It's Not Docket Science

Scotus Takes the Fifth on the Fourth

It moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it. That's Ferris Bueller's famous quote about life. But the same could be said about terrible Supreme Court shadow docket decisions (that are handed down, often unsigned, sans full briefings, oral arguments, or written opinions). The latest one is particularly disturbing, and it's worth stopping and paying attention to what it allows. In response to a complaint that (often masked) federal agents in LA were essentially targeting brown people en masse, "Judge Maame E. Frimpong, of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California ... ordered agents not to rely on several factors, alone or in combination, in deciding whom to stop and question in her judicial district, which includes Los Angeles and surrounding areas. The factors were race or ethnicity; speaking Spanish or accented English; presence at a particular location, such as a day-laborer or agricultural site; or performing a particular type of work." Makes sense, because, you know, America. Constitution. Fourth Amendment. Blah, blah. But the SCOTUS majority essentially took the Fifth when it comes to enforcing the Fourth. In her dissent, Justice Sotomayor wrote that the majority "all but declared that all Latinos, U.S. citizens or not, who work low wage jobs are fair game to be seized at any time, taken away from work and held until they provide proof of their legal status to the agents’ satisfaction. Countless people in the Los Angeles area have been grabbed, thrown to the ground and handcuffed simply because of their looks, their accents and the fact they make a living by doing manual labor. Today, the court needlessly subjects countless more to these exact same indignities." Will those countless more be limited to Los Angeles where this complaint was brought? "The majority’s failure to provide an explanation for the ruling means that it is hard to say whether its reasoning applies nationwide or is limited to the Los Angeles area, where the administration has said that the problems flowing from illegal immigration are especially pronounced. But there is little doubt that the ruling will have the practical effect of further emboldening the administration’s uncompromising efforts to deport unauthorized immigrants around the country." NYT (Gift Article): Supreme Court Lifts Restrictions on L.A. Immigration Stops.

+ "In a brief concurrence, Justice Brett Kavanaugh offers a fictional retelling of facts to downplay the disastrous impact of the court’s order. Kavanaugh claims that ICE agents are merely conducting 'brief investigative stops' to 'check the immigration status' of those whose occupations are 'attractive to illegal immigrants.' ... No matter what the justice 'would like to believe,' Sotomayor writes, the truth is that ICE is 'not conducting brief stops for questioning.' Its agents are 'seizing people using firearms, physical violence, and warehouse detentions.' Moreover, Kavanaugh’s position would effectively compel all Latinos 'to carry enough documentation to prove that they deserve to walk freely' at risk of indefinite detention. 'The Constitution,' Sotomayor writes, 'does not permit the creation of such a second-class citizenship status.'" The Constitution doesn't. This court's shadow docket does. Slate: The Supreme Court Just Let ICE Detain Americans Based on Race.

+ "The ruling, on the so-called shadow docket, is yet another in a long string of cases since the spring in which the GOP appointees have allowed the Trump administration’s power grabs. From firing federal workers and agency heads to deporting people to dangerous countries without due process, the court’s majority has waived aside precedent, clear statutory language, and even constitutional protections in order to give this president increasing power. This time, the pesky thing standing in the way was the Fourth Amendment." MoJo: Supreme Court Blesses Racial Profiling by ICE. America is becoming a shadow of itself.

2

Tuning Fork in the Road

I'm in the wrong business. And not just because this newsletter has no revenue model. I'm selling (or, more accurately, giving away) a product that fewer and fewer people want. I'm not talking about the sharp witticisms, the pithy insights, or the dazzling wordplay. I'm talking about the news itself. "Globally, news avoidance is at a record high, according to an annual survey by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism published in June. This year, 40% of respondents, surveyed across nearly 50 countries, said they sometimes or often avoid the news, up from 29% in 2017 and the joint highest figure recorded. The number was even higher in the US, at 42%, and in the UK, at 46%. Across markets, the top reason people gave for actively trying to avoid the news was that it negatively impacted their mood." I get it. My mood is destroyed about three minutes into my day. But I'm guessing that the loss of our democracy would bum me out even more. Why more and more people are tuning the news out.

3

Tech Support

"Across China, tens of thousands of people tagged as troublemakers like the Yangs are trapped in a digital cage, barred from leaving their province and sometimes even their homes by the world’s largest digital surveillance apparatus. Most of this technology came from companies in a country that has long claimed to support freedoms worldwide: the United States." US tech companies enabled the surveillance and detention of hundreds of thousands in China. "U.S. companies did this by bringing 'predictive policing' to China — technology that sucks in and analyzes data to prevent crime, protests, or terror attacks before they happen. Such systems mine a vast array of information — texts, calls, payments, flights, video, DNA swabs, mail deliveries, the internet, even water and power use — to unearth individuals deemed suspicious and predict their behavior. But they also allow Chinese police to threaten friends and family and preemptively detain people for crimes they have not even committed."

4

Trump's Birthday Suit

"The 238-page book, littered with candid photos, drawings and collages, was released on Monday by the House Oversight Committee among the documents turned over by Mr. Epstein’s estate after being subpoenaed by the committee. It offers a vivid portrait of how Mr. Epstein’s lewd and lecherous behavior with young women was both widely known and widely celebrated by people who described themselves as his closest friends and associates." NYT (Gift Article): In Epstein’s ‘Birthday Book,’ a Celebration of His Lecherous Exploits.

+ WSJ (Gift Article): Epstein Birthday Letter With Trump’s Signature Revealed. "Lawyers for Jeffrey Epstein’s estate have given Congress a copy of the birthday book put together for the financier’s 50th birthday, which includes a letter with President Trump’s signature that he has said doesn’t exist." (Guys, I'm beginning to think that Trump hangs around with unsavory people, mistreats women and girls, and lies about stuff when confronted.)

5

Extra, Extra

World War Z: "Anti-corruption protests escalated in Nepal's capital Kathmandu today, as government buildings were set ablaze. The unrest was sparked by a social media ban, which has now been reversed by the government. It has now grown into a wider anti-corruption movement that took to the streets on Monday. In total, at least 22 people have been killed in the protests and dozens more injured. As protests raged, Nepal's prime minister, KP Sharma Oli, resigned from his post ... When Nepal’s government blocked access to social media platforms last week, it was following a familiar playbook used by leaders of neighboring countries to tighten control. What was not part of the playbook was the huge backlash that followed." Here's the latest from BBC and NYT. And Rest of World with some more background. In what has come to be known as the “Gen Z protest,” thousands of demonstrators took to the streets.

+ Israel Strikes in Qatar: "A senior Hamas official confirmed to CNN that the group’s negotiators were targeted in Doha. The attack appears to be the first time Israel has launched an operation in Qatar." Israel targets Hamas leadership in Qatar strike. Meanwhile, Netanyahu tells Gaza City residents to leaveas he pledges retaliation for Jerusalem attack

+ Murdoch Master: "Lachlan Murdoch has completed an agreement to secure control of his family’s sprawling media empire for decades to come, the family announced on Monday. The deal ensures that the empire’s various outlets, including Fox News, The New York Post and The Wall Street Journal, will remain conservative after his father Rupert’s death." NYT (Gift Article): Inside the Deal Ending the Murdoch Succession Fight. (What, you expected a Murdoch family story to have a positive ending?)

+ Ag Me With a Spoon: "About a quarter of the Texas professors said they have applied for higher education jobs in other states in the last two years, and more than 25% said they soon intend to start searching for out-of-state positions. Of those who aren’t thinking of leaving, more than one-fifth said they don’t plan to stay in higher education in the long-term." That's the result of stories like this one: A&M Dean removed following student complaints over curriculum.

+ Hatchet, Jobs: Wall Street expected a big jobs revision. The reality is even worse. (The Reality is Even Worse is 2025's tagline.)

+ Drug Bust: Over 600 people arrested in operations targeting Sinaloa drug cartel, DEA says.

+ Punch Drunk Gov: NYT (Gift Article): Trump’s Treasury Secretary Threatens to Punch Housing Official in the Face. (Why limit it to just the one official?) While this might read as somewhat funny, the problem is that these folks are sort of in charge of the global economy.

+ Thin is In: Apple is announcing a bunch of new products today including the very thin iPhone Air and Airpods that can measure heart rate. (So they'll be able to tell how excited you are when Siri finally gets decent.) Here's the rundown from The Verge.

6

Bottom of the News

"MLB players ... would seem to be a demographic uniquely susceptible to heavy drinking. During the season, big leaguers spend half their time on the road, usually away from their families. They are disproportionately surrounded by other men in their 20s and 30s. Money, for nearly all players, is no barrier. And perhaps most importantly, ballplayers work a stressful, high-intensity job that usually ends late at night. Traditionally, that led players searching for a way to decompress after games to alcohol and nights out." But these days, drinking is even down among baseball players (although it was heavily up among Giants fans during the team's August slump). In addition to the general trend away from from drinking in America, ballplayers seem to be driven by concerns over social media and a preference for weed. (I should have been a ballplayer.) America is drinking less than ever — and the same is true for baseball players.

+ How a Deaf Quarterback Changed Sports Forever By Inventing the Huddle.