The U.S. Supreme Court launches its new nine-month term on Monday with several major cases already on its schedule - involving guns, transgender rights, online pornography and more - and with the possibility of confronting legal disputes that may arise from the Nov. 5 presidential election.
The court, whose 6-3 conservative majority continues to move U.S. law rightward on a range of topics, is coming off another blockbuster term capped by its contentious July 1 ruling granting Donald Trump broad immunity from criminal prosecution for many actions taken while president.
The justices return from their summer recess under intense scrutiny by many politicians and the public not only for their legal rulings but for simmering ethics scandals, unsolved leaks of confidential information, and some public airing of differences among themselves.
“Something does feel broken,” Lisa Blatt, a lawyer who frequently argues before the court, said during an event in Washington on Tuesday. “Some of them up there - at oral arguments when I see them - they just seem visibly frustrated.”
Eh, except you probably aren’t. Depending on the state, your size, the beer, etc., one may be enough to put you over the legal limit.
The big issue is that there’s no difference at all between a 3D printer that’s used to print cute little toys and useful household gadgets, and one that’s used to print a Glock-style frame. It’s the same printer. So it’s absolutely unreasonable to regulate all 3D printers as though they were firearms, but that’s what some states are pushing to do. The second big issue is that the BATF has had regulations for years about what part constitutes a gun, and what parts are unregulated. Now the ATF is changing the rules, and prosecuting people that relied on prior rulings before doing anything.