| 1.13.22 — BREAKING “U. S. Supremes Block Biden’s Vaccine Mandate for Large Businesses”From Kelly Shackelford – First Liberty Today, the U.S. Supreme Court blocked the Biden administration’s vaccine mandate on companies with more than 100 employees. First Liberty represents three national religious employers—Daystar Television Network, Answers in Genesis and the American Family Association—who are challenging the mandate. This mandate is a dangerous and illegal expansion of government power. Additionally, it threatens the freedoms of millions of religious organizations and people of faith in the workplace. Today’s ruling by the Court is a very positive win both for stopping a massive government power-grab and for religious liberty. It protects private employers—including religious organizations—from unconstitutional government overreach. It stops the Biden administration from federalizing the nation’s workforce and forcing businesses to violate the conscience rights of their employees. We’re pleased the Supreme Court is preventing this unconstitutional mandate from going into effect. As we continue in the case, we’re hopeful the Court will strike it down altogether, rather than giving government a new, expansive power over all Americans, including religious organizations and their employees. Whether it’s the mandate on employers or on military service members, the Biden administration has shown a particular disdain for the Constitution and the sincerely held religious beliefs of millions of Americans, who have different beliefs. First Liberty will continue fighting on behalf of our clients and people of all faiths to protect them from these illegal and blatant violations of their rights… ======================================== |
1.13.22 — Newsmax
Completed in 1935, the US Supreme Court building in Washington, DC, is the first to have been built specifically for the purpose, inspiring Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes to remark, ÒThe Republic endures and this is the symbol of its faith.Ó
The Court was established in 1789 and initially met in New York City. When the national capital moved to Philadelphia, the Court moved with it, before moving to the permanent capital of Washington, DC, in 1800. Congress lent the Court space in the new Capitol building, and it was to change its meeting place several more times over the next century, even convening for a short period in a private house after the British set fire to the Capitol during the War of 1812.
The classical Corinthian architectural style was chosen to harmonize with nearby congressional buildings, and the scale of the massive marble building reflects the significance and dignity of the judiciary as a co-equal, independent branch of government.
The main entrance is on the west side, facing the Capitol. On either side of the main steps are figures sculpted by James Earle Fraser. On the left is the female Contemplation of Justice. On the right is the male Guardian or Authority of Law. On the architrave above the pediment is the motto ÒEqual Justice under Law.Ó Capping the entrance is a group representing Liberty Enthroned, guarded by Order and Authority, sculpted by Robert Aitken.
At the east entrance are marble figures sculpted by Hermon A. MacNeil. They represent great law givers Moses, Confucius, and Solon, flanked by Means of Enforcing the Law, Tempering Justice with Mercy, Settlement of Disputes between States, and Maritime and other functions of the Supreme Court. The architrave carries the motto ÒJustice the Guardian of Liberty.Ó
The interior of the building is equally filled with symbolic ornamentation. The main corridor is known as the Great Hall and contains double rows of marble columns
“Conservatives Hail Supreme Court Blocking OSHA Vaccine Mandate”
By Eric Mack
https://www.newsmax.com/us/vaccine-mandate-scotus-osha-unconstitutional/2022/01/13/id/1052323/
Excerpts from this article:
Republicans are hailing the Supreme Court decision to block President Joe Biden’s vaccine mandate for large businesses, which he’d sought to enforce through the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
“OSHA has never before imposed such a mandate – nor has Congress,” conservative justices comprising the high court’s majority wrote in an unsigned ruling Thursday. “Indeed, although Congress has enacted significant legislation addressing the COVID–19 pandemic, it has declined to enact any measure similar to what OSHA has promulgated here.”
…Texas GOP AG Ken Paxton noted his state’s lawsuit got the same result in the 5th Circuit, tweeting:
“SCOTUS VICTORY! Private employers are now free from an illegal, unconstitutional OSHA vax mandate. Very happy to see the mandate blocked again after we got the same win in the 5th Circuit last month.”
Rep. Fred Keller, R-Pa., vowed to pick up the fight in the lower courts, writing in a statement to Newsmax:
“The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6-3 to stop President Biden from implementing his authoritarian vaccine mandate on American workers. This is the outcome we expected — with the Court asserting that President Biden lacks the constitutional authority to unilaterally dictate federal law.
While the case now returns to the lower courts, I will continue my efforts to permanently eliminate this unconstitutional mandate under the Congressional Review Act (CRA). Our CRA resolution has the unanimous support of the entire House Republican Conference, and our team has held productive conversations with House Democrats who recognize how disastrous President Biden’s mandate would be if enacted.
…Carrie Severino, president of Judicial Crisis Network, offered this:
“The Court today was correct to strike down OSHA’s power grab, which as Ron Klain recognized via his RT, was ‘the ultimate work-around’ for the federal government to require vaccinations en masse.
The Court found that OSHA’s emergency temporary standard (“ETS”)—which required companies with 100 or more employees to require workers to be vaccinated or wear a mask and submit to weekly tests—was neither a workplace regulation nor an emergency.
The Court’s 6-3 per curium opinion rightly observed that OSHA’s ETS was no ‘everyday exercise of federal power’ and there was not a justifiable ground for OSHA to bypass the normal rulemaking procedure.
The majority noted, ‘It is telling that OSHA, in its half century of existence, has never before adopted a broad public health regulation of this kind—addressing a threat that is untethered, in any causal sense, from the workplace.’
It was disappointing to see Justice Kavanaugh join the Court’s majority opinion upholding the CMS mandate.
As Justice Thomas explained in his dissent, joined by Justices Gorsuch, Alito and Barrett: ‘Had Congress wanted to grant CMS power to impose a vaccine mandate across all facility types, it would have done what it has done elsewhere—specifically authorize one.’ We’re now seeing a pattern of regulatory overreach from the Biden Administration. Last year the Court described the CDC’s stretching of the Public Health Service Act to enact its eviction moratorium ‘unprecedented’ and ‘a wafer-thin reed on which to rest such sweeping power.’ It is worth noting that critics outraged over the Court’s emergency docket procedure earlier this fall have little to complain about in that regard, as the cases were given full briefing and oral argument.”
