Today is the 60th anniversary of Bloody Sunday, March 7, 1965, when peaceful protesters who supported the right of Black people to vote marched across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, only to be met with violence.
Jennifer Eory: Let me give a big SECOND TO THAT MOTION!
Thank you, Chief Justice John Roberts, showing yourself to be in the heritage more of CJ Roger Taney than of Justice Felix Frankfurter.
Chief Justice Roberts is the biggest of disappointments, because as a lawyer and jurist, myself, I know Chief Justice Roberts to be a very gifted man with a love of the law, and for whatever reason, he has PROSTITUTED HIS LEGACY.
Shame on Chief Justice John Roberts.
For having high ability, Chief Justice Roberts has the greater guilt.
Rare is it that a man has fallen down so low from a pedestal in my mind. Chief Justice John Roberts, tragically, has the GIFT, but he chose self-degradation.
Armand, You would appreciate this about John Roberts.....it was written by my talented sister and you will see her bibliography at the end: https://substack.com/home/post/p-157982739
Coelle Baskel: Your sister, Francine Fein, has written an EXCELLENT critique, replete with insight, scholarship, and good sense.
Thank you so much for sharing.
I have ribboned snd restacked your sister‘s profound thoughts, because she concisely gathers so much key information in short space, and repeated readings will be my pleasure.
William Richter: Indeed, able jurist that he is, Chief Justice Robert made a good call in DEPARTMENT OF STATE v. AIDS VACCINE ADVOCACY COALITION, U. S. Supreme Court No. 24A831, 604 U.S. ___ (5 March 2025).
But individual correct judgments and opinions do not make a jurist.
Justice Felix Frankfurter wrote leading scholarly articles for the Harvard Law Review before FDR appointed this truly great jurist to the U.S. Supreme Court.
As a jurist myself, I have read countless opinions by great jurists such as John Marshall, Oliver Wendall Holmes, Louis Brandeis, Benjamin Cardozo, and Felix Frankfurter. A „per curiam“, one line ruling on the right side of history does not undo destruction of the Voting Rights Act or Chief Justice John Roberts‘ crowning of an omnipotent President with arbitrary powers to wreak terrifying revenge based upon Trump‘s caprices.
Chief Justice John Roberts was gifted by nature to become another Benjamin Cardozo or Felix Frankfurter.
Instead, Chief Justice John Roberts bent justice with pathetic reasoning in destroying civil rights and enabling dangerous, capricious executive powers.
I will remember Chief Justice Roberts in the ranks of Roger Taney.
In the precise sense of Sophocles and Euripides, Chief Justice Roberts is a tragic figure.
Since Trump lied to the voters and he is basically doing a coup, I think we should have a RE-VOTE using PAPER BALLOTS and NO TABULATORS (as they were hacked. See ETA - Election Truth Alliance and SmartElections.US)
Not a bad idea. If each precinct in America is approximately 1000 voters and there are 175,000 precincts, you appoint TWO counting groups in each precinct and each group counts 1000 ballots which would take a few hours tops. Compare the totals which should match 100%. Make it a requirement that anyone who votes must agree to serve on a vote counting panel (like jury service).
If there is a discrepancy between the two vote counts, you do an automatic audit with a separate group.
Very quickly you'd work out most errors.
It would cost little to do this if it was a citizenship requirement. You'd get vote totals very quickly even in the worst case. Maybe a day tops.
Thank you, Joyce, for reminding us of Selma and of the ongoing fight we must engage ourselves in to pursue justice and fairness in civil rights and voting rights. Your advocacy matters. Our advocacy matters. Al Green's advocacy matters. Onward.
I agree; and thank you for calling out Al Green's standing up for truth. Hard to believe that 10 Democrats joined in censoring him. ALL Democrats should've stood up and exited in his support. The time for " decorum " is past if we want to save our country!!
I do. There are standards of conduct in both houses of Congress.. Green definitely violated those standards. I support his intent but he knew he might get censured.
Frankly censure is a pretty weak punishment. Like being sent to the corner for an afternoon. If they had threatened him with expulsion I would feel very differently.
I, too, believe that democracy is still worth fighting for. What Black people have had to go through around the issue of voting is unconscionable in a democracy. I find myself hoping that republicans can find a line trump crosses that is totally unacceptable, and that they go back to being decent human beings instead of political pawns.
Black people have been fighting for democracy for well over two centuries, when the outlook was, to put it mildly, bleak. Too many white people seem discouraged after only nine years of Trump. Why is that?
It's worth remembering that this isn't all about Trump -- but at the same time, Project 2025 is Reaganism on steroids, and it's mostly about rolling back the gains made by people of color and women in general in the last 60 years or so. The current crop of Republicans may be in thrall to Trump, but pawns they are not. Since Nixon's "southern strategy" took hold, they've been the party of rolling back civil rights and restricting the right to vote.
Take a look at the states they control and you can't help realizing that they started long before Trump came along. If anything, Trump is the endgame, the culmination of decades -- but it hasn't turned out quite like the upper-level Republicans of yesteryear had in mind.
You give Republicans too much credit. They are not political pawns. They are true believers in the cult of Trump. Re-education will not work as they only joined Trump because they were believers, not influenced.
In my lifetime voting was a privilege for some people (especially white males), then a right for men, women, Blacks and others.
Now voting is once again becoming a ‘privilege.’ In some states you must bring your birth certificate or some other primary document to exercise your right to vote. [Including, for married women, who have the problem of their maiden name on their birth certificate.]
Expanded voting days and mail in ballots—-increasingly obstructed. And when there are long voting lines, in some states it is illegal to bring food or water to folks in line for hours.
For me and some other oldsters, Selma is a vivid memory.
Sadly, just look out the window to see why there must be more Selmas today.
And when someone,especially a Democrat, says — it was a free and fair election, it makes my blood boil. I can see how Al Green lost it when trompe said it was a landslide.
Al Green spoke with strength and civility to Trump’s unhinged distortions.
The majority of Americans did not vote for Trump, the unstable and irascible bully that is currently driving our country off the rails on the world stage. We the people must stand up like Al Green did and show strength and resolve to right our nation and solve our acknowledged problems.
We must start now organizing in our neighborhoods and communities. We must act collaboratively and effectively now to bring changes that are needed for a better future for all people.
I keep thinking there is a silver lining to the chaos of DJT…the chaos may well be the catalyst for the systemic changes needed…but DJT is not the leader needed. He must be replaced.
I am reminded that leadership for correcting wrongs in our country has always come from the oppressed, from those who are minority by color of their skin but leaders of the majority by virtue of their courage. Now it is time for white Americans to recognize the oppression of themselves that is taking place. Now is the time to be courageous, in the American tradition.
Ukraine will be bombed out of existence no matter how brave and courageous. TRUMP has take. Away their tools to fight, denied the aid and sided with Putin. Trump thinks he will live forever to continuing to rule with Evil. Lucky us. He is old and befuddled. Once MSM finds out, they will. Turn on him. Or Not!
"Last Tuesday our daughter took us to a screening of Four Winters: A Story of Jewish Partisan Resistance and Bravery in WWII. These 25,000 partisans, mostly of high school and college age, lived in Eastern European forests for four years, sabotaging German infrastructure of all kinds and doing their best to stay alive. The stories are told by eight surviving partisans. In my 80 years it's the ultimate story of resistance I've encountered. If you visit the film's website, you can find out how to arrange a screening. It's been shown in theatres, libraries, and colleges, but it's not available to be purchased or streamed, not intended to be viewed alone. If any of you are part of the Sunrise movement, sharing it there would be inspirational."
My sister fell in love with Mr Lewis and had my dad, a self taught artist, create a Captain America poster with Mr Lewis’s likeness. At his memorial in Alabama my sister presented it to his family, explaining he was her hero. My daughter is riding with her Union (she has worked for UPS for 20 years and is their union representative at her processing plant in Mobile) to Selma on Sunday. We are following them to join in the Sunday march and rally. You are my hero and if you are there Sunday I hope to meet you in person.
One of the things that keeps me centered and grounded is remembering that progress is non linear. It is unimaginable, (as a gen Z-er, my entire life lived in diversity, inclusion, equality and a woman’s control over her own reproductive/medical decisions) what those who have gone before me have encountered to secure these rights, with an under appreciation of same. Grateful for this reminder and continued education about our history. (They didn’t teach this in my school).
Thank you, Joyce. I must be awful for intelligent people such as yourself, your family and intimate friends to live amongst people everyday who lack the intelligence of your chickens. Your flock comes in many different colors, but they all recognize themselves as chickens even if they are not "birds of a feather"
Sixty years! Like Roe v. Wade, I took it for granted that desegregation - and the Voting Rights Act - would last forever. I remember watching all the violence on tv, reading about it in Life and Look … leave it to a fat old conman from Queens to flamboyantly bring it to a disheartening end. And you, too, John Roberts!
Thank you for continually reminding us we are in this together. I was raised by wonderful Republican parents, our garage was the polling place for our neighborhood. I was taught honor and justice. Watching the Republican Party crumble into this gelatinous mass of vile orange filth and dishonor breaks my heart. I find myself crying near daily for the death of our democracy.
If your parents voted for Nixon, Reagan, the Bushes or Trump, they are the problem. It has been a steady progression of putting the likes of Rpberts, Thomas, and Alito on the Supreme Court - the leaders of the "gang of six".
It's absolutely stunning to see how far a retreat from the promises of the VRA we've come, not just within the federal govt. and courts - including, of course SCOTUS - but how the states themselves have embraced with a maniacal fervor voting restrictions. Well, I say "restrictions", but in fact are straight- up vote suppression legislations of various degree.
Honor the Selma March of course, but also to mourn the losses that were initially gained, and that over time either eroded, or simply wiped out. It's as though we have to restart the project from Day Zero already.
Great Americans created this great country, and Trump and his MAGA disciples aren’t going to “take it back” to the 1950s. We shall overcome — because so many before us did.
I was a toddler in Selma from 1944-46. My progressive parents were from the NE but my father in the Army and was stationed in Mongomery AL toward the end WWII. The racism that they witnessed made them hate Southerners for the rest of their lives. My father witnessed a lynching. A young Black boy who was claimed to be eyeing a white woman across the street. This is 20 years BEFORE Bloody Sunday. I have never been back to Alabama. I now support the. SPLC and the Equal Justice Initiative. On a wonderful note, one of my long term friends grew up in Birmingham AL. She does not reside in Alabama but recently inherited her grandmothers dilapidated old house in Harperville AL where she had summered as a child. What to do with this property? She learned that it had been the plantation home of her ancestor, Wallace, built before the Civil War. This was a cotton slave plantation. And the Black decendants of this plantation remained in Harpersville and all over the US. With a local Black leader, she started the Wallace Center for Arts and Reconciliation.. The Black and White descendants now share reunions, regular art shows, and educational programs. See their website for the full story.
It would wonderful to see the Voting Rights Act passed once and for all and that bridge renamed for the great John Lewis.
Jennifer Eory: Let me give a big SECOND TO THAT MOTION!
Thank you, Chief Justice John Roberts, showing yourself to be in the heritage more of CJ Roger Taney than of Justice Felix Frankfurter.
Chief Justice Roberts is the biggest of disappointments, because as a lawyer and jurist, myself, I know Chief Justice Roberts to be a very gifted man with a love of the law, and for whatever reason, he has PROSTITUTED HIS LEGACY.
Shame on Chief Justice John Roberts.
For having high ability, Chief Justice Roberts has the greater guilt.
Rare is it that a man has fallen down so low from a pedestal in my mind. Chief Justice John Roberts, tragically, has the GIFT, but he chose self-degradation.
Armand, You would appreciate this about John Roberts.....it was written by my talented sister and you will see her bibliography at the end: https://substack.com/home/post/p-157982739
Coelle Baskel: Your sister, Francine Fein, has written an EXCELLENT critique, replete with insight, scholarship, and good sense.
Thank you so much for sharing.
I have ribboned snd restacked your sister‘s profound thoughts, because she concisely gathers so much key information in short space, and repeated readings will be my pleasure.
Thank you so very much.
Thank YOU for taking the time to pass along your supportive comment!!!!
I assume you feel a bit better about him after the latest decision.
William Richter: Indeed, able jurist that he is, Chief Justice Robert made a good call in DEPARTMENT OF STATE v. AIDS VACCINE ADVOCACY COALITION, U. S. Supreme Court No. 24A831, 604 U.S. ___ (5 March 2025).
But individual correct judgments and opinions do not make a jurist.
Justice Felix Frankfurter wrote leading scholarly articles for the Harvard Law Review before FDR appointed this truly great jurist to the U.S. Supreme Court.
As a jurist myself, I have read countless opinions by great jurists such as John Marshall, Oliver Wendall Holmes, Louis Brandeis, Benjamin Cardozo, and Felix Frankfurter. A „per curiam“, one line ruling on the right side of history does not undo destruction of the Voting Rights Act or Chief Justice John Roberts‘ crowning of an omnipotent President with arbitrary powers to wreak terrifying revenge based upon Trump‘s caprices.
Chief Justice John Roberts was gifted by nature to become another Benjamin Cardozo or Felix Frankfurter.
Instead, Chief Justice John Roberts bent justice with pathetic reasoning in destroying civil rights and enabling dangerous, capricious executive powers.
I will remember Chief Justice Roberts in the ranks of Roger Taney.
In the precise sense of Sophocles and Euripides, Chief Justice Roberts is a tragic figure.
Voting is the bedrock of any democracy. I remain believing in such a state even though our own experiment is fading. I will do whatever I can.
Since Trump lied to the voters and he is basically doing a coup, I think we should have a RE-VOTE using PAPER BALLOTS and NO TABULATORS (as they were hacked. See ETA - Election Truth Alliance and SmartElections.US)
Unconstitutional? Well that’s not stopping Trump!
I totally agree about paper ballots! Take longer? Sure do, but I believe they are more accurate & harder to cheat (yeah, Russia & puppets).
Musk keeps saying “this is what you voted for.” NO IT ISN’T!
Paper is the ONLY way
Not a bad idea. If each precinct in America is approximately 1000 voters and there are 175,000 precincts, you appoint TWO counting groups in each precinct and each group counts 1000 ballots which would take a few hours tops. Compare the totals which should match 100%. Make it a requirement that anyone who votes must agree to serve on a vote counting panel (like jury service).
If there is a discrepancy between the two vote counts, you do an automatic audit with a separate group.
Very quickly you'd work out most errors.
It would cost little to do this if it was a citizenship requirement. You'd get vote totals very quickly even in the worst case. Maybe a day tops.
Not a bad idea at all.
Thank you, Joyce, for reminding us of Selma and of the ongoing fight we must engage ourselves in to pursue justice and fairness in civil rights and voting rights. Your advocacy matters. Our advocacy matters. Al Green's advocacy matters. Onward.
I agree; and thank you for calling out Al Green's standing up for truth. Hard to believe that 10 Democrats joined in censoring him. ALL Democrats should've stood up and exited in his support. The time for " decorum " is past if we want to save our country!!
When did Marge 3 names ever use decorum? She is the worst!
I wrote my congresswoman about this. She didnʻt censure but her democratic colleague Ed Case (HI) did. I donʻt get it.
I do. There are standards of conduct in both houses of Congress.. Green definitely violated those standards. I support his intent but he knew he might get censured.
Frankly censure is a pretty weak punishment. Like being sent to the corner for an afternoon. If they had threatened him with expulsion I would feel very differently.
Agreed!!
I, too, believe that democracy is still worth fighting for. What Black people have had to go through around the issue of voting is unconscionable in a democracy. I find myself hoping that republicans can find a line trump crosses that is totally unacceptable, and that they go back to being decent human beings instead of political pawns.
Black people have been fighting for democracy for well over two centuries, when the outlook was, to put it mildly, bleak. Too many white people seem discouraged after only nine years of Trump. Why is that?
It's worth remembering that this isn't all about Trump -- but at the same time, Project 2025 is Reaganism on steroids, and it's mostly about rolling back the gains made by people of color and women in general in the last 60 years or so. The current crop of Republicans may be in thrall to Trump, but pawns they are not. Since Nixon's "southern strategy" took hold, they've been the party of rolling back civil rights and restricting the right to vote.
Take a look at the states they control and you can't help realizing that they started long before Trump came along. If anything, Trump is the endgame, the culmination of decades -- but it hasn't turned out quite like the upper-level Republicans of yesteryear had in mind.
You said what many people say & you said it in a beautiful way.
are they decent human beings though? many examples of how they are not...dr. cassidy is an easy one...dr. who voted for rfk
That’s a good question. Sadly, I don’t know if any of them are decent human beings. The few that I had any respect for are gone or ousted.
Dr. Cassidy showed his standards and colors! End of his story?
should be......
You give Republicans too much credit. They are not political pawns. They are true believers in the cult of Trump. Re-education will not work as they only joined Trump because they were believers, not influenced.
John Lewis was taken too soon. We can use all the “Good Trouble” people we can get.
Or anybody. Mr, Jeffries is not exactly shining here—we need more than “considered” blather and accordion hands.
In my lifetime voting was a privilege for some people (especially white males), then a right for men, women, Blacks and others.
Now voting is once again becoming a ‘privilege.’ In some states you must bring your birth certificate or some other primary document to exercise your right to vote. [Including, for married women, who have the problem of their maiden name on their birth certificate.]
Expanded voting days and mail in ballots—-increasingly obstructed. And when there are long voting lines, in some states it is illegal to bring food or water to folks in line for hours.
For me and some other oldsters, Selma is a vivid memory.
Sadly, just look out the window to see why there must be more Selmas today.
And when someone,especially a Democrat, says — it was a free and fair election, it makes my blood boil. I can see how Al Green lost it when trompe said it was a landslide.
Al Green spoke with strength and civility to Trump’s unhinged distortions.
The majority of Americans did not vote for Trump, the unstable and irascible bully that is currently driving our country off the rails on the world stage. We the people must stand up like Al Green did and show strength and resolve to right our nation and solve our acknowledged problems.
We must start now organizing in our neighborhoods and communities. We must act collaboratively and effectively now to bring changes that are needed for a better future for all people.
I keep thinking there is a silver lining to the chaos of DJT…the chaos may well be the catalyst for the systemic changes needed…but DJT is not the leader needed. He must be replaced.
People ARE organizing ! Watch MSNBC.
Rachel Maddow 7:00pm Monday to Friday, had at least 10 pictures of rallys
with many different focuses,
yesterday and she has covered so many in the past weeks.
It’s happening.
I am reminded that leadership for correcting wrongs in our country has always come from the oppressed, from those who are minority by color of their skin but leaders of the majority by virtue of their courage. Now it is time for white Americans to recognize the oppression of themselves that is taking place. Now is the time to be courageous, in the American tradition.
It will come to them but it may be too late, Trump pretty much hates everyone but himself and, perhaps, his country. He is coming for us all.
I think Ukraine proves that it's never too late. We persevere.
Ukraine will be bombed out of existence no matter how brave and courageous. TRUMP has take. Away their tools to fight, denied the aid and sided with Putin. Trump thinks he will live forever to continuing to rule with Evil. Lucky us. He is old and befuddled. Once MSM finds out, they will. Turn on him. Or Not!
from another substack:
"Last Tuesday our daughter took us to a screening of Four Winters: A Story of Jewish Partisan Resistance and Bravery in WWII. These 25,000 partisans, mostly of high school and college age, lived in Eastern European forests for four years, sabotaging German infrastructure of all kinds and doing their best to stay alive. The stories are told by eight surviving partisans. In my 80 years it's the ultimate story of resistance I've encountered. If you visit the film's website, you can find out how to arrange a screening. It's been shown in theatres, libraries, and colleges, but it's not available to be purchased or streamed, not intended to be viewed alone. If any of you are part of the Sunrise movement, sharing it there would be inspirational."
My sister fell in love with Mr Lewis and had my dad, a self taught artist, create a Captain America poster with Mr Lewis’s likeness. At his memorial in Alabama my sister presented it to his family, explaining he was her hero. My daughter is riding with her Union (she has worked for UPS for 20 years and is their union representative at her processing plant in Mobile) to Selma on Sunday. We are following them to join in the Sunday march and rally. You are my hero and if you are there Sunday I hope to meet you in person.
One of the things that keeps me centered and grounded is remembering that progress is non linear. It is unimaginable, (as a gen Z-er, my entire life lived in diversity, inclusion, equality and a woman’s control over her own reproductive/medical decisions) what those who have gone before me have encountered to secure these rights, with an under appreciation of same. Grateful for this reminder and continued education about our history. (They didn’t teach this in my school).
Thank you, Joyce. I must be awful for intelligent people such as yourself, your family and intimate friends to live amongst people everyday who lack the intelligence of your chickens. Your flock comes in many different colors, but they all recognize themselves as chickens even if they are not "birds of a feather"
Sixty years! Like Roe v. Wade, I took it for granted that desegregation - and the Voting Rights Act - would last forever. I remember watching all the violence on tv, reading about it in Life and Look … leave it to a fat old conman from Queens to flamboyantly bring it to a disheartening end. And you, too, John Roberts!
Not an end yet. His mob is starting to dissemble. Hate and violence are cruel themes to live by. They attack your soul.
Devour your soul, more like.
Sober reminder of the ongoing struggles we face. We all need to channel our inner John Lewis and Al Green and fight for justice and humanity.
Thank you for continually reminding us we are in this together. I was raised by wonderful Republican parents, our garage was the polling place for our neighborhood. I was taught honor and justice. Watching the Republican Party crumble into this gelatinous mass of vile orange filth and dishonor breaks my heart. I find myself crying near daily for the death of our democracy.
If your parents voted for Nixon, Reagan, the Bushes or Trump, they are the problem. It has been a steady progression of putting the likes of Rpberts, Thomas, and Alito on the Supreme Court - the leaders of the "gang of six".
Thank you . We are all in this together and there is much to be accomplished. In the spirit of John Lewis and all those who march, let us continue.
It's absolutely stunning to see how far a retreat from the promises of the VRA we've come, not just within the federal govt. and courts - including, of course SCOTUS - but how the states themselves have embraced with a maniacal fervor voting restrictions. Well, I say "restrictions", but in fact are straight- up vote suppression legislations of various degree.
Honor the Selma March of course, but also to mourn the losses that were initially gained, and that over time either eroded, or simply wiped out. It's as though we have to restart the project from Day Zero already.
Great Americans created this great country, and Trump and his MAGA disciples aren’t going to “take it back” to the 1950s. We shall overcome — because so many before us did.
I was a toddler in Selma from 1944-46. My progressive parents were from the NE but my father in the Army and was stationed in Mongomery AL toward the end WWII. The racism that they witnessed made them hate Southerners for the rest of their lives. My father witnessed a lynching. A young Black boy who was claimed to be eyeing a white woman across the street. This is 20 years BEFORE Bloody Sunday. I have never been back to Alabama. I now support the. SPLC and the Equal Justice Initiative. On a wonderful note, one of my long term friends grew up in Birmingham AL. She does not reside in Alabama but recently inherited her grandmothers dilapidated old house in Harperville AL where she had summered as a child. What to do with this property? She learned that it had been the plantation home of her ancestor, Wallace, built before the Civil War. This was a cotton slave plantation. And the Black decendants of this plantation remained in Harpersville and all over the US. With a local Black leader, she started the Wallace Center for Arts and Reconciliation.. The Black and White descendants now share reunions, regular art shows, and educational programs. See their website for the full story.
How wonderful!!
Out of the darkness comes the light !