Supreme Court says Florida can’t enforce anti-drag law

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Supreme Court says Florida can’t enforce anti-drag law | CNN Politics
cnn.com

The Florida law that limits drag shows in the state will remain blocked, the Supreme Court said Thursday, dealing a blow to a key initiative championed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis.

Florida had asked the high court to narrow a lower court’s injunction that stopped the law from being enforced statewide. The justices declined to do so.

Conservative Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch said they would have allowed the law to take effect.

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Conservative Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch said they would have allowed the law to take effect.

Of course they did.

And, of course, this silly law was struck down.

By a concerningly narrow margin.

2:1 is a large ratio.

No it isn't. Not for this.

I mean, yeah it is. The law is dumb and offensive, but it's not a clear 1A issue. On top of that, even if the topic overall was a clear-cut 1A issue, the fact pattern here doesn't allow for a decision on that basis -- the majority is clear on this in its opinion.

How is it not a clear cut 1A issue? Give me a fucking break.

I'm guessing it's because drag queens are icky, or something.

peaceful assembly and free speech are both violated by this law. This is one of the few laws that possibly violates a single amendment twice.

Both rights are often and constitutionally infringed. Leave legal arguments to people with even a passing grasp of the subject.

Just to be clear, this law wasn't passed with any expectation of it ever being implemented. Everyone, including the Florida legislature, knew it was unconstitutional and would be overturned. The people it was passed for will never even know it was overturned though. It was passed for DeSantis who wanted red meat for his base. You should be happy that DeSantis is a terrible politican because he is a terrible person and belongs nowhere near the Presidency.

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When even Amy Coney Barrett thinks you're too much of a fascist...

She's a religious nut, but she seems to be a relatively intelligent religious nut with enough of an understanding of the constitution to know this shit doesn't pass muster.

Doesn't mean she won't uphold future bullshit laws that are less vague.

We live in the dumbest time-line.

When a judge is willing to substitute their own opinions for the law, it doesn't matter how well they understand the law.

This has, however, been the case since the first time someone was a judge.

This is as clear of a free speech issue as there is. Anyone bringing these cases should be laughed out of any court.

It's really not. The majority specifically addressed this, too. The largest fault in the law was its unenforceable vagueness. While the Court did say there are First Amendment issues, the law itself and the instant case were not well-poised for direct analysis as 1A issues.

What scares me is there's no repercussions for ignoring the court anymore.

That's the secret. There never were any repercussions. All of civilization runs on the trust that people respect others.

I like to say that "justice" is a fairy tail people tell their children to help them sleep at night.

There wasn't when the SCOTUS told Andrew Jackson to respect treaties signed with indigenous populations, and the Trail of Tears and tens of thousands of dead people were the result. In fact they impeached him over this and he bribed a senator to change their vote which put them one vote below the number required to convict. The sort of corruption you mention has been around since the country was founded.

Andrew Jackson was not impeached.

Johnson was impeached for firing a member of his cabinet without senatorial approval.

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Extreme Court is loosening up because most of the country has had just about enough of their shit.

I looked up the text of the bill and I'm confused why it's controversial. Is it due to it being vague? It seems to explicitly forbid from allowing kids at sexually explicit adult shows.

The key is that it doesn't actually define what "sexually explicit adult shows" are.

But the rhetoric was saying anything and everything counted as "sexually explicit" even when the performers were in full, high necked ball gowns that they had to be sewn into. i.e. any drag show at all.

Also, the rhetoric was about stopping the shows, regardless of the age of the audience.

It's vague, as they neglected to define "lewd" or "child." They also did not refute the argument that it violates the first amendment.

Huh. I looked it up and was ready to go all gotcha, but I don't see any express references to drag. It does refer to chapter 847 which defines obscene acts. In those definitions are, "Predominantly appeals to a prurient, shameful, or morbid interest;"

So I'm thinking they avoided outright saying it, but that definition allows courts to interpret drag as a morbid interest.

If the government decides it's shameful, you're going to jail. And you can bet that regressives like DeSantis already consider it shameful.

I think you meant "prurient". A morbid interest would relate to death or disease.

Sorry dude. While I realize we're dissecting legal semantics here, I was copy and pasting on my phone while sitting on the toilet shortly after a questionable dinner. I used the last descriptive word without considering its validity for the topic at hand.

Drag story time at a library isn't sexually explicit.

Just because YOU become aroused at the sight of a man in a comically colored wig, makeup and frock doesn't mean that the rest of the world sees it that way.

That’s what I’m talking about. Where in the bill does it ban that?

Are you saying that you don't think the law would IMMEDIATELY be put to use by going after a restaurant hosting an all ages drag event or a drag story hour? Or do you agree that the intentionally vague wording is meant to provide cover for bigoted anti-trans crusaders?

Stop sea lioning.

I'm saying I'm ignorant of what the law says, and I want to know which part everyone is upset about. I suppose the vagueries around "lewd" and such can lead to bad faith applications.

I don't have a problem with drag story hour. But I have seen videos of sexual drag performances being performed in front of children, and sometimes by children. I don't think children should be exposed to that, in the same way they shouldn't be in beauty pageants and they shouldn't be shown porn.

Stop sea lioning

Ugh that stupid comic has ruined online discussions. No one can ask for evidence or proof or simply why someone thinks something anymore without being accused of bad faith. Accusation of sea lioning is becoming its own logical fallacy.