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SUPREME COURT UPDATES:
Supreme Court Shifts Power Over Federal Regulations to Federal Judges –
* Make it harder for Federal Prosecutors to go after January 6 rioters
* Denied Steve Bannon request for review of his 4 month prison sentence.
By: Emmanuel Roy
Washington, DC – The conservative majority of the Supreme Court continues to overturn decades of established legal precedents, courtesy of Donald Trump’s appointment or three conservative judges.
This week, the Supreme Court shifts power over federal regulations from agencies to judges, by overuling a judicial doctrine that has protected many federal regulations from legal challenges for over four decades — delivering a major victory to conservatives and business groups seeking to curb the power of the executive branch.
The 6-3 decision divided the court along ideological lines. Known as Chevron deference, the old Reagan-era doctrine required judges to defer to agencies’ “reasonable” interpretations of “ambiguous” federal laws. Its fallout will make it harder for President Joe Biden or any future president to act on a vast array of policy areas, from wiping out student debt and expanding protections for pregnant workers to curbing climate pollution and regulating artificial intelligence.
The 6-3 majority also sided with criminal rioters of January 6. In another opinion released today, the Supreme Court narrowed the scope of a federal law used to charge hundreds of people with obstructing Congress during the riot at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, jeopardizing many of those criminal cases.
The 6-3 ruling — in which two justices crossed the court’s usual ideological lines — may force federal prosecutors to reconsider charges in dozens of pending cases, and it could require judges to resentence some defendants already sent to prison for interfering with Congress’ effort to certify Joe Biden’s victory in the last presidential contest. About 350 of the 1,400-plus charged Jan. 6 defendants have faced obstruction charges, which are now thrown into doubt by the court.
Also, Steve Bannon, the architect of Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign for president is going to prison. The Supreme Court rejected a last-ditch bid by the longtime Donald Trump ally to stave off a four-month prison sentence for defying subpoenas from the Jan. 6 select committee three years ago. The high court’s decision — a one-sentence denial without explanation — means the influential right-wing podcaster will head to prison on July 1, with his release date just days before the November 2024 election.
