Unanimous Supreme Court rulings are certainly noteworthy. When a case lines up every single Justice – appointed by Democrats and Republicans both – the decision must be unbelievably clear cut.
Nine-to-nothings don’t happen very often. The ever-overreaching Barack Obama Administration, however, is in historic fashion racking them up. And they ain’t in its favor.
So there is bipartisanship in Washington – against this Administration.
When even the two Justices you just appointed – Sonya Sotomayor and Elena Kagan – are voting against you, just how far from the Constitutional path have you strayed?
Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz is no stranger to cases before the Court – though his record is more than a little better than the Administration’s. And he has compiled the list of the unanimous-es against Administration over-action.
Obama’s 20 Unanimous Supreme Court Losses
Twenty – in under six years. There should in fact have been more, what with all the fundamental transforming going on. But that’s still a lot. And it doesn’t fully capture the breadth of the Administration’s rebukes.
“This tally does not capture all of the Obama Administration’s losing arguments, as it does not include unanimous rejections for more governmental power made in the Obama Administration’s friend-of-the-court (amicus) briefs supporting non-federal parties, which would put the Obama Administration’s losses much higher,” Cruz wrote.
Some of these 9-0 rulings have rejected Obama’s overreaches in the Technology Sector – the latest frontier for the Fourth Amendment. Here is but one 9-0 – but frighteningly close – call:
United States v. Jones, 132 S. Ct. 945 (2012):
The Department of Justice (DOJ) sought the right for the government to attach a Global Position System device to a vehicle and monitor its movements without cause, unsuccessfully arguing that the Fourth Amendment, which protects Americans from unreasonable search and seizure, does not extend to electronic tracking devices.
…Thus, according to DOJ, police could attach a GPS to a car and monitor its movements in public without a search warrant or any cause to believe a crime would be committed.
Why does this sort of Administration Tech Sector overreach sound familiar?
Court Strikes Down FCC Net Neutrality Rule
The court (unanimously) noted that the FCC simply lacked the authority to impose those kinds of regulations….
Oh yeah. And why does that sound familiar?
Court: FCC Has No Power to Regulate Net Neutrality
Panel of three federal judges unanimously tosses out Federal Communications Commission’s Net Neutrality sanctions…, saying the agency has no legal authority….
Oh yeah. But is that stopping them?
FCC Plans to Issue New ‘Net Neutrality’ Rules
Of course not. Twice bitten – not shy.
And to fundamentally transform America – you have to steamroll a lot of states. But in another pesky unanimous Supreme Court decision:
Arizona v. United States, 132 S. Ct. 2492 (2012):
In Arizona v. United States, DOJ tried to take away states’ rights to create their own laws on the basis that the federal government had different…priorities.
So why then is the Administration saying this?
State Laws That Ban Municipal Internet Will Be Invalidated
But can the FCC preempt all 20 state laws that limit public broadband?
Given the Arizona v. United States decision – it doesn’t look like they can.
But as we’ve seen time and time again, this Administration never allows facts – or the laws of the land, or the Constitution – to get in the way of a good beating.
Editor’s Note: This first appeared in Red State.