SCOTUS Snippets: Protestor, Hidden Cameras, 9th and 6th Get Reversed
Somebody's been naughty. For the first time ever, there is video footage of the Supreme Court chambers and, well, they look the same as they did five years ago. It's not terribly exciting stuff, with fuzzy footage and audio of someone breathing, except they caught footage of a protestor who interrupted oral arguments and is now being charged with a felony.
Meanwhile, in more official business, the Ninth and Sixth Circuits continue their battle for "most reversed circuit" with a pair of reversals each. Who will win the battle of "least competent court" remains to be seen, but the Ninth just gave 110 percent with their anti-speech rulings.
Lights, Camera, Protests
Art Lien, the famous Supreme Court artist, brought us the first images, with a well-drawn sketch of the protestor who disrupted court proceedings with a statement against Citizens United.
Sketch of #SCOTUS protestor, "Corporations are not people, money is not speech . . ." pic.twitter.com/F1R4hEI48T
-- Arthur Lien (@Courtartist) February 26, 2014
Then the video showed up. A hidden camera caught the entire protest on film:
The YouTube user, SCOTUSpwned, has a number of other hidden camera clips, none of which are particularly interesting. For those wondering, getting a hidden camera into court is the easy part -- you can get a high-definition camera built into a watch or a pen for less than $50. The hard part will be beating the felony federal charge, which sadly places loud disruptive speech on the same plane as discharging a firearm, blowing things up, or lighting things on fire.
The protestor, by the way, did an interview with the Huffington Post. Warning: the douchebaggery is strong in that one.
6th Reversed, Told to Peek at Solicitor's Briefs
On Monday, the court's orders list mentioned two Sixth Circuit cases that were summarily reversed with instructions to look at the Solicitor General's briefs. We got our hands on those briefs and, on our Sixth Circuit blog, discussed the issues that led to the reversal.
9th Reversed in Military Base Protest Case
Who controls military bases? The military, obviously, even if the base has a highway that runs through it. The Ninth Circuit applied an "exclusive possession" test that was nowhere to be found in the statute to reverse one man's convictions, then was bound by precedent to do it again. In their defense, the second set of reversals, which were re-reversed by the Court, came with an "ooops." in the per curiam opinion. We have additional coverage on our Ninth Circuit blog.
The Ninth was also reversed in Walden v. Fiore, where they held that an officer who had never been to Las Vegas could be sued there.
That's two each. Who will ultimately prevail? Share your picks with us on Facebook.
Related Resources:
- Two SCOTUS Decisions Trample Defendants' Rights (FindLaw's U.S. Supreme Court Blog)
- Many Notable Denials on the Court's First Day Back (FindLaw's U.S. Supreme Court Blog)
- SCOTUS Snippets: NJ Sports Betting, Poker, and Justin Wolfe (FindLaw's U.S. Supreme Court Blog)
