Lots of news to catch up with and comment on today.
• An RBG sighting! After weeks of being out of public view and prompting a ton of rumors, Justice Ruth Buzzie Ginsburg appeared—in person—at the Supreme Court yesterday, just in time to hand down today’s unanimous ruling that the 8th Amendments’s “excessive fines” clause applies to the states through “incorporation” of the due process clause. This ruling will greatly reduce the use of “civil asset forfeiture” by state and local governments.
But more significant may be two small features of the ruling. First, Justice Ginsburg’s opinion cites as its key precedent the McDonald v. City of Chicago gun control case from 2011 (a solid win for the 2nd Amendment), which suggests the durability of both that case and the Heller case that greatly bolstered gun rights before McDonald. Second, Justices Thomas and Gorsuch wrote a concurring opinion that they would have anchored the decision not in the due process clause of the 14th Amendment, but in the “privileges and immunities” clause instead. This is where the real action is going to be in coming years. The Supreme Court, having wrongly neutered the privileges and immunities clause way back in the 1870s, is now gingerly reopening the clause for use. And long overdue, too.
CLIMATIC CHANGE; ENVIRONMENTAL DEGRADATION; INEQUALITY AND OLIGARCHY; COMPLEXITY; EXTERNAL SHOCKS; RANDOMNESS/BAD LUCK; DOGS AND CATS LIVING TOGETHER. . .
Okay, I added that last one, but the point is, it’s the usual list of things that has leftists in a state of constant agitation. Which means it’s pretty unoriginal, especially from someone billing themselves as a “collapse expert.” How about getting back to me when you’ve taken a few correct positions on soybean futures or something.
He should know you’re not allowed to say things like this.
I think I rather like this guy.