Here Come De Conservative Judges - 14

Project 2025 Law In 2024

I. Background

The Supreme Court decision to overturn the 4 decades old 'Chevron doctrine' case will have a greater impact on governing than the other cases that struck down long standing US law:

 "The Supreme Court has overturned longstanding precedent by striking down the 'Chevron doctrine'” a 40-year-old standard that required courts to defer to regulatory agencies to interpret ambiguous laws. Experts, including credit agency Moody’s Ratings, say it will dramatically change the way key health agencies do business and the decision is sending shockwaves through the policymaking community that will reverberate for years to come. The anticipated impact of this ruling includes legal challenges to regulations, a slower rulemaking process, diminished federal ability to develop new programs or innovations, or impose new requirements such as the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Service’s (CMS) minimum-staffing requirements for nursing homes, EPA rules about limiting air pollution for lung health, Food and Drug Administration rules ensuring the safety and efficacy of drug trials and keeping food free of contaminants, and more."

(Milbank). The disruption that will be coming on strong involves ~439 federal agencies (Federal Register).

II. Project 2025 Is Already Here

The impact of "Project 2025" is a part of the striking down of the Chevron doctrine: 

"Project 2025— the Heritage Foundation’s policy playbook for a possible Trump second term — encouraged a dismantling of “the administrative state,” with a particular focus on HHS, the agency with most of the administrative authority over Medicare, Medicaid, the Affordable Care Act and other health statutes, and that houses key public health organizations such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health." 

(ibid). Project 2025 is ahead of schedule,  is here NOW.

III. Justice Delayed Is Justice Denied

Criminal cases are generally given preference over civil cases, so, if the civil docket skyrockets the excruciating delay coming compared to now will seem like nothing we have ever seen:

"The backlog of pending criminal cases in the federal court system has increased by more than a quarter over the past five years even as the number of new arrests and criminal cases filed have declined significantly. 

This has resulted in lengthy delays in the time it takes to resolve criminal cases. The average criminal case now takes nearly ten months to resolve if there is a guilty plea and more than two years if a trial is required. Many victims and defendants alike go without justice for months or even years."

(Delayed justice is a hidden crisis in our federal justice system). This '2025 effect' will virtually remove the right to a jury trial, what little of it remains:

"At the federal level, trial sentences are roughly three times higher than plea sentences for the same crime on average and sometimes as much as eight or ten times higher. This sentencing differential is extremely coercive. As a result only 2-3% of federal convictions are the result of trial. The rest are plea bargains. The trial penalty is so coercive that it causes some innocent people to plead guilty."

(NACDL, emphasis added). This will have a very high impact on civil cases too:

"The Speedy Trial Act of 1974 establishes standard time requirements for the timely prosecution and disposition of criminal cases in district courts. There is no similar law governing civil trial scheduling, and as a result, the scheduling of criminal cases is assigned a higher priority.

In 1990, Congress enacted legislation that directs each district court to devise and adopt a civil expense and delay reduction plan. One goal established under the legislation is for each civil case to be scheduled for trial within 18 months of filing the complaint.

Litigants should keep in mind that judges have many duties in addition to deciding cases. The average district court judge has more than 400 newly filed cases to contend with each year. In addition to trials, judges conduct sentencings, pretrial conferences, settlement conferences, motions hearings, write orders and opinions, and consider other court matters both in the courtroom and in their chambers.

There are numerous reasons for delay, many of which are outside of a court's control, and for which attorneys and/or litigants may be responsible. Cases may be delayed because settlement negotiations are in progress. Some courts also experience shortages in judges or available courtrooms."

(United States Courts). Many citizens do not see the judicial system as a part of government, thus they may not consider delayed justice as an impact on governing, so politicians may not be in a mood to respond in a timely manner.

IV. Closing Comments

Cases over the once upon a time Roe v Wade rights will be delayed even if congress enacts a legislative version of it.

Cases over who won the election will be delayed (they already are but it can get worse).

Cases over gun laws regarding the number one cause of the death of children will be delayed.

Cases over pollution will be delayed.

And on and on.

So, once again when we are asked if this decades old question here on Dredd Blog "Will they [conservative judges] be activists" can be answered with "Is the Pope Catholic?"

What do we answer when asked Will Elections Cure The Disease?, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 ??? (not while the UN-elected Trump Supreme Court is an infected group).

The previous post in this series is here.

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Lyrics:

"Man’s ego is inflated, his laws are outdated, they don’t apply no more
You can’t rely no more to be standin’ around waitin'
In the home of the brave
Jefferson turnin’ over in his grave
Fools glorifying themselves, trying to manipulate Satan
And there’s a slow, slow train comin’ up around the bend

Big-time negotiators, false healers and woman haters
Masters of the bluff and masters of the proposition
But the enemy I see
Wears a cloak of decency
All nonbelievers and men stealers talkin’ in the name of religion
And there’s a slow, slow train comin’ up around the bend"

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