Although this SCOTUS is still out of sorts on some issues it appears this session has resulted in appropriate affirmations of constitutional jurisprudence.
Especially noting rejection of Trump’s birthright citizenship limits, which is a fundamental tenet of unalienable rights. The abuses are not irrelevant but treating the symptoms rather than the problem would be the wrong approach and give way to an authoritarian slippery slope cum dictatorship. (I don’t much care for Rosie O’Donnell either but she’s a US citizen and in the mix along with the other bad apples produced by this nation.)
Limiting Trump’s executive power over the Federal Reserve is also the correct decision along with counting votes postmarked before deadline. Both arguments about votes have validity, but in reality many if not most votes are counted after midnight — the next day — making a strict interpretation onerous. The middle ground is a good compromise in a practical world and doesn’t seem to facilitate a highway to fraud.
Also recently decided by SCOTUS, the decision that regularly smoking weed doesn’t negate your 1st amendment rights. It would be totally onerous and a denial of due process to necessarily conclude that regularly smoking weed results in criminal behavior.
Most importantly, most of the time, this SCOTUS does appear to be rejecting the authoritarian mantra that attempts to cut to the chase to address concerns — which usually results in treating symptoms and denial of due process — resulting in more long term situations.
Still sketchy, unconstitutional, decisions regarding separation of church and state (schools), and the homelessness population continue to be a mitigating undertow that ought to be revisited.
©2026 – Jim Porter Casey
