By Chathushka Perera
New York, USA (CWBN)_ Conservative perspectives in the United State Supreme Court have risen to a 6-3 majority following the US Senate’s appointment of Presidential Nominee, Judge Amy Coney Barrett, with 52 Republican Senators voting in favour for the rushed, life-time appointment, against 48 dissenting votes. Barret was sworn in yesterday (26th October) at the White House.
Although, the scheduling for the Judge’s judicial oaths have not yet been made public, Barrett is now the third Supreme Court appointment made by the Trump Administration, and is the first time 231 years that Supreme Court appointment is made, in a few days prior to a Presidential Election.
Barret was nominated to fill the seat left behind by the late Judge Ruth Berta Ginsberg, despite her last wishes that an appointment should not take place till the next President is sworn in, and the hypocritical policy of the Republican Party to filibuster the Obama administration’s nominees in 2016, claiming that nominations cannot be made just prior to a Presidential Election.
“It is highly fitting that Judge Amy Coney Barrett fills the seat of a true pioneer for women, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg,” – Trump
While Barrett has the academic and professional track record for the position in the Supreme Court, serious concerns pertaining to her heated personal opinions on matters of public policy and interests, particularly with regard to women’s rights, employment discrimination, the Affordable Care Act, immigration, planned parenthood, LGBT+ rights, and criminal proceedings, which were highlighted during the interviews conducted by the Senate Judicial Committee.
Major implications of the appointment
The Supreme Court is the final destination for any legal appeal and any major legal consideration presented by the Federal Government.
Trump tax case
According to the Internal Revenue Services, the wealthiest 0.01% pay less taxes compared to all the working, middle class Americans, by the use of legal loopholes. While Trump’s predecessors, George Bush and Barack Obama paid 100,000 USD in excess, Trump has been accused of paying less that 400,000 USD over a period of 20 years.
Trump is also in an extensive legal battle over tax-refunds worth 72.9 million USD received directly from the Federal Treasury, irrespective of the fact that he had failed to pay his taxes for years.
Since the claims reached the public year in 2016, Trump insisted that his slate was clean and that he would be presenting his tax returns following an audit. The alleged auditing process has now exceeded the course of his term as president, yet Trump continues to repeat his statement.
In July, a 7-2 Supreme Court decision held that Trump is not exempted from criminal subpoenas for demanding his tax documents irrespective of his position as president, however, the case was pushed back into a lower court such that Trump’s lawyers could make their objections on the matter. Hence, the records have not been handed over to the New York State Prosecutor.
However, the lower courts have rejected the arguments presented by Trump’s lawyers, stating that the court order pertains to nothing more than “run-of-the-mill documents typically relevant to a grand jury investigation.” Hence, Trump was forced to return to the Supreme Court, where Barrett would be lying in waiting, requesting that the lower court’s decision be put on hold.
Moreover, it was recently discovered that Trump holds a bank account in China for which he has been paying the Chinese Government due taxes.
Planned Parenthood
The decision in the Supreme Court case Roe v Wade, which effectively legalised a woman’s right to abort a pregnancy, has been a contentious issue with Catholic conservatives and liberals pitted against each other.
During her Senate interviews, Barrett claimed that Roe has been “super-precedent” nonetheless maintained that the law is not immune to being overturned.
While the issue has much to do with a woman’s right over her body, if Roe is overruled in an environment, where one in four girls were sexually abused, 734,630 girls have been raped and 41.5 of 1000 are pregnancies among girls and women of ages 15-19, as per statistics from 2018, and the rising issue of child poverty affecting about 11.9 million children across the US, a removal of the court decision in the matter of planned would devastating effect on the futures of youth in America.
In addition, forced marriage also still occur in the US, but is in decline.
Ballot counting extension
A decision was made by the US appeals court to permit an extension to North Carolina’s ballot counting process owing to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, which has resulted in over 262,000 infections in the region (roughly 2.5% of the population) and 4200 deaths.
North Carolina is “battleground state” meaning that voting could shift either for or against either party, however, over the years the Republican Party has garnered majority support, by narrow margins in some cases, as the densely populated regions are largely for the Democrats.
The states of Pennsylvania and Wisconsin are currently facing a contextually similar dilemmas due to the pandemic.
Given the fact, Republican senators have been pushing for a Supreme Court decision against the extension, which is bound to restrict or even revoke the ability of many American voters to allow their voices to be heard. Barrett’s appointment would now likely afflict Trump and Republican influence over the upcoming election.
