Posted on by Californiacontrarian

8-1! Free Speech Wins


How many times have I said something to the effect that the sun will rise in the west when the very liberal Supreme Court Justices agree with the very conservative Justices in a non-unanimous decision. Sometimes the case is a no-brainer, and as a consequence all nine justices agree. However this past week there was a case that was decided 8-1, and the three far left Justices agreed with the majority opinion by the very conservative Clarence Thomas.

The Supreme Court ruled on 3/8/21 that a student in Georgia could pursue a lawsuit challenging speech restrictions at his college even though he sought only nominal damages.

The 8-1 decision, authored by Justice Clarence Thomas, said that Chike Uzuegbunam — who was silenced by Georgia Gwinnett College officials even after he had obtained a permit to proselytize and handout religious literature — can seek nominal damages despite the fact that the school ultimately changed course and Uzuegbunam subsequently graduated.

Mr. Uzuegbunam sued, saying Gwinnett College’s policies violated his First Amendment rights, and to his credit he did not back down. Supported by the Alliance Defending Freedom, he took his case all the way to SCOTUS.

Justice Clarence Thomas, writing for the majority in the 8-1 decision, said a request for even a token sum, typically a dollar, satisfied the Constitution’s requirement that federal courts decide only actual cases or controversies in cases. The fact that the college had withdrawn the speech code challenged in the suit, he wrote, did not make the case moot.

“Despite being small,” Justice Thomas wrote, “nominal damages are certainly concrete.”

From ABC News:

“When public officials violate constitutional rights, it causes serious harm to the victims,” said Kristen Waggoner, an attorney for Alliance Defending Freedom, which represented Uzuegbunam in the case. ‘When such officials engage in misconduct but face no consequences, it leaves victims without recourse, undermines the nation’s commitment to protecting constitutional rights, and emboldens the government to engage in future violations. We are pleased that the Supreme Court weighed in on the side of justice for those victims.’”

Without going into the details of the case, who do you think was the dissenter? One doesn’t have to think very long to determine that the lone dissenter was Justice John (“we cannot take up any election cases as there will be riots in the streets”) Roberts. He continues to make a case as to why Supreme Court Justices should not be appointed for life. His decisions are all over the lot, and some do not appear to make much sense. On this one the Chief Justice said the majority had turned judges into advice columnists. Huh??? Chief Justice Roberts did not make much sense here . . . again!

Free speech finally wins one, despite Justice Roberts standing for basically nothing.

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