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Trump to Nominate Amy Coney Barrett to Supreme Court, Dems Launch Smear Attacks on Her Adopted Children

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By CBS News. President Trump is expected to nominate Judge Amy Coney Barrett to replace the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the U.S. Supreme Court, CBS News has confirmed, according to multiple sources involved in or familiar with the selection process.

It’s possible Mr. Trump could change his mind, but at this point, Barrett is expected to be announced as the president’s choice Saturday afternoon at the White House.

The White House has begun reaching out to Republican Senate offices to schedule meetings with the Supreme Court nominee to take place next week, starting Wednesday morning, according to two sources familiar with the planning. The Senate will be out Monday and Tuesday for Yom Kippur.

She has been a leading candidate and was a finalist to be Mr. Trump’s second Supreme Court pick. Barrett met with the president at the White House on Monday. CNN first reported that the president intends to announce Barrett as his pick. . .

If confirmed, Barrett, who serves on the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, would be Mr. Trump’s third Supreme Court appointee, following Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh, and just the fifth woman to serve on the high court. With her ascension to the Supreme Court, Barrett would further solidify its conservative majority, widening it to 6-3 and diluting the power of Chief Justice John Roberts as a swing vote. (Read more from “Trump Is Expected to Nominate Amy Coney Barrett to Supreme Court” HERE)

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Democrats Launch Smear Attacks on Amy Coney Barrett’s Adopted Children

By Breitbart. Democrats began smearing Judge Amy Coney Barrett on Friday night before President Donald Trump even nominated her to become the next Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, which he is expected to do on Saturday afternoon.

Dana Houle, a Democrat activist who was once a chief of staff on Capitol Hill to a Democrat lawmaker, tweeted Friday night that he hopes Barrett is investigated over the children she and her husband adopted from Haiti. “I would love to know which adoption agency Amy Coney Barrett & her husband used to adopt the two children they brought here from Haiti,” Houle wrote.

“So here’s a Q: Does the press even investigate details of Barrett’s adoptions from Haiti?” Houle wrote in a follow-up tweet. “Some adoptions from Haiti were legit. Many were sketchy as hell. And if the press learned they were unethical & maybe illegal adoptions, would they report it? Or not bc it involves her children”

In a third follow-up tweet, Houle added: “Would it matter if her kids were scooped up by ultra-religious Americans, or Americans weren’t scrupulous intermediaries & the kids were taken when there was family in Haiti? I dunno. I think it does, but maybe it doesn’t, or shouldn’t.”

(Read more from “Democrats Launch Smear Attacks on Amy Coney Barrett’s Adopted Children” HERE)

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Murkowski Backtracks on RBG Vacancy

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. . .Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) said he wouldn’t block the nominee. Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) is a ‘no,’ but as we’ve said before—Maine is an oddball state. She gets a pass. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), a runner up in the biggest pain in the a** contest among the GOP, did initially say that she’s opposed to filling the Supreme Court vacancy left by Ruth Bade Ginsburg, but is now changing her tune. The last justice passed away last Friday making the 2020 election even more interesting. And now, Murkowski is changing her tune (via Alaska Public Media):

If Democrats were counting on Lisa Murkowski to vote against President Trump’s next nominee to the Supreme Court, they should think again.

Sen. Murkowski said Tuesday she could not rule out that she would vote to confirm a Trump nominee if the Judiciary Committee approves one before the November election.

“I know everybody wants to ask the question, ‘will you confirm the nominee?’” she said outside the Capitol, as her Republican colleagues were gathering for their weekly policy lunch. “We don’t have a nominee yet. You and I don’t know who that is. And so I can’t confirm whether or not I can confirm a nominee when I don’t know who the nominee is.”

Editor’s note: typical of Murkowski’s duplicity, just days ago she said she would oppose Ginsburg’s replacement this close to an election.

(Read more from “Murkowski Backtracks on RBG Vacancy” HERE)

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President Trump to Announce Supreme Court Pick This Weekend

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By Breitbart. President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he would announce his Supreme Court nominee at 5:00 p.m. EST on Saturday.

“The decision will be announced on Saturday, 5:00 on Saturday at the White House,” Trump told supporters at a campaign rally in Moon Township, Pennsylvania, near Pittsburg.

Supporters chanted “Fill that Seat!” as the president spoke about his plan to fill the seat left vacant after the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. . .

Without naming Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska or Sen. Susan Collins of Maine specifically, Trump complained that there would always be some dissent in the party.

“There’s always got to be the two, those two,” Trump said. (Read more from “President Trump to Announce Supreme Court Pick This Weekend” HERE)

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Cuban-American Judge Barbara Lagoa on Trump High Court List

By Associated Press. A daughter of Cuban exiles who has had a swift rise as a lawyer and judge is on President Donald Trump’s short list to replace Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the U.S. Supreme Court.

The president said Monday that he does not personally know Barbara Lagoa, but praised her as “terrific.” Barely veiled was the fact that, as a Cuban-American from South Florida’s city of Hialeah, her selection could benefit Trump in the Nov. 3 election, when Florida could be the ultimate kingmaker. Lagoa grew up in a heavily Hispanic suburb of Miami.

“She’s excellent. She’s Hispanic. She’s a terrific woman from everything I know. I don’t know her. Florida. We love Florida. So she’s got a lot of things — very smart,” Trump said in a call-in interview with “Fox and Friends.” (Read more from “Cuban-American Judge Barbara Lagoa on Trump High Court List” HERE)

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Mark Levin Bashes Democrats for Wanting to Pack Supreme Court: This Is a Party That Is Following a ‘Stalinist Model’

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Conservative commentator Mark Levin argued that Democrats proposing to pack the Supreme Court are a threat to the Constitution and are following “a Saul Alinsky, Stalinist model.”

“The Democrat Party is a diabolical institution that’s getting worse and worse. It has a diabolical history, whether it is slavery, segregation, Jim Crow, or today, the so-called socialism,” Levin said, adding, “Our school systems are under attack. A vaccine is under attack. Our borders are under attack. The courts are under attack. Everything’s under attack with the current Democrat Party because their attitude is, if we can’t control everything, then burn it down. They’re the mob in the street, without Molotov cocktails. That’s exactly what the modern Democrat Party is today.”

“This is a party that is following a Saul Alinsky, Stalinist model. I can’t put it any other way, and they’re taking it into the election,” Levin continued. “Joe Biden was the leader of the pack, destroying the nomination process, destroying the Supreme Court. He was the leader of the pack, which is why he was hiding yesterday because he didn’t want to talk about the vacancy of Ruth Bader Ginsburg.”

Following the death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Friday, President Trump urged Republicans to confirm a new justice quickly, while Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell promised a Trump nominee would see a vote in the Senate. (Read more from “Mark Levin Bashes Democrats for Wanting to Pack Supreme Court: This Is a Party That Is Following a ‘Stalinist Model'” HERE)

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Who Is Barbara Lagoa, Possible Trump Supreme Court Contender?

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President Trump is expected to announce his new pick for the Supreme Court by the end of this week, following the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. . .

[Judge Barbara] Lagoa, 52, previously served on Florida’s 3rd U.S. District Court of Appeals and the Florida Supreme Court.

Lagoa was overwhelmingly approved by the Senate when she was confirmed to the 11th Circuit bench with a vote of 80-15 in November 2019. Sens. Cory Booker, D-N.J.; Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass.; Kamala Harris, D-Calif.; Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn.; and Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., did not vote. All five were campaigning in the Democratic primary race at the time.

The American Bar Association gave Lagoa a unanimous rating of “Well Qualified” prior to her 11th Circuit confirmation, which is the highest rating possible.

Lagoa was involved in the Eleventh Circuit’s 6-4 decision upholding a Florida law requiring ex-felons to pay all outstanding fines, fees, and other costs before being permitted to vote. She drew complaints from Democrats, who accused her of possibly violating the Code of Conduct for United States Judges for not recusing herself from the matter, as she had previously issued an advisory opinion and participated in oral arguments in the case at the state level when she served on Florida’s Supreme Court. (Read more from “Who Is Barbara Lagoa, Possible Trump Supreme Court Contender?” HERE)

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Here’s What Trump Told Reporters to Expect With His SCOTUS Pick

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On Saturday, President Trump talked to reporters about his Supreme Court nominee, saying the nominee will likely be a woman.

In agreement with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), President Trump said he may pick a nominee to go before the Senate as early as this coming week.

“I agree with the statement put out by Mitch McConnell,” the president said before departing for a campaign rally in Fayetteville, North Carolina, Saturday afternoon. “I agree with it, actually, 100 percent. I put out a very similar statement as you saw. So I think we’re going to start the process extremely soon, and we’ll have a nominee very soon.” . . .

“I could see most likely it would be a woman,” Trump told reporters. “Yeah, I think I could say that. … if somebody were to ask me now, I would say that a woman would be in first place. The choice of a woman I would say would certainly be appropriate.” (Read more from “Here’s What Trump Told Reporters to Expect With His SCOTUS Pick” HERE)

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Ruth Bader Ginsburg Dead at 87

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By NPR. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the demure firebrand who in her 80s became a legal, cultural and feminist icon, died Friday. The Supreme Court announced her death, saying the cause was complications from metastatic cancer of the pancreas.

The court, in a statement, said Ginsburg died at her home in Washington, D.C., surrounded by family. She was 87. . .

Inside the court, not only is the leader of the liberal wing gone, but with the court about to open a new term, the chief justice no longer holds the controlling vote in closely contested cases.

Though Roberts has a consistently conservative record in most cases, he has split from fellow conservatives in a few important ones this year, casting his vote with liberals, for instance, to protect at least temporarily the so-called DREAMers from deportation by the Trump administration, to uphold a major abortion precedent and to uphold bans on large church gatherings during the coronavirus pandemic. But with Ginsburg gone, there is no clear court majority for those outcomes. (Read more from “Ruth Bader Ginsburg Dead at 87” HERE)

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Trump reacts to Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death, says justice ‘led an amazing life’

By Fox News. President Trump on Friday called late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg “an amazing woman who led an amazing life” and said he was “sad” to learn of her passing, but didn’t say anything about plans for nominating a replacement.

The president, on the tarmac after finishing a rally in Minnesota Friday night, had just learned that Ginsburg, 87, had died from complications surrounding metastatic pancreas cancer.

“Wow, I didn’t know that,” Trump told reporters. “She led an amazing life. Whether you agree or not, she was an amazing woman who led an amazing life.”

He added: “Sad to hear that.”

The president didn’t discuss any plans for nominating a replacement. But just earlier, during the Minnesota rally, the president vowed to “nominate judges and justices who will interpret the Constitution as written,” and called the Supreme Court “so important.” (Read more from “Trump reacts to Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death, says justice ‘led an amazing life’” HERE)

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NO MORE BETRAYALS: Senator Just Set the Standard for Conservative Supreme Court Justices

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Social conservatives are done being taken for granted by the GOP: That’s the message Sen. Josh Hawley shot across the party and administration’s bow Sunday, setting a brave and admirable standard for Christian legislators that is sure to pit him against powerful Washington Republicans and Democrats.

“I will vote only for those Supreme Court nominees who have explicitly acknowledged that Roe v. Wade is wrongly decided.” Hawley told The Washington Post. “By explicitly acknowledged, I mean on the record and before they were nominated.”

“I don’t want private assurances from candidates. I don’t want to hear about their personal views, one way or another. I’m not looking for forecasts about how they may vote in the future or predictions. I don’t want any of that. I want to see on the record, as part of their record, that they have acknowledged in some forum that Roe v. Wade, as a legal matter, is wrongly decided.”

The junior senator from Missouri is a member of the powerful Senate Judiciary Committee, through which any of President Donald Trump’s potential future nominees to the Supreme Court must pass before being brought to the floor for a vote. Conservative judges have been a major point for this administration, beginning during the campaign when, working closely with The Federalist Society and The Heritage Foundation, Trump released a list of who he would nominate, exciting then-skeptical conservatives.

Since then, conservatives have been routinely disappointed by Republican-nominated justices, quietly complaining about the GOP and the powerful, conservative Federalist Society’s tendency to focus on justices who have established records of conservative and libertarian business and government rulings, but no firmly established record of rulings that protect either marriage or the lives of the unborn. (Read more from “NO MORE BETRAYALS: Senator Just Set the Standard for Conservative Supreme Court Justices” HERE)

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Justice John Roberts Votes Against the Constitution Again, Turns Away Church’s COVID Challenge

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The US Supreme Court on Friday denied a petition from a church in Nevada that argued a policy limiting in-person church attendance to 50 during the coronavirus pandemic violated the Constitution. . .

The church argued that the state policy treated church services differently from other large gatherings including casinos, gyms and restaurants. . .

Although the court’s order was unsigned, Justices Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas, Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch dissented, meaning that Chief Justice John Roberts provided the necessary fifth vote by joining the liberals on the bench.

The order marks the second time Roberts has voted to reject a request from a church amid the pandemic.

In May, he sided with the liberals in a 5-4 order against a church in California that was challenging limitations on the number of people who could attend services. (Read more from “Justice John Roberts Votes Against the Constitution Again, Turns Away Church’s COVID Challenge” HERE)

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Supreme Court Transgender Decision Leads to Religious Liberty Legal Battle

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A transgender man last week filed a lawsuit against a Catholic-run hospital in Maryland, citing in his complaint June’s landmark Supreme Court decision on transgender rights, fulfilling conservative fears that the ruling would usher in a legal war.

The suit, filed on behalf of Jesse Hammons by the American Civil Liberties Union, alleges that St. Joseph Medical Center, a Catholic-run hospital within the University of Maryland Medical System, violated the First and Fourteenth Amendments by refusing to perform a surgery necessary to Hammons’s transition from woman to man. The suit uses Justice Neil Gorsuch’s majority opinion in Bostock v. Clayton County to buttress its argument, namely, that refusing services to transgender people is a form of discrimination on the basis of sex.

When Bostock was decided in June, many social conservatives predicted that it would have dire implications for women’s sports leagues, single-sex dorms on college campuses, and general religious liberty exceptions to nondiscrimination laws granted to faith-based institutions. . .

Anderson pointed to his own work on transgender activists’ clashes with religious institutions and said that the ACLU’s argument holds no water, since “good hospitals remove diseased organs, not healthy ones. Regardless of ‘identity.’”

The ACLU’s argument rests on two points. The first is that St. Joseph’s, which, until UMMS acquired it in 2012, was owned by the Catholic Church, violates the First Amendment’s establishment clause by operating according to Catholic teaching. The second is that the hospital violated the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment because it would have performed the procedure, a hysterectomy, if Hammons, a biological woman, needed it for reasons other than gender dysphoria. (Read more from “Supreme Court Transgender Decision Leads to Religious Liberty Legal Battle” HERE)

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