Merry Christmas from SCOTUS

The US Supreme Court used its infamous shadow docket Monday to tell the OAFPOTUS he can't send the National Guard to Chicago anymore:

In its three-page unsigned ruling against the administration, the court refused to grant the president broad discretion to deploy the military in U.S. cities, citing an 1878 law, which bans the use of the military for domestic policing. It represented a rare departure from recent cases, in which the conservative majority has overwhelmingly sided with Mr. Trump in preliminary tests of presidential power.

Three conservative justices — Clarence Thomas, Samuel A. Alito Jr. and Neil M. Gorsuch — noted their objections in lengthy dissents, with Justice Alito writing that “the protection of federal officers from potentially lethal attacks should not be thwarted.”

In its order on Tuesday, the majority agreed with Illinois officials that the term “regular forces” most likely referred to the U.S. military. To call in the Guard, the president must first determine that he is “unable” with the help of the military to execute U.S. laws — and for that reason, the court said he could likely take such a step only in the rare situations where he would be legally allowed to call in the military in the first place to execute the law.

I look forward to the day a Democratic administration and Congress end the unlimited tenure of Supreme Court Justices. Or, barring that, we simply reduce their jurisdiction to the bare minimum Article III powers plus, maybe, admiralty law. Until then, it's a mild relief to see Chief Justice of the US Roberts (R) plus Justices Kavanaugh (R) and Barrett (R) reach their limit on ridiculous exercises of executive power.