Matters of the courts

Attorney General Merrick Garland announced Friday that the U.S. Justice Department is suing the state of Georgia over its new voting law, saying that the controversial measure is intended to restrict ballot access to Black voters.

"Our complaint alleges that recent changes to Georgia's election laws were enacted with the purpose of denying or abridging the right of Black Georgians to vote on account of their race or color, in violation of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act," Garland said at a news conference.

  NPR

Good, but what will happen when it gets to the Supreme Court?

The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday sided with the TransUnion credit reporting company, ruling that thousands of consumers whose names were improperly flagged as potential terrorists cannot sue the company for damages.

By a 5-to-4 vote, the court ruled that Congress does not have the power under the Constitution to establish statutory rights and the power to enforce those rights with private lawsuits.

[...]

The court said that much of the alleged harm was "too speculative" and that only a fraction of the individuals whose names had been matched and flagged could sue--only those who could prove an actual, concrete injury. In this case, that amounted to only about one-fifth of the class that sued. The court threw out the claims of the rest of the class, those who claimed a risk of injury. The court said that Congress had no right to grant that group standing to sue.

[...]

In dissent was the court's most conservative justice, Clarence Thomas, and the court's three liberals. Thomas said that the court had rendered unto itself and itself alone the power to define which claims have merit.

[...]

Lawyers on both sides of the case see Friday's decision as a big victory for the large corporations.

  NPR

I'm truly surprised that Thomas didn't vote with the other conservatives.