Advertisement

Justice Kavanaugh Tests Positive For Coronavirus, Has No Symptoms

Advertisement

OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.


U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh has tested positive for coronavirus.

As noted by the Associated Press, the Supreme Court released a statement on Friday morning announcing that Kavanaugh had tested positive despite being fully vaccinated and showing no symptoms.

“The high court said in a press release Friday that Kavanaugh has no symptoms and has been fully vaccinated since January. Kavanaugh and all the other justices had a routine coronavirus test ahead of Friday’s ceremonial investiture for Justice Amy Coney Barrett,” the AP reported.

“The court says Kavanaugh’s wife and daughters are also fully vaccinated, and they tested negative on Thursday. The court says Kavanaugh and his wife will not attend the ceremony,” the AP report added. “Kavanaugh participated in the court’s private conference on Monday when he and his colleagues met at the court to review thousands of appeals that accumulated over the summer.”

Advertisement

Beyond that, this Supreme Court has been busy of late.

On Thursday, the nation’s highest court agreed to hear a case from Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz regarding campaign finance laws.

The Court will consider a case regarding the “Federal Election Commission’s bid to restore a campaign finance law that caps the amount of money that candidates can be reimbursed for personal loans to their campaigns in a challenge brought by Cruz.”

“Democratic President Joe Biden’s administration, acting on behalf of the FEC, appealed a lower court ruling that found that the cap violates the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment guarantee of freedom of speech by unjustifiably burdening political expression,” Reuters reported.

“The case involves a provision of a 2002 campaign finance law that limits the amount of money that candidates can accept from donors after an election as they try to recoup the money they personally lent to their formal campaign organizations. The measure – part of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act – imposes a ceiling of $250,000 on payments from donations made after an election even if candidates made loans exceeding that sum,” Reuters added.

“Cruz sued the FEC, challenging the constitutionality of the law that the agency enforces, after his successful 2018 Senate re-election race in Texas against Democratic rival Beto O’Rourke. Cruz had lent his campaign organization $260,000 but was limited by the law to a $250,000 reimbursement from his campaign. The commission has said the law reduces what is known as quid pro quo corruption – a Latin phrase meaning a favor for a favor – and the appearance of corruption by limiting the amount of money solicited by candidates after an election to repay campaign debt,” the report added.

“Cruz has a First Amendment right to loan money to his campaign free from governmental restrictions as to amount and time of repayment,” Cruz’s lawyers wrote in their brief in the case.

“That Cruz could have avoided his $10,000 loss by refusing to loan his campaign more than $250,000, or by requiring repayment in full within 20 days, does not change the fact that he suffered a $10,000 injury by exercising his constitutional right to make the loan that he did,” they added in the brief.

Advertisement

Last week, the Supreme Court scheduled arguments for Dec. 1 regarding a Mississippi case that seeks to overturn Roe v. Wade, which legalized abortion in the country.

“The Supreme Court on Monday set Dec. 1 arguments on Mississippi’s ban on abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy — a direct challenge to Roe v. Wade,” Politico reported.

“Mississippi’s ban has been blocked by lower courts because it directly violates Roe’s protections for pre-viability abortions. The hearing would come after justices this month allowed Texas to move forward with a near-total abortion ban,” Politico added.

Trending Now