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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsJustice Thomas just handed down an opinion that would make it legal to kick black people off juries
Justice Thomas just handed down an opinion that would make it legal to kick black people off juries
Jim Crow all over again.
Ian Millhiser
Jun 21, 2019, 11:55 am
The Supreme Court just undid the work of a prosecutor whose astounding incompetence was matched only by his racism. This prosecutor somehow managed to try Curtis Flowers, an African American man from Mississippi, six times for the same murders and he botched every single trial.
The upshot of the Supreme Courts 7-2 decision in Flowers v. Mississippi is that Mr. Flowers will need to be tried again this time because of the prosecutors long record of excluding jurors because they are black. Even Justice Samuel Alito, who is normally a free space for prosecutors playing Supreme Court bingo, joined Brett Kavanaughs majority opinion tossing out Flowers conviction. (Alito did write separately to note that this is a highly unusual case that is likely one of a kind.)
There are few surprises in Kavanaughs opinion sometimes easy cases make for easy decisions. One surprise is that two members of the court, Justice Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch, dissented.
Perhaps most strikingly, however, was the nature of Thomass dissent, which went so far as to suggest that prosecutors should be free to remove jurors because of their race.
more...
https://thinkprogress.org/clarence-thomas-flowers-mississippi-batson-juries-6fb2bde2a085/
shanny
(6,709 posts)about the self-loathing black man Clarence Thomas
The Velveteen Ocelot
(115,280 posts)that the defendant didn't get a fair trial because the prosecutor dismissed black jurors. The majority opinion was written by Kavanaugh, of all people.
saidsimplesimon
(7,888 posts)gonna get." Forrest Gump
I am shocked that Justice Kavanaugh was with the majority.
The Velveteen Ocelot
(115,280 posts)isn't that surprised. Article III judges are very protective of their role as an equal branch of the government, and, having lifetime appointments, they aren't beholden to the person who appointed them. While Gorsuch and Kavanaugh are unquestionably conservative, their ideological tendencies won't necessarily mean Trump will win any cases that come before him - in fact, the opposite is likely true. Trump isn't really a conservative, nor is he a constitutional originalist. He's just an autocrat who wants his way and doesn't care about the legal theories his lawyers will have to warp in order to support his position. At some point the Supreme Court will issue an opinion in a case in which Trump is the loser. He will then have an epic hissy fit and threaten to fire the justices who wrote it, even though he can't, and he'll probably try to ignore the court's order, whatever it is. Then things will really get interesting.
saidsimplesimon
(7,888 posts)atreides1
(16,046 posts)A white racist, in the body of a black man!!!
Salviati
(6,002 posts)(From The Boondocks...)
Thomas probably thinks he too has reverse vitiligo
StarfishSaver
(18,486 posts)A sitting Supreme Court Justice wrote in an opinion that the state is free to convict - not try but convict - a man who is, as of today, completely innocent in the eyes of the law unless and until he he is tried and convicted according to law.
What a hateful, evil person this man is.
Hermit-The-Prog
(33,041 posts)If he can't be impeached for the assault on Anita Hill, or his lack of logic, surely ignorance of the basics of law is enough.
tishaLA
(14,176 posts)the podcasr In the Dark--and frankly the podcast will probably result in him walking free because it's pretty clear he didn't commit the murders, although he's spent 22 years on death row and had six trials for the same crime.
shanny
(6,709 posts)mcar
(42,210 posts)He wrote the minority opinion.
Celerity
(42,673 posts)Justice Thomas just handed down an opinion that would make it legal to kick black people off juries
Perhaps most strikingly, however, was the nature of Thomass dissent
mcar
(42,210 posts)I should have been more specific.
Celerity
(42,673 posts)Justice Thomas just handed down an opinion that would make it legal to kick black people off juries
re-read it
WOULD
not
will
RainCaster
(10,691 posts)Just one in particular.