Editorials & Other Articles

He has just enough votes on this court to keep him empowered.

Abortion Will Not Be Sent Back to the States
Republican jurists invoke democracy in preparing to overturn Roe v. Wade, but democracy functionally doesn’t exist in much of the country.
by Scott Lemieux December 6, 2021
https://prospect.org/justice/abortion-will-not-be-sent-back-to-the-states/

Democracy & Government
Judge Barrett’s Record: Siding With Businesses Over Workers
BY David Dayen | October 15, 2020

*These views have run counter to the civil rights of vulnerable and oppressed people time and again, in ways that suggest that Barrett would be unyieldingly extreme on the Court when it comes to protections for workers, police suspects, and people of color. The implications of some of Barrett’s rulings are truly grave, and whether or not they slow down or derail her confirmation, they should get a full airing in the committee.

Consider EEOC v. AutoZone. Judge Barrett did not write this opinion, but she joined a slim majority that denied a rehearing of the case at the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. AutoZone had a policy in Chicago of segregating employees by race, creating a “Hispanic store” and a “Black store” on the South Side. While employees’ pay, benefits, and job tasks didn’t differ, it did keep them from working at the location of their choice. In the words of the dissent to the majority’s ruling, the court effectively said that “a separate-but-equal arrangement is permissible under Title VII as long as the separate facilities really are equal.”

The implications of the AutoZone case are terrifying. “It’s a case that makes clear that she will put the interests of employers over that of workers,” says Kristen Clarke, president and executive director of the Lawyers’ Committee. “She will give employers the benefit of the doubt in terms of justifications they put forth for discriminatory policies and practices.” Expanding that out, Barrett could be willing to accept discriminatory actions in a host of other settings, even in the face of rulings like Brown v. Board of Education.
https://billmoyers.com/story/judge-barretts-record-siding-with-businesses-over-workers/