It’s an understatement to say that Wednesday was not a great day for the liberal media with Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy announcing his retirement. NewsBusters has documented some of the initial reaction, but it continued hours later with CNN legal analysts Laura Coates and Jeffrey Toobin on The Lead.
The pair warned that “more progressive-minded notions and ones that, frankly, are in line with our democratic principles” are at stake with Kennedy gone with gay people likely to face discrimination and being banned from bakeries, hotel rooms, and restaurants under the name of religious liberty.
Host Jake Tapper teed Coates up this way at the 4:20 p.m. Eastern mark:
And Laura Coates, I mean, this goes way beyond abortion. There’s a lot of people focusing on the fact that this probably means that Roe versus Wade will be overturned and abortion will be declared illegal in several conservative states. What else is this — what else is this significance about Kennedy retiring? What other areas of the law might this affect?
Coates conceded that Kennedy was a reliable, right-of-center vote on issues like campaign finance and guns, but he’d side with the liberal justices on issues like criminal justice, homosexual behavior (such as being the swing vote in Lawrence v. Texas), and solitary confinement.
Coates’s liberal colors really came through when she concluded that the loss of Kennedy spells bad omens for “progressive-minded notions” that, in her view, embody this country:
He is somebody who has been very key, although he was not really an advocate for it, he has written in his dicta about things like affirmative action, talking about the need to have race be a consideration, if not the overwhelming one, at least one factor. So while the focus is on the area of abortion, a very important one when it comes to human rights and women's rights and the ability to choose, there’s also a whole host of areas where we require a swing vote for other more progressive-minded notions and ones that, frankly, are in line with our democratic principles and we don't have that now.
Already on a multi-hour tangent claiming that abortion will soon become illegal, Toobin resurrected his meltdown from June 4 that gay people could become subject to a new Jim Crow Era in which they’re turned away from bakeries, hotels, and restaurants.
Behold Toobin’s trip aboard the crazy train:
Now, the issue of same-sex marriage itself appears to be largely settled but the issue coming up is when can people, with the permission of the courts, discriminate against gay people. The cake case, which the justices sort of dodged, but those cases are coming back. The conservative movement in this country wants to allow religious people to say, you can't buy a cake from me. You can't stay in my motel. You can't go to my restaurant. That’s the cases that are coming down the pike and those cases are going to be much more likely to be upheld, the discrimination against gay people is more likely to be upheld than with Kennedy on the Court.
Yikes. Talk about fear-mongering.
To see the relevant transcript from CNN’s The Lead with Jake Tapper on June 27, click “expand.”
CNN’s The Lead with Jake Tapper
June 27, 2018
4:20 p.m. EasternJAKE TAPPER: And Laura Coates, I mean, this goes way beyond abortion. There’s a lot of people focusing on the fact that this probably means that Roe versus Wade will be overturned and abortion will be declared illegal in several conservative states. What else is this — what else is this significance about Kennedy retiring? What other areas of the law might this affect?
LAURA COATES: Well, he was going be a down the line conservative on things like campaign finance, gun control and many [INAUDIBLE] liberties but in areas like criminal justice reform, he actually had very key things to say about the use of solitary confinement, all but invited people to say I would like you to challenge this barbaric practice of 25 years plus or over five years plus of being held in solitary confinement, writing the effect on the mind. He also was somebody who was a swing vote and America needs to keep in mind, we needed a swing vote to ban or over turn a ban on same sex sexual activity in Texas. This was an issue he was important in doing in the Lawrence v. Texas case. He is somebody who has been very key, although he was not really an advocate for it, he has written in his dicta about things like affirmative action, talking about the need to have race be a consideration, if not the overwhelming one, at least one factor. So while the focus is on the area of abortion, a very important one when it comes to human rights and women's rights and the ability to choose, there’s also a whole host of areas where we require a swing vote for other more progressive-minded notions and ones that, frankly, are in line with our democratic principles and we don't have that now.
JEFFREY TOOBIN: Let me give you two more. The death penalty.
COATES: Yes.
TOOBIN: He has also been somewhat on the liberal side in insisting on strict controls on when executions take place and how the procedures go off.
TAPPER: Not against the death penalty.
TOOBIN: Not against the death penalty, but certainly for limitations on the use. Now, the issue of same-sex marriage itself appears to be largely settled but the issue coming up is when can people, with the permission of the courts, discriminate against gay people. The cake case, which the justices sort of dodged, but those cases are coming back. The conservative movement in this country wants to allow religious people to say, you can't buy a cake from me. You can't stay in my motel. You can't go to my restaurant. That’s the cases that are coming down the pike and those cases are going to be much more likely to be upheld, the discrimination against gay people is more likely to be upheld than with Kennedy on the Court.
