SCOTUS Keeps The Death Card Available!

The current justices in the Supreme Court.

By appointment.

Associate Justice Anton Scalia - Ronald Reagan (Conservative)
Associate Justice Anthony Kennedy - Ronald Reagan (Conservative/Libertarian)
Associate Justice Clarence Thomas - George H.W.Bush (Conservative)
Associate Justice Steven Breyer - Bill Clinton (Liberal)
Associate Justice Ruth Bider Ginsburg - Bill Clinton (Liberal)
Associate Justice Samuel Alto - George W. Bush (Conservative)
Chief Justice John Roberts - George W. Bush (Conservative)
Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor - Barack Obama (Liberal)
Associate Justice Elena Kagan - Barack Obama (Liberal)

Try to keep up with the score. Conservatives are seriously upset with Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Anthony Kennedy. They sided with the liberal wing of the court in regards to Obamacare.

Kennedy strung conservatives even harder by siding with the liberal wing of the court in allowing equal marriage in the United States. So it doesn't matter whether you're straight or gay, you have a right to marry. Marriage is legal in the United States. Conservatives are calling for impeachment and are urging state clerks to deny marriage licenses based on religious beliefs.

King v. Burwell ruling saves the Obamacare (Affordable Care Act). If it ruled in the conservatives favor, over 30 million signed up to the healthcare mandates subsides could be eliminated. That means each state is required to set up state exchanges regardless of political views.

Obergefell v. Hodges ruling is a landmark decision. Jim Obergefell lost his husband to ALS. He wanted to be placed as spouse on the death certificate. He and his husband John Arthur were married in Maryland. They resided in Cincinnati. When John died, Ohio refused to acknowledged the legal marriage. Jim took it to court and won. The court ruled that equal rights are extended to marriage.

On the bright side, conservatives win on rulings that involves the mandatory sentencing, the overreach of the EPA and the death penalty.

Michigan v. EPA - The court ruled that President Barack Obama's executive orders were unconstitutional.

Ohio v. Clark - The court ruled that sentencing for gun crimes under statures that carry heavy time in the iron college were constitutional.

Clayton Lockett

Glossip v. Gross - The cocktail given in the gas house isn't cruel and unusual punishment.

Conservatives win handily on these issues when it comes to gun rights, environmental regulations and the pills for death.

The Glossip v. Gross case involved the death penalty cocktail that was being injected into the condemned. An Oklahoma man was given the gas house. Clayton Lockett was given the lethal load and it didn't work. It was administered by the Oklahoma guards.

Lockett got the cocktail but it wasn't working. He told the warden that he's feeling pain. He was cussing that this "shit was burning"!

It took over 45 minutes before he would pass away. Many advocates believe that it was cruel for him to suffer.

The Supreme Court in a 5-4 decision believe that despite this horrible tragedy, the states that advocate the gas house are allowed to use the death cocktail.

On the other hand, the liberal wing won the ruling on Arizona State Legislature v. Arizona Independent Redistricting Comm'n. This ruling could impact states that have gerrymandered districts that are based on political swing. That means if a district is relatively swing, the party in power must compromise on where the district lines go. Basically it may be up to voters to establish independent commissions to draw the congressional lines in the 2020 U.S. Census.

Texas Dept. of Housing and Community Affairs v. Inclusive Communities Project, Inc., ruling is significant. Even if there's a trace of discrimination in housing loans, leasing and properties, the individual can file a writ of consent.

Walker v. Texas Division, Sons of Confederate Veterans ruling advocates that governments aren't entitled to enshrine opinionated plates. That means that some states that issue Confederate flag plates are no longer allowed to promote private thought over government speech.

Obama's Touching Eulogy In Charleston!

Friends of faith know the road ahead was a challenge. But we persevere. 

The LGBT community was given a historical victory today. The Supreme Court ruled in favor of gay marriage. Now in the United States, marriage is legal for every human being.

President Barack Obama delivered a powerful statement this morning.

And when he went to Charleston, SC for the funeral of Clementa Pickney, a state senator who was the pastor of Emmanuel AME Church, Obama gave one of the best eulogies ever.

As passionate as he was, the president remarks on all the innocent lives lost to this terrorist and the need to push for reasonable gun control. 

The deceased included congregation members: Susie Jackson, 87; Rev Daniel Simmons Sr., 74; Ethel Lance, 70; Myra Thompson, 59; Cynthia Hurd, 54; Rev Depayne Middleton-Doctor, 49; Rev Sharonda Coleman-Singleton, 45; and Tywanza Sanders, 26.

World News Today send our condolences to families of those lost in this horrible tragedy.

He went into Amazing Grace which brought the biggest standing ovation ever.

Who ever said that President Barack Obama's isn't the coolest guy in the White House?

A man of principle and a man of vision. And for the hate aimed at him, First Lady Michelle Obama an their children, they keep their cool and keep it moving.

BREAKING: GAY MARRIAGE LEGAL IN THE U.S.!

Anthony Kennedy joined the liberal justices Steven Breyer, Elena Kagan, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and Sonia Sotomayor in an extremely historical decision. The gay marriage bans in states like Ohio, Kentucky, Florida and Texas are gone. The United States Supreme Court ruled, gay marriage the law of the land.

A HUGE DAY IN AMERICA FOR OUR FRIENDS IN THE LGBT COMMUNITY! THE SUPREME COURT RULED THAT THE STATE BANS ON GAY MARRIAGE ARE ILLEGAL.

GAY MARRIAGE AND GAY ADOPTION ARE NOW LEGAL IN THE UNITED STATES.

HISTORY HAS BEEN MADE IN THE COUNTRY.

THE ROBERTS COURT FINALLY WENT IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION!

A big day in the Supreme Court. The legality of marriage is now equal for all.

In a 5-4 decision, the court ruled that all state mandated gay marriage bans are discriminatory.

Win for the LGBT community.

The decision is a historic victory for gay rights activists who have fought for years in the lower courts. Thirty-seven states and the District of Columbia already recognize marriage equality. The remaining 13 states ban these unions, even as public support has reached record levels nationwide.

The justices found that under the 14th Amendment, states must issues marriage licenses to same-sex couples and recognize same-sex unions that were legally performed in other states.

The lead plaintiff in Obergefell v. Hodges is Ohio resident Jim Obergefell, who wanted to be listed as the surviving spouse on his husband's death certificate. In 2013, Obergefell married his partner of two decades, John Arthur, who suffered from ALS. Arthur passed away in October of that year, three months after the couple filed their lawsuit.

Obergefell was joined by several dozen other gay plaintiffs from Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Tennessee who were fighting both to be able to marry and to have their marriage recognized in every state in the country.

Family matters. The Supreme Court made a historical decision on gay marriage.

The country's views of same-sex marriage have transformed since 2004, when Massachusetts became the first state to allow gay couples to wed. In 2013, the Supreme Court began chipping away at the country's legacy of discrimination against same-sex couples when it struck down part of the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, which prevented same-sex couples whose marriages were recognized by their home state from receiving the hundreds of benefits available to other married couples under federal law.

President Barack Obama became the first sitting president to support marriage equality when he came out in favor of it in 2012, the same year that the Democratic Party made it part of its platform for the first time. The Republican Party and its slate of 2016 presidential aspirants, however, remain opposed to same-sex marriage. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) support a constitutional amendment protecting states that want to ban marriage equality.

Some conservatives have advocated for a civil disobedience effort against a Supreme Court decision in favor of same-sex marriage. However, officials in red states told The Huffington Post recently that they are prepared to implement the decision, going so far as to ready gender-neutral marriage licenses and set later office hours. Gerard Rickhoff, who oversees marriage licenses in Bexar County, Texas, said that if same-sex couples are discriminated against elsewhere in the state, "Just get in your car and come on down the highway. You'll be embraced here."

Thrilled #SCOTUS has recognized the right to marriage for all Americans, regardless of who they love pic.twitter.com/4RgesBbnkJ

— Rosa DeLauro (@rosadelauro) June 26, 2015

RT @MTV: It’s Official: #SCOTUS Has Ruled In Favor Of Nationwide Marriage Equality: http://t.co/icYmMd5Kzg pic.twitter.com/N6AwfkvEcS

— Charlamagne Tha God (@cthagod) June 26, 2015

.@sarahkateellis and @antigonerising are celebrating today's #SCOTUS ruling with Kate and Thomas! pic.twitter.com/itHVitigzP

— GLAAD (@glaad) June 26, 2015

To all the conservative bigots who tried to stop today from happening. #SCOTUS pic.twitter.com/yk36RZSLnu

— Matt Morgan (@Matt7022) June 26, 2015

Engraved on #SCOTUS is ‘equal justice under the law.’ Today’s historic ruling upholds this pledge of equality for all! #LoveCantWait

— Rep. Robert J. Dold (@RepDold) June 26, 2015

President Barack Obama will be heading to Charleston soon but before he goes, he may deliver a speech on the court decision.

BREAKING: OBAMACARE STAYS AGAIN!

Republicans must accept the healthcare law.

The Supreme Court ruled in the King v. Burwell case.

And it looks like the president's signature health care law stays put.  The AP breaks the news and it looks like it's going to make Republicans and conservative agitators even more angrier.

The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the nationwide tax subsidies under President Barack Obama's health care overhaul, in a ruling that preserves health insurance for millions of Americans.

The justices said in a 6-3 ruling that the subsidies that 8.7 million people currently receive to make insurance affordable do not depend on where they live, under the 2010 health care law.

The outcome is the second major victory for Obama in politically charged Supreme Court tests of his most significant domestic achievement.

Chief Justice John Roberts again voted with his liberal colleagues in support of the law. Roberts also was the key vote to uphold the law in 2012. Justice Anthony Kennedy, a dissenter in 2012, was part of the majority on Thursday.

"Congress passed the Affordable Care Act to improve health insurance markets, not to destroy them," Roberts wrote in the majority opinion.

Nationally, 10.2 million people have signed up for health insurance under the Obama health overhaul. That includes the 8.7 million people who are receiving an average subsidy of $272 a month to help pay their insurance premiums.

Of those receiving subsidies, 6.4 million people were at risk of losing that aid because they live in states that did not set up their own health insurance exchanges.

The challenge devised by die-hard opponents of the law, often derided by critics as "Obamacare," relied on four words - established by the state - in the more than 900-page law.

The law's opponents argued that the vast majority of people who now get help paying for their insurance premiums are ineligible for their federal tax credits. That is because roughly three dozen states opted against creating their own health insurance marketplaces, or exchanges, and instead rely on the federal healthcare.gov to help people find coverage if they don't get insurance through their jobs or the government.

In the challengers' view, the phrase "established by the state" demonstrated that subsidies were to be available only available to people in states that set up their own exchanges. Those words cannot refer to exchanges established by the Health and Human Services Department, which oversees healthcare.gov, the opponents argued.

The administration, congressional Democrats and 22 states responded that it would make no sense to construct the law the way its opponents suggested. The idea behind the law's structure was to decrease the number of uninsured. The law prevents insurers from denying coverage because of "pre-existing" health conditions. It requires almost everyone to be insured and provides financial help to consumers who otherwise would spend too much of their paycheck on their premiums.

The point of the last piece, the subsidies, is to keep enough people in the pool of insured to avoid triggering a so-called death spiral of declining enrollment, a growing proportion of less healthy people and premium increases by insurers.

Several portions of the law indicate that consumers can claim tax credits no matter where they live. No member of Congress said that subsidies would be limited, and several states said in a separate brief to the court that they had no inkling they had to set up their own exchange for their residents to get tax credits.

The 2012 case took place in the midst of Obama's re-election campaign, when he touted the largest expansion of the social safety net since the advent of Medicare nearly a half-century earlier. But at the time, the benefits of the Affordable Care Act were mostly in the future. Many of its provisions had yet to take effect.

In 2015, the landscape has changed, although the partisan and ideological divisions remain for a law that passed Congress in 2010 with no Republican votes.

The Affordable Healthcare Act was passed. It's ruled constitutional. The Republicans have tried over 60 times to repeal the law despite the court telling them that everything in the law is correct.

Time for the Republicans and their allies to move forward. Take down the Confederate Flag. Pass comprehensive immigration reform. Pass reasonable gun control. Give gay couples the right the marry.

Let's move the country forward.

SCOTUS Rules In The Wannabe Eminem Case!

I can't be touched. Anthony Elonis got redemption after the Supreme Court ruled that his imprisonment and conviction invalid. He went to social media to rap a verse about killing his ex-wife in Eminem fashion.

If I want to say "I'm a kill you" in a musical verse, is it a threat?

Well the Supreme Court says "no". It's not a threat if you're expressing frustrations about killing without preemptive attack. It has to be the actions done and not said. The court ruled in favor of a man who spent time in the prison after he took shots at his estranged wife after he found out she cheated on him.

Elonis v. United States is a decision that ruled in favor of plaintiff Anthony Elonis.

The court invalidated his conviction. He is no longer an active felon in the state of Pennsylvania.

Anthony Elonis (formerly known as Tone Dougie) was convicted on four counts of threats to local law enforcement, his estranged wife, an FBI agent, and a kindergarten class, relayed through interstate communication. He was sentenced to 5 years in federal time out. He posted his lyrics of violence on Facebook.

There you go.........!

Remember what you post on social media can be seen by everyone. Just because you keep it private, doesn't mean it's private. Your friends and their friends and strangers can exploit you. Once its online, it's forever.

Big rulings are coming. Obamacare and gay marriage on the way.

In his lyrics he would say:

Did you know that it's illegal for me to say I want to kill my wife?

It's illegal.

It's indirect criminal contempt.

It's one of the only sentences that I'm not allowed to say.

Now it was okay for me to say it right then because I was just telling you that it's illegal for me to say I want to kill my wife...

Elonis said that his rap verse were similar to Eminem.

He would also post that he would take out others. That caught the FBI's attention.

"...Took all the strength I had not to turn the bitch ghost

Pull my knife, flick my wrist, and slit her throat

Leave her bleedin’ from her jugular in the arms of her partner..."

Elonis' conviction was based on multiple public Facebook posts he wrote, including the following about his wife: “If I only knew then what I know now... I would have smothered your ass with a pillow. Dumped your body in the back seat. Dropped you off in Toad Creek and made it look like a rape and murder.”

Elonis fought the state of Pennsylvania to regain his freedom. After a few appeals, he got it to the Supreme Court.

.

In a 7-2 decision, the court ruled that it was wrong for the federal authorities and state of Pennsylvania to assume that Elonis had the intentions of planning a domestic attack through social media. They knew it was rap lyrics and not an inspired attack.

Justices Samuel Alito and Clearance Thomas were the dissenting opinion.

This ruling means that even if its distasteful and threatening, the court believes that if it's written by song or in poetic form (and not a plot to carry out a domestic attack), it's freedom of speech.

Elonis wanted to think like Eminem.

Marshall Mathers III, 42 is the world's greatest rapper. He comes from the city of Detroit and told his tales of hardship through his alter ego Slim Shady. The rapper released eight albums, five collaborations and starred in a blockbuster movie. He is one of the very few rappers to earn a Oscar for best song. He is the most recognizable White rapper. He is a controversial talent. He is criticized by some for rapping verse that may seem sexist, homophobic, violent, demonic, sadistic, and too commercial.

Eminem is also founder of Shady Records, the label that host his group D12, hip-hop collective Slaughterhouse and Alabama rapper Yelawolf.

Eminem is signed on Interscope Records through Dr. Dre's Aftermath Entertainment.

Dr. Dre left the label to join Apple via his Beats Audio.

Bigger rulings coming soon. The decisions on executive powers, Obamacare and gay marriage will be decided on in the coming weeks.

SCOTUS Rules In A&F Discrimination Case!

In a ruling today, the U.S. Supreme Court rules in favor of the plaintiff who filed a federal lawsuit against a suburban clothing retailer.

EEOC v. Abercrombie & Fitch Stores, Inc., was a court ruling stops selective hiring practices by companies such as New York-based clothing outlet Abercrombie & Fitch.

Whether an employer can be liable under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 for refusing to hire an applicant or discharging an employee based on a “religious observance and practice” only if the employer has actual knowledge that a religious accommodation was required and the employer's actual knowledge resulted from direct, explicit notice from the applicant or employee.

Hani Khan.

In a 8-1 decision, with Justice Clearance Thomas being the sole dissent rules that A&F was in violation of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission when it dealt with accommodating to religious grounds.

Those involved the clothing company were prepared for this. They were committed to ending its discrimination practices towards hires who were Black, Hispanic, fat, and practicing Muslim.

They fired CEO Mike Jeffries out the cannon after he and his boyfriend ran the company into the ground. Mike and his boyfriend were blowing money fast. They were telling the public that they have to be catered by male models who had to look the part. The controversial business executive was bold in his demands. He didn't want fat people, Black people and unattractive people wearing his company's logo.

70 year old man-child Mike Jeffries was forced out of A&F/Hollister. The loaded him and his partner in the cannon and fired them out.

Some managers of A&F stores fired two women out the cannon after they refused to take off their hijab because of their religion.

Hani Khan, 23 was the most recognizable face of the ruling. She was fired from a California Hollister store after she was told that she could not be on the A&F floor. So they sent her to the Hollister to work in the break room. When she came onto the floor to assist a guest, a manager told her to head home and not come back.

She took her concerns to the Council of American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and they filed a federal lawsuit against the compnay.

Now based in New Albany, Ohio outside of Columbus, the board was taking a lot of heat.

Sales are down. Many stores might close and its trying to rebuilt its image. According to the new rules, you can wear whatever you want. You don't have to be a white girl with blonde hair or a white guy with ripped muscles wearing jeans tucked up with sandals.

They want to bring young teens back to the A&F and Hollister stores. They even introduced large and XXL sizes for customers.

Jeffries and his 22 years on the board wrecked the company.

The company can not deny an employee based on race, gender, religion, social, political or economic standings.

It stands for all companies in the United States and its territories.

Congratulations to Ms. Hani Khan. She defined the odds. She took on a business that thought it was "too big to fail" and won.