision and interpretation of statutes being called into question. For his part, the Chief Justice seemed to suggest that Chevron’s significance was being overstated (lol, okay John) and had a conversation with one of the lawyers arguing in favor of overturning the decision, a troubling harbinger of what could come.

Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar told the justices that overruling the Chevron decision would be an “unwarranted shock to the legal system.” Unfortunately, this rogue right-wing Supreme Court seems to trade in such shocks. They have spent the last few years throwing out precedent in cases of abortion, affirmative action, and environmental regulation, among others. The idea that they might now turn the court system into a policymaker, to the possible detriment of public health and safety and benefit of large corporations, is something we unfortunately have to accept as very much within the realm of possibility.

We have a mass murderer on the loose in America: Fentanyl. It’s a cheap, white powder, and kills more than 70 thousand people each year in the US. On this week’s America Dissected, Dr Abdul El-Sayed reflects on the way that our fractured communities left us vulnerable to opioid addiction. And sits down with the Director of National Drug Control Policy to talk through solutions at the federal level. The episode just dropped, so you can listen in the America Dissected ([link removed]) feed now!
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Iran, which has now conducted missile strikes in neighboring countries Pakistan, Iraq, and Syria, made it clear on Wednesday that such strikes would continue in the face of international “threats.” ([link removed]) Defense minister Mohammad Ashtiani promised “proportionate, tough, and decisive” reactions to such threats in comments to reporters after a cabinet meeting. But Iran again seemed to stop short of a major escalation that could further inflame the ever-deepening regional conflict that ignited on October 7. On Wednesday, American officials reported that the Pentagon had carried out strikes against the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen for the fourth time in one week ([link removed]) .


In Gaza, airstrikes around Nasser hospital in the enclave’s largest southern city suggest that the Israel Defense Forces are advancing towards the facility ([link removed]) , where thousands of displaced Gazans have sought refuge. Videos verified by The New York Times show families leaving the hospital with their belongings amidst gunfire in the background and reverberating booms from explosions. United Nations agencies continue to urge Israel to allow more aid into the enclave, as the World Food Programme estimated that 93 percent of its population currently lives in crisis levels of hunger. Lack of access to clean water means disease is also spreading rapidly, and the World Health Organization predicted that both sickness and starvation could double the current number of casualties, which now stands at 24,000 according to the Gaza Health Ministry, in the
coming months ([link removed]) . U.N. aid agencies say the main factors preventing the flow of lifesaving aid are almost entirely under Israel’s control. Israel insists it is doing everything it can to minimize civilian casualties, and government spokesman Eylon Levy said last week that there was no backlog of aid trucks to be inspected. Since the conflict began, between 100 and 200 trucks have been allowed into Gaza each day, primarily through the Rafah crossing on the border with Egypt. Before October 7, that number was about 500.

For more on South Africa’s charges of genocide against Israel at the International Court of Justice, Tommy Vietor spoke with the Director of the Center for Global and Legal Challenges at Yale Law School, Oona Hathaway on a special episode of Pod Save The World ([link removed]) .

A Manhattan judge threatened to expel disgraced former president Donald Trump from his civil trial ([link removed]) after he repeatedly ignored warnings to shut the fuck up while New York columnist E. Jean Caroll testified that he defamed her while in office in 2019.


Trump also continued his pattern of racist dog whistles against his former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley (who is marginally gaining on him in the polls), referring to her by her first name, Nimarata, in a Truth Social post ([link removed]) . It goes without saying that he did not spell the name correctly.


A judge in Maine decided on Wednesday to punt on the case of Trump’s ballot eligibility until the Supreme Court issues a decision ([link removed]) on a similar case in Colorado.


GOP House Speaker Mike Johnson flatly rejected the idea of striking an immigration deal with Democrats ([link removed]) in service of reviving a stalled legislative package that would send aid to Ukraine.


Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY) introduced a resolution on Wednesday to censure House Republican Conference Chair Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) ([link removed]) for her defense of January 6 insurrectionists and Trump. Stefanik, among other things, referred to those incarcerated for their role in the insurrection as “hostages.”


Presidential hopeful who cannot produce a natural smile to save his life, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL), has essentially given up on New Hampshire to focus his doomed campaign efforts on South Carolina, ([link removed]) home state of his other main competitor for second place, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley.


DeSantis’s super PAC, Never Back Down, began laying off staff on Wednesday ([link removed]) . Not a great sign for Ole’ Ron, or for an organization that named itself “Never Back Down.”


Democrats in Congress have called for the IRS to open an investigation into the Trump-backed organization known as the Patriot Freedom Project ([link removed]) that financially supports January 6 defendants.

In Kentucky news (sorry, Kentucky), a Republican in the state’s House of Representatives, Nick Wilson, introduced a bill that would decriminalize sex between first cousins. ([link removed]) Wilson was previously the winner of season 37 of the long-running reality show, “Survivor.” Well Nick, the tribe has spoken: you’re a perv!
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The Biden administration unveiled a tandem measure with the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau that could potentially cut billions that large banks extract from (overwhelmingly low-income) customers for overdrawing their accounts. Overdraft fees could be limited to as little as $3 under the proposal ([link removed]) . The CFPB estimates that banks have collected $280 billion in overdraft fees in the last 20 years.

A New York judge declined to dismiss charges of manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide against 25-year-old former Marine Daniel Penny ([link removed]) , who was indicted last year after choking subway performer Jordan Neely to death on a Manhattan train.
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