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www.junctioncityunion.com The Junction City Union. Thursday, Sept. 24, 2020 7B
Ginsburg’s death sets up what could be the sharpest

Supreme Court shift in 3 decades

david g. savage ment and the politics of majority. The most liberal they would continue the
Tribune News Service the era. More broadly, justice had been succeed- fight and never accept the
Trump’s third justice — if ed by one who became its right to abortion as a set-
WASHINGTON — When the Senate confirms his most reliable conservative. tled precedent.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg pick — could trigger the Much the same story Now, one of Scalia’s
joined the Supreme Court sharpest ideological shift could be repeated in the favorite law clerks — Amy
in 1993, she was its lone at the court in nearly three next few weeks if Gins- Coney Barrett, an appellate
Democratic appointee, the decades, since conserva- burg, formerly the court’s judge from Indiana — has
first in 26 years. Her eight tive Clarence Thomas leading liberal, is replaced emerged as Trump’s lead-
colleagues were named by replaced liberal Thurgood by a young conservative ing candidate. If confirmed,
the four Republican presi- Marshall in 1991. who will all but certainly she could join Thomas and
dents from Richard Nixon Trump has said he vote often with Thomas. the other conservative jus-
to George H.W. Bush. would announce his As a leader of the court’s tices in finally repealing the
They were not all con- choice Saturday. Senate liberal wing, Ginsburg nearly half-century-old
servatives, however. Gins- Republicans tentatively devoted her efforts to right to abortion.
burg voted regularly with plan to hold a hearing the defending past victories, After Thomas’ confirma-
John Paul Stevens and week of Oct. 12 and vote including rulings that pro- tion 29 years ago, the fierce
David H. Souter, nominees by month’s end, just before tected abortion rights and fights over Supreme Court
of Gerald R. Ford and the presidential election. contraceptives for women seats had mostly subsided
Bush, respectively. And in When Ginsburg was and that allowed colleges until 2016.
her later years, she aligned nominated, she was com- to pursue affirmative Partly because of the acci-
with President Barack pared to Marshall. He had action for racial minorities. dent of timing, Presidents
Obama’s two picks, Sonia been a legendary civil rights She dissented when the Clinton, George W. Bush
Sotomayor and Elena lawyer from the 1930s court’s conservatives and Obama made appoint-
Kagan — as well as Ste- through the 1950s before struck down the laws limit- ments that largely main-
phen G. Breyer who, like becoming an appeals court ing campaign spending by tained the court’s ideological
her, was named by Presi- judge and the first Black jus- corporations and the balance. Each of the three
dent Clinton. tice. She had been a pio- wealthy and when they presidents served eight years J. David Ake •TNS
But throughout her neering women’s rights voided the key part of the and filled two vacant seats President Bill Clinton, left, laughs as newly confirmed
27-year tenure, Ginsburg attorney in the 1970s before Voting Rights Act that had on the high court. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg steps up the
was a liberal voice on a becoming an appellate long protected Blacks and Clinton nominees Gins- microphone to speak to the media in ceremonies in the
court that leaned right. As judge and then the second Latinos in the South. burg and Breyer replaced Rose Garden at the White House in Washington, D.C., on
August 3, 1993.
a result, she rarely spoke female justice. The success of the gay Byron R. White, a moderate
for the court in major Their tenures on the rights movement was the Democrat, and Harry A.
cases, though she often did court also had similarities. lone significant civil rights Blackmun, a liberal Repub- gates to spending by cor- Judge Merrick Garland,
so in dissent. Marshall arrived in 1967 advance during Ginsburg’s lican. The court’s balance porations and groups of from having a hearing or a
By contrast, if President at the height of the liberal time on the court. Yet she stayed about the same. wealthy individuals. vote because it was an elec-
Donald Trump succeeds in Warren court era, but he shrewdly stood just to the Bush named John G. Obama chose Sotomay- tion year. “The American
putting a conservative served throughout the side and allowed Justice Roberts Jr. and Samuel A. or and Kagan to replace people deserve a voice in
woman in her place, the 1970s and ’80s as the court Anthony M. Kennedy, a Alito Jr. to replace two the two liberal Republican such a momentous deci-
new justice will join five became more conserva- moderate Republican, to Republican appointees — appointees — Souter and sion,” Senate Majority
other Republican appoin- tive, and increasingly cast speak alone for the court Chief Justice William H. Stevens — and again left Leader Mitch McConnell,
tees and could play a dissenting votes. He was in all the major rulings on Rehnquist and Justice San- the court’s ideological bal- R-Ky., said then.
major role in shifting the exhausted and in poor the issue. dra Day O’Connor. Alito ance largely unchanged. Now McConnell and the
law to the right on abor- health when he decided to In 1992, the year before proved more conservative Scalia’s death in Febru- Senate Republicans are
tion, religion and guns. retire in 1991. Ginsburg arrived, Justices than O’Connor and creat- ary 2016 could have shifted determined to fill Gins-
That prospect, com- After a bruising confir- Antonin Scalia and Thom- ed a 5-4 majority to strike the court to the left and burg’s seat before the vot-
pared with Ginsburg’s mation fight, Thomas was as issued angry dissents down the laws on cam- created the first Democrat- ers speak in November.
career, shows how fully a confirmed to succeed him when the court fell one paign spending, most ic majority since 1969. But With only two party defec-
justice’s legacy depends on by a 52-48 vote in a Senate vote short of overturning notably in the Citizens Senate Republicans tions, they appear to have
the timing of her appoint- where Democrats held the Roe vs. Wade. Both vowed United case opening the blocked Obama’s nominee, the votes to do so, 51 to 49.
Protests erupt after grand jury does not charge Louisville

officers in killing of Breonna Taylor

Kate linthicum Walker, weeping, tells a dis-
Tribune News Service patcher that he and Taylor were
attacked by unknown intruders.
The shooting of Breonna Tay- “I don’t know what is hap-
lor by Louisville, Kentucky, pening,” Walker said. “Some-
police in March could easily body kicked in the door and
have slipped into obscurity — shot my girlfriend.”
one more deadly encounter Protesters and lawyers said
between law enforcement and the call proved that Walker did
a Black American. not know it was police at the
Instead, her name and image door.
became nationally known dur- The audio was released as
ing a summer of protests against fury was growing across the
racial injustice and excessive country in response to a graph-
use of force, triggered by the ic video filmed three days earli-
May 25 killing of George Floyd er, on May 25, that showed a
while in Minneapolis police Minneapolis police officer
custody. In the streets and on kneeling on Floyd’s neck for
social media, demonstrators, more than eight minutes until
celebrities and politicians his body went limp.
demanded that the officers who As protests mounted over the
shot Taylor in her apartment Floyd killing, demonstrators
while executing a search war- began to shout Taylor’s name
rant face criminal charges. as well.
On Wednesday, the decision The case became a touch-
by a Kentucky grand jury not to stone for nationwide protests
hold the officers legally respon- Brandon Bell • TNS against racism, with Taylor’s
sible for Taylor’s killing gener- A protestor raises his hands in the air during a standoff with law enforcement on Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2020, image painted on streets,
ated protests in cities across in Louisville, Kentucky. emblazoned on protest signs
the country and raised the and silk-screened on shirts.
specter of more explosive dem- son, was fired from the Police “Who is it?” her boyfriend, inspector denied that claim in The pressure was successful
onstrations that could further Department on June 23. A ter- Kenneth Walker, said he yelled an interview with a local televi- in one realm. On Sept. 15, Lou-
inflame the nation’s cultural mination letter from Schroeder multiple times. When nobody sion station, saying there was isville settled a lawsuit against
wars ahead of the November accused Hankison of violating answered, he reached for his no history of Taylor receiving the three officers brought by
presidential election. procedures by showing licensed handgun. suspicious packages. Taylor’s mother, Tamika Palm-
“The rallying cries that have “extreme indifference to the The door burst open, and There are also conflicting er, agreeing to pay her $12 mil-
been echoing throughout the value of human life” when he three men rushed in, weapons accounts about whether offi- lion and enact police reforms.
nation have once again been “wantonly and blindly” fired 10 drawn, Walker said. He fired a cers identified themselves But what the family and pro-
ignored,” said a statement from shots. shot, striking one of them in before they broke down Tay- testers wanted most, they said
Benjamin Crump, one of the Kentucky Attorney General the thigh. The men responded lor’s door with a battering ram. again and again, were charges
attorneys who represents Tay- Daniel Cameron said during a by firing multiple shots. Several Police had obtained a contro- against the officers for Taylor’s
lor’s family. news conference Wednesday shots hit Taylor, who was killed. versial “no-knock” warrant, killing.
Crump called the grand jury that the state found that the Walker and Taylor were both meaning they were not The grand jury decision not
decision to only bring three officers who entered Taylor’s initially described as “suspects,” required to announce them- to bring them was “the ultimate
charges of wanton endanger- apartment — Hankison, Jona- and Walker was jailed and selves. Still, they said they did slap in the face,” said national
ment against an officer who than Mattingly and Myles Cos- charged with attempted murder identify themselves as police, civil rights leader Maurice
shot into Taylor’s neighbors’ grove — were justified in their of a police officer. Prosecutors which Cameron repeated Mitchell. He said the charge of
homes “outrageous and offen- actions March 13 because Tay- later dismissed the charge, cit- Wednesday. Hankison with wanton endan-
sive” to her memory. lor’s boyfriend fired a gun at ing a lack of evidence. Three neighbors who said germent was “a crumb for a
After the decision was them first. The officers were serving a they were present the night of community that has been
announced, protests erupted in “This justification bars us warrant at the apartment while the Taylor killing told the Los denied justice for too long.”
cities including New York, Chi- from pursuing criminal charg- in search of a suspected drug Angeles Times that while they “It comes as no surprise that
cago and Los Angeles. In Louis- es,” said Cameron, a Republi- dealer, a former boyfriend of heard loud pounding on Tay- a legal system that has almost
ville, demonstrators wept and can who is Kentucky’s first Taylor’s. At the time of the raid lor’s door, they did not hear the uniformly propped up and pro-
chanted Taylor’s name. Black attorney general. He on Taylor’s home, the man had officers announce themselves. tected cops who kill continued
Authorities announced a cur- acknowledged that the ruling already been arrested by other Taylor’s family struggled as to do so today,” he said.
few of 9 p.m. to 6:30 a.m. and may be disappointing to some. officers at his house 10 miles they sought to bring media Others said the grand jury
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear “The decision before my away. attention to the case, which decision proved the necessity
sent 500 National Guard troops office as the special prosecutor Journalists have reported occurred as the coronavirus of the Black Lives Matter move-
to the city. in this case was not to decide if numerous inconsistencies in outbreak was generating con- ment, which demands that
Tensions escalated when two the loss of Ms. Taylor’s life was a the government’s version of cern nationwide. In addition, authorities value Blacks as they
police officers were shot near tragedy,” he said. “The answer events, including what appears there was no video of the do other Americans.
the protest site. Interim Louis- to that is unequivocally yes.” to be a false statement on a shooting, unlike in other “It is a grave injustice,” said
ville Police Chief Robert Schro- Taylor, a 26-year-old emer- search warrant used to justify police-involved killings that Shaun King, co-founder of a
eder said both officers were in gency medical technician, had the search of Taylor’s home. have sparked immediate anger political action committee that
stable condition and a suspect finished a long shift at a local On the warrant, police said a in recent years. advocates for policing and
was in custody, but did not give hospital and had just nodded postal inspector said that the Things began to change criminal justice reforms. “The
more details. off while watching a movie target of the drug investigation when audio of a 911 call from have treated Breonna Taylor’s
The officer who was charged when officers banged on her had received packages at Tay- the night of the shooting was life like it doesn’t matter one
by the grand jury, Brett Hanki- door. lor’s address. The city’s postal released by police May 28. In it, bit.”