Supreme Court on Muslim Ban: So What?

In a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court upheld the 3rd version of the Trump ban on travel from 5 Muslim counties without Trump business ties. North Korea and Venezuela were added to this version for camouflage, and the ruse seems to have worked. Now that Mr. Trump is besties with Kim Jong-un, we expect NK to drop off the list any day.

Writing for the majority, Chief Justice Roberts held that President Trump’s tweeted and blustered statements about the ban’s anti-Muslim intent were not indications of the measure’s anti-Muslim intent. Justice Sonia Sotomayor disagrees, as does common sense.

More:

“The anti-Muslim travel ban is constitutional, say Supreme Court conservatives,” Jennifer Rubin, Washington Post

“’Motivated by Anti-Muslim Animus’: Must-Reads From Justice Sotomayor’s Dissent on Trump’s Travel Ban,” San Spinelli, Mother Jones

“The Supreme Court’s Green Light to Discriminate,” Adam Serwer, The Atlantic

“John Roberts just validated religious discrimination,” Dana Milbank, Washington Post

“The surprisingly low standard the Supreme Court used to review Trump’s travel ban,” Ana Campoy, Quartz

“An awful, constitutional travel ban: The Supreme Court says a terrible Trump policy is within his authority to implement,” NY Daily News

“The Supreme Court upheld Trump’s travel ban by pretending Trump isn’t the president,” Dara Lind, Vox

“A Failure of Judicial Independence,” Garrett Epps, The Atlantic

“The travel ban decision echoes some of the worst Supreme Court decisions in history,” Aziz Huq, Vox

“A Decision That Will Live in Infamy,” Noah Feldman, Bloomberg

“Move over, Dred Scott,” David D. Cole, Washington Post

“Supreme Court Confirms That We Are A Bigoted Nation,” Elie Mystal, Above The Law

“Bigoted and Feckless, the Travel Ban Is Pure Trump,” New York Times editorial

“Opinion analysis: Divided court upholds Trump travel ban,” Amy Howe, SCOTUSblog [long]

Related:

“The US Supreme Court finally overruled the case that justified Japanese internment,” Ephrat Livni, Quartz

“One Really Good Thing in the Supreme Court’s Travel-Ban Ruling: Korematsu Is Gone,” Amy Davidson Sorkin, The New Yorker

“Travel-ban ruling could embolden Trump in remaking the U.S. immigration system,” David Nakamura, Washington Post

“The Supreme Court’s travel ban decision is a reminder: midterm elections matter,” Ezra Klein, Vox

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Judge Ends Trump’s Granny Ban

On Thursday evening Federal District Court Judge Derrick Watson exempted grandparents and grandchildren from the latest version of President Trump’s travel ban. The revised “Muslim Ban” had a definition of “close family” that excluded many relatives.

Judge Watson wrote that “the Government’s definition represents the antithesis of common sense. Common sense, for instance, dictates that close family members be defined to include grandparents. Indeed, grandparents are the epitome of close family members. The Government’s definition excludes them. That simply cannot be.”

So if Granny lives in any of six majority-Muslim countries, she can now visit you. Put clean sheets on the guest bed!

More:

“Judge in Hawaii rules grandparents are exempt from Trump travel ban,” Samantha Schmidt, Washington Post

“U.S. judge narrows travel ban in defeat for Trump,” Dan Levine and Mica Rosenberg, Reuters

Update:

“Appeals Court: Grandparents Not Part of Trump’s Travel Ban,” Gene Johnson, AP via New York Times

“Supreme Court won’t let Trump travel ban hit grandparents,” Josh Gerstein, Politico

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Trump Travel Ban Protects US From Terrorist Grannies

The U.S. Supreme Court, now with Trump appointee Neil Gorsuch on board, has ruled that a modified version of Donald Trump’s travel ban can go into effect for 90 days, as of yesterday evening. Travelers from six majority-muslim countries, none of whose citizens have committed terrorist acts on United States soil, must now document “bona fide relationships” with U.S. persons, companies, or institutions in order to travel to the USA.

The Trump administration has issued directives defining “bona fide relationships,” and the weirdest ones involve families of of U.S. citizens and legal residents. Some relatives may travel to the USA: Spouses, children and stepchildren, siblings and stepsiblings, parents and step-parents, father-in-laws and mother-in-laws, fiancées and fiancés. Who may not travel: Grandparents, grandchildren, sister-in-laws and brother-in-laws, uncles and aunts, nieces and nephews, or cousins.

This is a pretty strange definition of “family” by any standards. Remember, little Donnie Trump grew up across the street from his own immigrant grandmother in Queens, NY.

Update:

At the last moment, fiancées/fiancés were added to the good-to-go list, perhaps after lobbying from the mail order bride industry or because the president likes to marry foreign models?), and text above has been updated. But how can these relationships be documented? The Bridal Registry at Crate & Barrel? Engagement ring receipts from Kay Jewelers?

More:

“Stepsister, Yes; Grandma, No: U.S. Sets Guidelines for Revised Travel Ban,” Gardiner Harris and Ron Nixon, New York Times

“Travel ban’s ‘bona fide relationship’ test could open legal floodgates,” Lauren Pearle and Connor Finnegan, ABC News

“The Supreme Court Partially Allowed Trump’s Travel Ban. Who Is Still Barred?” Alicia Parlapiano and Anjali Singhvi, New York Times

“The travel ban going into effect would have saved zero lives from terrorist attacks in the last 20 years,” Philip Bump, Washington Post

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Image: If Granny Clampett is Muslim, she can kiss Beverly Hills goodbye.

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Trump: Yes, It Is a Muslim Ban

President Donald J. Trump commemorated Saturday’s tragedy in London by tweeting a renewed call to ban travel to the US from six predominantly Muslim countries. A second version of his presidential order (he now calls it “watered-down“) is headed to the Supreme Court, and this presidential tweetstorm may have doomed the administration’s case. Even Kellyanne Conway’s husband thinks so.

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Airplane Poop and Public Health

“Pooping on that 12 hour flight may be a public health service. Researchers from the Technical University of Denmark are siphoning off the sludge from international airline flights and using it to study the spread of infectious diseases and antimicrobial resistance.

In a study in Scientific Reports, they break down their analysis of 18 different airplanes that arrived in Copenhagen from nine different cities around the world, looking for the presence of things like Salmonella and Clostridium difficile.

The team found that Salmonella was more prevalent in poop arriving from Southeast Asia, while the sludge from planes arriving from North America was more likely to contain C. difficile (a bacteria that causes a nasty drug-resistant infection). Planes arriving from Asia had higher rates of DNA from drug-resistant bacteria strains overall.”

— “Pooping on Airplanes Could Contribute to Public Health Research,” Shaunacy Ferro, Mental Floss