I’ve written about the Supreme Court before  (in general and also with  a scientific analysis of its biases). This has been the most pro-business Supreme Court (SCOTUS) ever, so it is not surprising that decisions like the ones offered this week (as of this writing) are being promulgated.  We knew this from decisions that were announced a few years ago, when SCOTUS ruled that businesses get more rights than individuals.  (Citizen’s United basically claims that corporations are people.  But, people need to act morally and ethically- while Big Business claims that there are no such scruples required of business.)

In Vance v. Ball State University, SCOTUS ruled in favor of large employers.  It changed the definition of “supervisor” that had been the rule for decades (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission)- from one who has authority to direct another’s daily work to only those to have the authority to hire or fire folks and grant/deny promotions.  (Remember:  at least four members of SCOTUS deride the concept of “activist courts”- what they really mean is activism is OK, when we do it.)

Or, in Maryland v. King, where SCOTUS ruled that anyone arrested- with or without a warrant, with or without cause- must submit his or her DNA, if requested.  Of course, the authorities will so demand- and you can bet there will be no protections on the release of that information, or its use to identify familial connections, so that relatives can be arrested, as well. (If you don’t know what this entails [this is a new reference, the original Reuters article has been retired], click here.)  Yeah, like none of this is a violation of our Fourth Amendment rights.

The Voting Rights bill (the one renewed by Congress) was gutted- leaving our civil rights battles to the states as a result of SCOTUS’ Shelby County v. Holder decision.  By the way, four times previously, SCOTUS upheld that provision- but now they view States Rights overshadow the Bill of Rights.  (The Bill of Rights, the first 10 Amendments to our Constitution, are where our Civil Rights are defined.)

Proposition 8 was sent back to California and that made decisions on marriage left to be adjudicated as a States’ Rights issue, so that the Supreme Court would not be responsible for the adjudication of those civil rights, either.

It’s also why they haven’t reviewed the FISA (Foreign [sic] Intelligience Surveillance Act) Court decisions to allow spying on Americans- more civil rights violations.  Just like SCOTUS ruled in Clapper v. Amnesty International.  This case involved the Court’s refusal to review the challenge to the 2008 FISA Amendments, because the plaintiffs could not prove they were subject to surveillance.  Of course not, silly!  The surveillance is conducted in secret- and they never tell you if you are the subject of their spying.  (Unless someone line Edward Snowden pulls the plug on the PRISM and telephone spying the NSA really does.)

I’ll have more on this tomorrow.   When I discuss one more decision- where there actually is a way to force the company who thought it rammed through something (and was upheld by SCOTUS)  to rescind their decision.

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