Daily Dispatch 3/18/23: SCOTUS-a-Go-Go with SB-4, Drag Bans and Judge Shopping, and More

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: The U.S. Supreme Court is likely to issue a ruling on SB-4, Texas' new harsh and possibly unconstitutional new border security law: https://komonews.com/news/nation-world/scotus-decision-on-sb-4-sweeping-texas-border-security-law-could-come-by-monday-immigration-border-security-southern-border-migrant-crisis-operation-lone-star-initiative ...While SCOTUS declines to hear a case against West Texas A&M's ban on drag shows, leaving the ban intact: https://news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/drag-show-ban-at-texas-university-left-intact-by-supreme-court ...The new rule against "judge shopping" doesn't solve the problem of activist conservative Trump-appointed judges, who will still get to rule on important cases: https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2024/03/john-roberts-matthew-kacsmaryk-nationwide-injunctions-judge-shopping.html ...Reaction from John Cornyn and other GOP lawmakers shows how fond they were of being able to shop judges: https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/republican-reaction-mcconnell-kacsmaryk-judge-shopping-rcna143610 A UT geologist warns that climate change will soon drive Texans indoors, into uneasy "fortresses of solitude": https://thehill.com/policy/equilibrium-sustainability/4529404-climate-change-is-trapping-texans-in-an-arid-fortress-of-solitude-expert-says/ Texas A&M's former president wants an independent review of the University's decision to sever ties with its Qatar campus: https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/commentary/2024/03/16/tamu-president-qatar-decision-needs-transparency/ And be sure to remind the Trump fans in your life that, once in power, dictators don't tend to worry themselves about who voted for them or not: https://snyder.substack.com/p/the-strongman-fantasy?action=share March is Women's History Month! See a new analysis of what that month really means in Texas: https://progresstexas.org/blog/inspire-inclusion-celebrating-international-womens-day-2024-texas Thanks for listening and have a great weekend! All about all we do, and several fun ways to support our work, can be found at https://progresstexas.org/.