@thejapantimes which would basically mean #Trump starts a #CivilWar, cuz this shit started the U.S. #independence war!

…#COFA agreements have previously been inked w/ #independent countries, & #Greenland would likely need to separate from #Denmark for such a plan to proceed. While polls show Greenlanders are interested in #independence, surveys also show most do NOT want to be part of the US [who can blame them? Under #Trump, many US-ians aren’t anymore either]. A COFA - which cedes significant autonomy to Washington - *could* [will] be viewed with similar skepticism.

#Souter closed by reiterating that #Casey, & #Roe, were about far more than simply #abortion:
“A decision to overrule Roe's essential holding under the existing circumstances would address error, if error there was,at the cost of both profound & unnecessary damage to the Court's #legitimacy, & to the Nation's commitment to the rule of #law. It is therefore imperative to adhere to the essence of Roe's original decision, & we do so today."
#DavidSouter #SCOTUS #law #judiciary #Independence #ethics

"For two decades of economic & social developments, people have organized intimate relationships & made choices that define their views of themselves & their places in society, in reliance on the availability of #abortion in the event that contraception should fail. The ability of #women to participate #equally in the economic & social life of the Nation has been facilitated by their ability to control their #reproductive lives,” #DavidSouter wrote.

The most eloquent section of the opinion was the discussion of #Roe & the principle of #StareDecisis — Latin for #judicial respect of existing #precedent — that had been crafted principally by #DavidSouter. Souter's words in Casey spoke not only for the Court, but also for the essence of America's judicial heritage & for the very core of Souter's own judicial background.

When announcing decisions from the bench, Justices usually offer a summary or read brief excerpts. On this morning, however, each of the three—first O'Connor, then Kennedy and finally #Souter—orally delivered major portions of the trio opinion. Journalists quickly realized they were witnessing an unprecedented event.

“Second is a confirmation of the State's power to restrict #abortions after fetal viability, if the #law contains exceptions for pregnancies which endanger a woman's life or health. And third is the principle that the State has legitimate interests from the outset of the pregnancy in protecting the #health of the #woman & the life of the fetus that may become a child. These principles do not contradict one another; & we adhere to each."

Not since the famous 1958 Little Rock school desegregation case of Cooper v. Aaron, when all 9 Justices signed a ringing reaffirmation of Brown v. Board of Education, had any #SCOTUS opinion been presented to the American people as formally authored by more than one Justice. But now, symbolically invoking the powerful precedent of Cooper, Justices O'Connor, Kennedy & #Souter issued their plurality decision in Casey as an explicit trio opinion.

In his chambers on the far southeastern corner of the main floor, the Court's then-2nd-newest Justice spent the day in contemplation, pondering one of Wednesday's cases.…
Only late in the day did the Justice reach a firm conclusion. Even though this was the case of the year, & perhaps of the decade, as of the day before, he had not—just as he had told the United States Senate & the American people almost 2 years earlier—decided what he would do.
#DavidSouter #SCOTUS #law #judiciary #Independence

The crosscurrents are unlike any that the #university has faced in its modern history. For centuries, #Harvard has cherished its #independence, its swaggering pride & its record of #academic excellence. But #Trump has reveled in unleashing #chaos that many believe will be difficult to contain as long as he sees the #university as a target.

On Mon, the Trump admin intensified the clash & threatened to choke off #grant money to Harvard indefinitely.

@RejoinEU

Lest we forget:

As historian AJP Taylor wryly remarked, the BBC’s first Director General [Baron John] Reith had
"managed to preserve the technical #independence of the #BBC by suppressing news which the government did not want published. This set a pattern for the future: the vaunted independence of the BBC was secure so long as it was NOT exercised."