Summary Analysis
R-44
DATE: 2019-05-28
DOCKET: 18-483
NAME: Kristina Box, Commissioner, Indiana Department of Health, et al. v. Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky, Inc., et al.
WORTHY: False
OPINION: Court
AUTHOR: Per Curiam
JOINING: Roberts, Thomas, Ginsburg, Breyer, Alito, Sotomayor, Kagan, Gorsuch, Kavanaugh
GOOD: No
PAGES: 3
OPINION: Dissenting
AUTHOR: Sotomayor
JOINING: None
GOOD: Yes
PAGES: 1
OPINION: Concurring
AUTHOR: Thomas
JOINING: None
GOOD: No
PAGES: 20
OPINION: Dissenting
AUTHOR: Ginsburg
JOINING: None
GOOD: Yes
PAGES: 2
Case Commentary
Rational Basis is one of those legal terms (as this non-lawyer, non-legal-expert, pretty much just another foolish being sees it) that means exactly what it says.- Given a law:
- Is the law within the realm of what laws can be about?
- Is there some arguable link between the law and it's purpose?
Rational Basis is a very low bar (a very low bar), which provides almost no guidance. And it is for this reason (I presume) that most of The Court's Commentary concerns denying certiorari... excepting, of course, there is Justice Thomas' long winded rant.
What can the government legislate?
Almost everything.
Are two things interrelated?
Almost always.
Personally, I believe there are only two major classes of laws.
- Moral Prohibitions
- Market Controls
But let me assure you, your simple disagreement will do nothing to change my belief.
Marijuana is typically prohibited for Moral Reasons. When legalized, Market Factors are typically instituted. For example, I just read a fifteen page Executive Summary for a five-hundred page plus law legalizing marijuana.
Yay! Marijuana!But it would have taken a deletion of maybe a hundred words (from the laws criminalizing marijuana) to legalize it. Half of those extra words (hundreds of pages worth) were instructions on how to roll back previous Marijuana Based Convictions. I mean, it's a complicated subject, because... well, because the government is involved and they worked hard on those convictions and don't want to let them all go. In other words, it's often not about the crime (marijuana, in this case) but about the criminal (are they a gang member, perhaps).
Toke, boy! Toke!
And if selling dope is all we have them on, maybe we don't want to let them go.
The other half of the Law 'Legalizing Marijuana' concerned itself with how, when, and for whom marijuana would be legal.
Equality under the law?
Get real.
So, there were hundreds upon hundreds of pages codifying the Marketplace (it's a very important word) for Marijuana.
- Marijuana
- There used to be Moral Prohibitions.
- Now, there are Market Regulations.
The case before us (and as I deconstruct it) is about Abortion and whether a new law is Moral in Nature (which are not allowed in the case of Abortions) or Market in Nature (which are).
- Fetal Remains
- Moral?
- Market?
Let's face it, it's a bit of both.
Of course, if we are going to honor Fetal Remains as akin to the body of the deceased (as opposed to medical waste, like blood that drips onto the operating room floor or gets sucked up by one of those vacuum tube thingies), aren't we really just saying that an aborted fetus is a dead human... due the same honour as any other human... so why are we making it dead in the first place?
But I digress.
As does Thomas. Oh, boy. Talk about a long winded rant about nothing. I mean, I know from long winded rants about nothing. And Thomas nailed it.
Insofar as abortion is viewed as a method of "family planning," black people do indeed "take the brunt of the 'planning.'"It's a coherent argument. Don't get me wrong... you know, even if I am happy to get Thomas wrong. But it has nothing to do with Fetal Remains.
Totally unrelated, I wonder if my distaste over needless government intrusion and regulation comes from a perceived lack of power.
If I thought I had power, would I be happy to wield that power over you?
Most likely.
The use of money reduces to this sort of meta-physical dilemma in my mind. And I have no problem whatsoever trading the swipe of my credit card for a bit of labor and some (hopefully) gloriously good food.
It's a long twisted argument that I fear most do not wish to untangle.
Power is Oppression!Why am I happy (well, not happy, but willing) to Oppress in the one instance but less so in the other?
Legislation is Oppression!
It's probably because I lack Power in the Political Arena!
Anyhow, this case revolved around Rational Basis. And since (to me) The Market is all encompassing (with Morality Concerns almost non-existent) it's not hard to find a rationale for almost any piece of legislation.
If it is due and proper to draft a five-hundred page law on the Legalization of Marijuana, I can't see how an equal number of words devoted to the disposal of Fetal Remains cannot be justified, as well.