— Leo McGary, West Wing
By Blue Bronc, a Trail Mix Contributor
Looking at the two cases the Supremes recently gave certioari – sex offenders not allowed to use social media, Packingham v. North Carolina, 15-1194, and transgender children using the restroom, Gloucester County School Board v. G.G.
They would not bring these in unless a consensus has been sort of agreed to in at least a 5-3 ruling, striking down the school board, as a tie ruling leaves it open until they get a nine Justice court. Also, the court feels comfortable stepping out against the far right pressure, even with the giant pumpkin with a dead orange possum on its head possibly ending up in the White House.
The social media restriction sounds like a no brainer. It will not hold. It is too hard to enforce and a First Amendment issue. How do you stop someone from communicating? I have friends who no longer use email because they use social media, usually Facebook. Can the felon be forced to use certain communication techniques or methods? What if a fool stated the felon could only use telegraph? Fine, fifty years ago. But, not available today. Use a landline, but no longer available in places today. Unless a prosecutor comes up with something novel, the restriction is gone.
The potty problem is more contentious. But, the bulk of the Justices do not live in a vacuum, they can see there is a new world taking the place of the old, and trying to stop that takeover is a loser. They have been doing the support of the change for a few years now. And there is no reason for them to go backwards anymore. Scalia is gone and his heavy thumb on Thomas is too. Not that it is an improvement that the Justice is asking questions now.
The case of the Virginia school board dictating where a transgender male student is to go to pee is also looking like a loser. Although the stay was issued supporting the school board by a 5-3 decision, it was by a Justice stating he voted for the stay to bring the case in later. Well he and the other liberal Justices have found their conservative supporter. Otherwise I would have expected to see them bring the North Carolina case and another opposite case sometime later, once they had a nine Justice court again.
A decision for the transgender youth to use the restroom will carry a great deal of significance beyond the school board case. It will be used to knock down the North Carolina case, no peeing in this state you freaks, of the McGory fame. The same will be used to strike away the other states who setup road blocks to the Obama order to allow use of restrooms and other gender specific locations by transgender school children.
Photo credit: Outhouse courtesy of Neil Gottlieb
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