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Etan Patz Murder Conviction Reinstated & Upcoming SCOTUS Cases | Bloomberg Law

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Etan Patz Murder Conviction Reinstated & Upcoming SCOTUS Cases | Bloomberg Law

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870 segments

0:02

This is [music] Bloomberg Law with June

0:05

Graasso from Bloomberg Radio.

0:08

Six-year-old Eton Pates was the first

0:11

missing child to appear on milk cartons.

0:14

His disappearance in 1979 sparked a

0:17

nationwide campaign to find missing

0:20

children. But Pates was never found and

0:23

his case went unsolved for more than a

0:26

decade. It wasn't until 2017 that Pedro

0:29

Hernandez was convicted of his murder

0:32

and kidnapping and sentenced to 25 years

0:35

to life in prison. But the case didn't

0:38

end there. New York appellet courts

0:40

affirmed his conviction. But last year,

0:43

the Second Circuit Federal Appeals Court

0:46

reversed and ordered a new trial for

0:49

Hernandez because of the way the trial

0:51

judge had answered a question from

0:53

jurors. But today, the Supreme Court

0:56

reversed the second circuit and

0:58

reinstated the murder conviction against

1:00

Hernandez, finding federal courts

1:03

shouldn't second guessess state courts.

1:06

My guest is former Manhattan prosecutor

1:08

and criminal defense attorney Paul Kalen

1:11

of councel at Adelman and Adelman. Paul,

1:14

tell us about the disappearance of Eton

1:17

Pates. The six-year-old was kidnapped

1:20

off the streets of New York in 1979 and

1:23

he became the poster child for missing

1:26

children. I think to this day,

1:29

>> you're absolutely right about that. As a

1:31

matter of fact, I think this case has

1:33

altered child rearing in the United

1:36

States permanently. You know, it used to

1:38

be mom would send kids out the back door

1:40

and say, "Go play, come back for

1:42

supper." Now, the parents follow them

1:44

around, follow them to the bus stop.

1:46

They were all terrified. the kids are

1:47

going to be kidnapped. And it all

1:49

started with Eton Pates who was going to

1:52

catch a bus to his school in Soho in New

1:56

York. And he was kidnapped and

1:59

apparently murdered. And only recently

2:02

have we had a final resolution of the

2:04

case in terms of who committed the

2:06

murder, an individual named Hernandez,

2:08

whose conviction was now reaffirmed by

2:11

the Supreme Court.

2:12

>> Tell us about the confession because

2:14

there were some troubling things about

2:15

the confession. Yes, there were. His

2:18

brother-in-law reported to the police

2:21

that Hernandez had confessed to the

2:23

murder of Eton Pates. And of course,

2:26

Eton Pates murder has been a very, very

2:28

famous case throughout the United

2:30

States, ever since it happened back in

2:33

1979, long time ago. In any event, the

2:35

brother-in-law reports to the police

2:37

that his quote low IQ relative has

2:41

confessed to the murder and Camden

2:44

County, New Jersey police pick him up

2:46

and they start questioning him, but they

2:49

don't give him his Miranda warnings. He

2:51

confesses that he was working in a

2:53

bodega in Soho when Eton Pates came in

2:57

to buy a drink as he was on his way to

2:59

the bus stop and that he murdered Eton

3:03

Pates and disposed of the body,

3:05

presumably throwing the body into a

3:07

dumpster behind the deli. Full

3:10

confession to the murder. The police

3:12

then who have not given him his Miranda

3:14

warnings now say we should give him the

3:17

Miranda warnings and videotape this

3:19

confession. And that's exactly what they

3:21

do. They give a Miranda warnings,

3:23

videotape the confession, and then they

3:25

call the district attorney's office in

3:27

New York and say, "You better come out

3:29

here. We have somebody confessing to the

3:31

murder of Eton Pates." Now, this was a

3:33

case that had gone cold for a long time.

3:36

So, obviously, the Manhattan DA's office

3:38

was very interested in that. Apparently,

3:41

while all of this is going on, Hernandez

3:43

also talks to his wife and his daughter,

3:46

Rosemary and Becky, and he confesses to

3:49

both of them that he's in fact the

3:51

person who killed Eton Pates. He's then

3:54

picked up by the Manhattan DA's office,

3:56

taken back into New York where he

3:59

confesses again to the murder, this time

4:02

again on videotape. So, we now have two

4:04

videotaped confessions. Later on during

4:07

pre-trial proceedings, he meets with a

4:09

psychiatrist, he confesses to the

4:11

psychiatrist that he's the murderer. And

4:14

while giving that confession, he also

4:16

tells the psychiatrist that he admitted

4:18

this to a prayer group at one point over

4:21

the last 20 years. So by my account, I

4:24

think he's confessed now seven times to

4:27

the murder. All right. So the case goes

4:30

to trial in New York. The first trial,

4:32

by the way, ends in a hung jury. He's

4:35

retrieded and the second jury comes back

4:39

with a jury question. And the jury

4:42

question is this. If he was not given

4:46

his Miranda warnings properly and

4:49

therefore did not voluntarily confess,

4:53

is it okay for us to consider the other

4:55

confessions that occurred after this? In

4:58

substance, that was the question that

4:59

was asked by the jury. The way they

5:01

phrased it was the jury said, "Do we

5:04

have to disregard the subsequent

5:06

confessions if the first confession was

5:10

not voluntary?" The judge says one word,

5:14

"No." Okay. No, you don't have to

5:17

disregard the the subsequent

5:18

confessions. And after that, the jury

5:22

deliberates for another week and they

5:24

find Hernandez guilty of the kidnapping

5:27

and murder of Eton Pates. So that's the

5:30

story in a nutshell up until we get to

5:33

subsequent court decisions.

5:34

>> And I want to note it was a five-monthl

5:37

long trial with 66 witnesses. So it

5:40

wasn't just based on that confession. So

5:42

through the state, the state appellet

5:44

courts affirmed the conviction and then

5:47

the federal appellet court, the second

5:49

circuit in a 100page opinion last year

5:52

reversed and ordered that he get a new

5:55

trial. So, what was their reversal based

5:58

on?

5:58

>> The decision was based on the judge's

6:01

instructions to the jury when they came

6:05

back with a question. That question that

6:07

I just repeated, do we have to disregard

6:09

the subsequent confessions where the

6:11

judge just said no? That was the focus.

6:14

It was a petition for habius corpus

6:17

which you know is an elaborate procedure

6:19

that happens in most serious criminal

6:21

cases where an appeal has gone through

6:23

the whole state system and the defendant

6:26

is still in jail. He keeps losing and

6:28

then he finally goes to federal court

6:30

and says my constitutional rights were

6:33

violated. You the federal courts should

6:35

order my release and it's called the

6:37

habius corpus action. And there's been a

6:40

law that's been passed making it very

6:43

difficult to bring a habius action

6:45

because what was happening was every

6:47

criminal case in the United States was

6:48

winding up in federal court and the

6:50

Supreme Court now in this case makes

6:53

specific reference to that particular

6:55

law. It's called the Adepa law that

6:58

places limitations on habius corpus

7:00

actions. So when the second circuit,

7:03

which is a federal court, you now bear

7:05

in mind this went to the appellet

7:06

division in New York, the state court,

7:08

they looked at it and they said, you

7:10

know something, it's all right. The

7:12

question of whether a confession is

7:14

voluntary or involuntary, by the way, is

7:16

generally decided by a judge. It's not

7:18

usually decided by a jury. And so the

7:21

appellet division said under New York

7:23

law, the way this confession was

7:25

evaluated was perfectly proper. Okay. So

7:29

then they go into federal court with

7:30

this and the second circuit looks at it

7:33

which is the appellet court on the

7:35

federal side after the district court

7:38

looks at it first and they say well we

7:41

think there's a problem here. The judge

7:43

should have explained in more detail

7:46

other than saying no to the jury that

7:49

there could be a problem with the

7:50

confession that there was insufficient

7:53

what we call attenuation between the

7:56

initial confession and the subsequent

7:59

confession which also gets us back to

8:02

another rule which is the Mitchell

8:04

versus Sabbert rule that came about when

8:08

the cops were misusing Miranda warnings

8:11

and what they would do is they would

8:14

bring you into the station, get you to

8:16

confess to a crime, and after you gave

8:19

the complete detailed confession, they'd

8:21

walk out of the room, and then they'd

8:23

come back in and give you your Miranda

8:25

warnings and say, "By the way, that

8:27

confession, can you repeat that, please,

8:29

for the record, and now they videotape

8:31

your confession." All right. Now, when

8:33

the federal courts looked at this, they

8:34

said, "This is completely improper. It's

8:37

an attempt to get around the Miranda

8:39

warnings." And once somebody has been

8:41

possibly coerced into giving a

8:43

confession because they haven't heard

8:45

the Miranda warnings, of course they're

8:47

going to repeat the confession. So this

8:49

Missouri versus Sebert case said

8:51

basically this is an improper method of

8:55

administering the Miranda warnings. And

8:56

if it's done deliberately by the police,

8:58

the confession has to be thrown out. So

9:01

this comes up now in the Hernandez case

9:03

because does that violate the Missouri

9:05

versus Sbert rule? Well, the court in

9:09

New York said no, there was no violation

9:11

of that in our opinion. But when it goes

9:14

over to the federal court, the federal

9:16

court says yes, there was a violation of

9:18

that.

9:19

>> So the second circuit reversed the

9:21

conviction and ordered a new trial for

9:24

Hernandez, but the Manhattan District

9:26

Attorney's Office took that decision to

9:29

the highest court.

9:31

>> The state, and this is very unusual, now

9:34

goes to the Supreme Court to try to get

9:36

a conviction reinstated. You know,

9:38

usually you see a defendant who's been

9:39

convicted going to the Supreme Court to

9:41

get his case thrown out. This is the

9:43

opposite. The prosecutors looking for

9:45

justice now. So now when they go to the

9:47

Supreme Court, the Supreme Court says

9:49

no, there was no violation here because

9:52

the state looked at it under state law.

9:55

The administration of Miranda warnings

9:59

was done properly. There was proper

10:01

attenuation. And that's a question for

10:03

the judge, not the jury. The Sabbert

10:06

case never said anything about jury

10:08

instructions. So this is an overreach by

10:11

the second circuit and there was no

10:13

right for a habius corpus to be brought

10:15

here. So we're reinstating the

10:17

conviction.

10:18

>> Paul, did the Supreme Court reverse

10:20

because the second circuit didn't

10:22

properly follow federal law or because

10:25

state law should have applied here?

10:27

Well, it's a complex question because

10:30

they're saying that in this situation,

10:33

the state had the right to evaluate

10:37

whether there was a proper attenuation

10:40

of the confession. In other words,

10:42

whether the secondary administration of

10:46

Miranda warnings by the Manhattan DA and

10:49

by the police violated New York law. And

10:53

New York said, "No, that doesn't violate

10:55

our law." And in New York, a jury can

10:58

sometimes decide whether a confession is

11:01

voluntary or not. Under federal law,

11:03

that's generally a judge determination

11:06

that's been made. So the Supreme Court's

11:09

looking at this overall said, well,

11:12

we've looked at this and there's no

11:15

violation of federal law as it exists.

11:19

And if there was a violation of state

11:21

law, the state has already made a

11:23

decision here that there was no

11:25

violation of New York state law. So the

11:27

federal government has no business

11:29

interfering in how the state of New York

11:32

interprets the administration of the

11:34

Miranda warnings and the confession is a

11:37

voluntary confession. So it's kind of a

11:40

question of how you evaluate due process

11:42

under state and federal law and whether

11:45

there's a conflict between the sovereign

11:47

entities. And here the Supreme Court was

11:50

saying, you know, there are certain

11:51

things that we leave to the state. And

11:53

the federal habius corpus act says we

11:56

should leave most of those things alone

11:59

unless it's an absolutely egregious

12:01

violation of somebody's constitutional

12:04

rights. And let's step back and look at

12:06

this case. June, the guy confessed seven

12:09

times to the murder. All right? So, I

12:12

think the Supreme Court was looking at

12:13

it saying, "Well, you know, we're not

12:16

worried about whether we have the right

12:17

guy or not. We're just looking at some

12:19

technicalities here." And the New York

12:22

courts looked at those technicalities

12:24

and said, "There's no violation of New

12:26

York law here. So, we're not going to

12:28

set it aside because there's no

12:30

violation of federal law." I mean, the

12:32

second circuit basically wanted the

12:33

judge to start explaining to the jury a

12:37

concurring opinion by Justice Kennedy in

12:39

a case from more than 20 years ago. I

12:41

mean, it just seemed ridiculous to put

12:44

in legal terms.

12:45

>> That's exactly what the U second circuit

12:47

said. And by the way, people should know

12:50

this is what's called a perurium

12:52

decision by the Supreme Court, which

12:54

means a decision by the court. We don't

12:57

know who authored this opinion, but we

12:59

do know that the three liberal justices

13:01

on the court voted against. So it was a

13:04

6-3 decision by the court.

13:06

>> Nothing from the liberals about why they

13:08

were dissenting on this.

13:10

>> Very unusual because you know these

13:12

procurium decisions are usually very

13:14

very short. But this was I think an

13:16

11page very very detailed decision by

13:18

the court. And you would think that the

13:21

three justices who were dissenting would

13:24

have weighed in as to why they disagreed

13:26

with the other six members of the court,

13:28

but no, they said nothing. They just

13:30

said, "We dissent." So, I don't know

13:32

what the basis of their dissent would

13:34

be, and we'll never know because this

13:36

case is for all practical purposes over.

13:38

I mean, it'll go back to the to the

13:40

state court and the sentence will be

13:42

reimposed and and that'll be the end of

13:44

it. For all practical purposes, if the

13:47

Manhattan District Attorney's Office had

13:48

to retry this case, I mean, would they

13:51

have been able to put together a case

13:53

after all these years?

13:56

>> Well, that was one of the things they

13:58

raised in their briefs, saying it's

14:00

patently unfair to try to force us to

14:03

retry a case as old as this case, and to

14:07

try to put it all together. So, I think

14:09

they would have had trouble. But of

14:10

course, on the other hand, the case

14:12

primarily depends upon these

14:14

confessions, and it's easy enough to put

14:16

the confessions into evidence, you know,

14:19

through the psychiatrist and through the

14:21

Camden Police and through the Manhattan

14:23

DAS. Now, if he's going to offer an

14:26

insanity defense, yeah, that could take

14:29

a lot of time to put in and uh you know,

14:31

we don't know what would happen on a

14:32

retrial. I mean, the defense would

14:34

reassess and figure out a new way to

14:36

approach the case to try to put an

14:38

effective defense in play. And I will

14:40

say this, defense attorneys were very,

14:42

very adamant in saying he's innocent and

14:45

this is a really terrible decision to

14:47

reinstate this conviction.

14:48

>> Well, I remember Eton Pates's parents

14:51

were very unhappy when the second

14:54

circuit reversed the conviction, as you

14:57

might expect. It's been great having you

14:59

on again, Paul. Thanks so much. That's

15:01

former Manhattan prosecutor and criminal

15:03

defense attorney Paul Kalan. Turning now

15:05

to upcoming decisions at the Supreme

15:08

Court. Tomorrow, starting at 10:00 a.m.,

15:10

the court is going to announce decisions

15:13

in cases that have been argued. The

15:15

justices have 17 cases left to decide

15:19

before the term ends, which is usually

15:21

at the end of June. Seven are

15:24

high-profile cases and four of them

15:26

involve President Trump. Joining me is

15:28

an expert in constitutional law, Harold

15:31

Krant, a professor at the Chicago Kent

15:33

College of Law. Hal, so many cases left

15:38

in the last about week and a half of the

15:40

term. Among them, the most high-profile

15:43

cases of the term, including, for

15:45

example, the birthright citizenship case

15:48

or Trump's effort to fire a Federal

15:51

Reserve governor. I always hear that

15:54

well these are complicated cases and it

15:56

takes longer and there are more

15:58

concurrences and dissents but some of

16:01

these cases date back to December. So my

16:04

question is are they waiting to issue

16:09

all these important decisions together

16:11

to try to diffuse the impact of any one

16:14

decision?

16:16

>> I think that's plausible. I mean

16:18

obviously the Supreme Court does tend to

16:20

hold cases of great national importance

16:22

towards the end so they can make their

16:24

way into the night. So that has been a

16:27

tendency but again if they want to mute

16:30

some kind of reaction to their decisions

16:33

being both proTrump administration

16:36

anti-Trump admin administration bundling

16:38

them together is not a bad strategy and

16:40

I think the way these cases lay out it's

16:43

very likely that there'll be a split.

16:45

>> Yeah. So, let's start with some of the

16:47

most high-profile birthright

16:49

citizenship. President Trump's bid to

16:52

roll back automatic birthright

16:54

citizenship to babies with at least one

16:57

parent who is a US citizen or green card

17:00

holder.

17:00

>> Well, the issue is there is the 14th

17:03

amendment suggests that there is

17:05

citizenship to anybody born within the

17:08

jurisdiction of the United States. And

17:09

the question is what does jurisdiction

17:11

mean? But in terms of the history, in

17:13

terms of how we've interpreted the 14th

17:15

amendment and in terms of a

17:17

congressional statute that uses similar

17:19

language and the Supreme Court's

17:21

president in the Lu King Arc um decision

17:24

uh you know 100 years ago or so, they

17:26

all point to the direction that the

17:28

Trump administration is going to lose

17:30

and that we believe that anybody born

17:32

within the territory of the United

17:34

States with certain defined exceptions

17:36

such as the Indian tribes are citizens

17:40

and I can't believe the Supreme Court

17:42

restra from that in this case.

17:44

>> Well, as you say, there's a Supreme

17:46

Court case directly on point. All the

17:48

federal courts who ruled on this found

17:50

that the executive order runs against

17:53

the citizenship clause as well as

17:55

federal immigration law, Supreme Court

17:57

president. And when this case was

17:59

argued, it seemed like justices across

18:02

the ideological spectrum were dubious

18:05

about Trump's order. So why didn't this

18:07

decision come out fast then? Are we

18:09

expecting some kind of narrowing or

18:13

limited interpretation?

18:15

>> I can't imagine in this case. Some of

18:17

the other cases I can imagine a very

18:19

limiting perspective that the court will

18:21

take. Uh but this seems to be teed up as

18:23

a big Trump loss. And I could be

18:26

deceiving myself, but it seems like

18:28

that's going to happen. And again, as

18:29

you pointed out, maybe the court decides

18:31

it'll try to temper the sting, if you

18:34

will, to the Trump administration by

18:36

combining this case with the one in

18:38

which it looks more favorably upon what

18:40

President Trump has done.

18:42

>> Okay. So, now another one that appears

18:43

from the oral arguments, we knew the

18:45

answer to Trump's effort to fire Federal

18:48

Reserve Governor Lisa Cook over unproven

18:52

mortgage fraud allegations. So again,

18:54

oral arguments, it seemed like the

18:56

justices were, you know, of one mind

18:59

that he couldn't do this. Tell us about

19:01

the constitutional issue here.

19:04

>> Well, the constitutional issue is is

19:05

really twofold. Um the first is if the

19:09

president does not have the right to

19:11

remove Lisa Cook, who is a Federal

19:13

Reserve governor of will, um then he has

19:16

to find cause. And the Supreme Court has

19:18

never defined what cause is. And the

19:21

cause in this case was the allegation of

19:24

a mortgage fraud from seven, eight years

19:27

ago, something like that, before Alisa

19:30

Cook was governor. So there's really two

19:33

three parts of this in which the court's

19:36

not going to tackle all three. One is

19:38

what does cause mean? We don't know.

19:40

Does cause extend to conduct

19:42

pre-appointment? Uh we don't know. My

19:45

guess is it does. I agree with the Trump

19:46

administration in that. but also what

19:49

kind of process is due and can it be

19:52

reviewable. So those are the three

19:54

issues and I think the court will

19:56

probably uh rule against the Trump

19:59

administration on the ground that at

20:00

least there has to be an informal

20:02

opportunity for the officer to give her

20:07

in this case her side of the story that

20:10

she did not engage in any kind of

20:12

mortgage fraud. She was not given that

20:13

opportunity. So I think a narrow due

20:15

process ruling can leave the officer in

20:19

place and then leave for another day.

20:21

The very important decision about if we

20:24

can only remove an officer for cause,

20:27

what is cause? Is it neglective duties?

20:29

Is it wrongdoing? You know, what does it

20:31

constitute?

20:32

>> So that case was argued in January. And

20:35

now another case related though not the

20:38

same that was argued at the beginning of

20:41

December is where Trump wants to remove

20:45

Rebecca Kelly Slaughter who's a federal

20:48

trade commissioner despite a law that

20:50

says commissioners can only be fired for

20:53

specific reasons.

20:55

>> Yeah. And this has been in the

20:56

crosshairs of the Trump administration.

20:58

This is part of the whole unitary

20:59

executive movement saying that the

21:01

president must be able to closely manage

21:03

his uh subordinates in the executive

21:06

branch and the administration as several

21:09

before him as well has attacked

21:10

Humphre's executive which protected

21:13

Congress's decision to in fact shield

21:16

the some officers from Atwell Removal

21:18

Authority. And so that's been a target

21:20

for many administrations. He picked the

21:23

exact target, the same Federal Trade

21:25

Commission that was in the Humphrey's

21:27

executive decision. And I think the

21:29

consensus is largely that the Supreme

21:32

Court will overrule Humphrey's executive

21:34

at least in part if not in whole. And so

21:37

giving the Trump administration a big

21:39

victory. But the question in my mind is

21:43

how far will the case go? Will they say

21:45

all executive branch officials? Will

21:47

they say all superior executive branch

21:49

officials? Will they say only some with

21:52

certain types of enforcement

21:54

responsibilities? So for instance, there

21:56

are executive branch agencies that

21:59

engage in adjudication would their

22:02

membership also have to be removable at

22:04

will by the president. So the the scope

22:07

of where the president under the

22:10

constitution under article 2 must have

22:12

this close authority to supervise

22:14

subordinates is is at stake here. I

22:17

don't think the court will reach out to

22:18

think about all of those contexts, but

22:21

it will at least contain the decision

22:23

will contain some hints about why the

22:26

Federal Trade Commission heads must be

22:29

removable at will and what other similar

22:32

agencies must be conformed to that same

22:35

structure.

22:35

>> So, do you think that they might

22:37

announce these two decisions together?

22:40

Do you think that one is waiting on the

22:41

other?

22:43

>> They could. I mean, there'll be a nice

22:44

pair both because it's really about the

22:46

same issue um in different forms of the

22:49

same issue and one will probably go

22:51

against the administration and one will

22:53

go for the administration.

22:55

>> Coming up, more on the upcoming Supreme

22:57

Court decisions, including a seeming

23:00

divide on election day ballot deadlines.

23:04

You're listening to Bloomberg.

23:07

Tomorrow, the Supreme Court will be

23:09

announcing decisions in argued cases.

23:12

There are 17 cases left to decide before

23:15

the justices leave for their summer

23:17

vacations. I've been talking to

23:20

Professor Harold Krent of the Chicago

23:22

Kent College of Law. How Let's turn now

23:25

to the court's decision about a

23:27

Mississippi law that allows mail-in

23:30

ballots to be counted as long as they

23:32

arrive within five business days of

23:35

election day. As many as 29 states have

23:38

similar laws. Oh, so the issue is when

23:41

Congress has designated election day as

23:44

the first Tuesday after the second

23:46

Monday, if I remember correctly, in

23:48

November, what does that mean? Can you

23:50

then count votes after election day

23:52

itself or must all the votes be tallied

23:55

by election day? Um, and obviously in

23:58

Mississippi and 2020 in the pandemic

24:01

allowed for counting ballots after

24:04

election day as does over half the

24:06

states. And so it's a really interesting

24:08

both because Mississippi uh is a

24:10

Republican state and it's the one that's

24:12

going against the Trump administration

24:14

and it's interesting um in addition be

24:17

because of the fact that if you think of

24:18

federalism uh this is a

24:21

effort really to limit the rights of the

24:23

states visa v the federal government. So

24:25

it's some odd sign to bet fellows in

24:28

this case. Uh but you know I think it's

24:31

just a kind of a more narrow focus on

24:32

what does election day mean and do we

24:35

need to have decisions or votes counted

24:38

at least by election day if not

24:40

decisions in order to conform to what

24:43

Congress had in mind by saying there

24:45

should be one election day in the

24:46

country. During the oral arguments, the

24:49

Chief Justice and Justice Barrett raised

24:52

some questions about, well, if we don't

24:54

allow these late arriving ballots, does

24:56

that does that have an effect on early

24:58

voting? Because early voting, it's

25:00

before the date that Congress set.

25:03

>> Yeah, it depends. I think they could get

25:04

around that by saying that election day

25:06

means votes have to be tallied as

25:09

opposed to saying that it's not a

25:12

prohibition on votes being tallied

25:15

beforehand, at least some votes. So I I

25:17

think there is a distinction there, but

25:18

you know, you could say that a broad

25:22

definition of election day would really

25:24

limit the discretion of the states to

25:27

have early voting and late voting. And

25:29

again, think about military voting,

25:31

voting during wars. We've never been

25:33

able to count all the votes on election

25:35

day because, you know, individuals in

25:37

our country are dispersed for work, for

25:40

military reasons, and others. So it's

25:42

it's a very it's a practical matter.

25:44

It's a very important decision, but one

25:46

in which is right now, I think, too

25:48

close to call.

25:49

>> Yeah. Maybe a division down ideological

25:51

lines, which I'm expecting several of

25:54

those.

25:55

>> My only prediction on this case is it

25:57

will not be strictly on ideological

25:58

lines because I think the issues really

26:00

do cut across the ideological spectrum.

26:03

>> Okay, we shall see.

26:05

>> Yes, we shall.

26:06

>> We won't [laughter]

26:07

we won't place a bet on it, but we'll

26:09

see. So now there are federal caps that

26:12

limit spending by political parties in

26:14

coordination with candidates. Have the

26:17

conservatives on the Supreme Court ever

26:19

found a restriction on campaign

26:21

contributions

26:22

that they agreed with?

26:25

>> I think this one will be decided on

26:26

ideological grounds. Um and obviously

26:30

the the idea that money is speech

26:33

resonates greatly with a certain

26:35

ideological part of the Supreme Court.

26:37

did Citizens United. And here in this

26:40

case, they're looking at what's called

26:42

political coordinated spending, whether

26:44

the political parties can coordinate

26:46

with the campaigns of various individual

26:48

candidates to evade the limits set by

26:51

Congress. And so this really at the

26:53

heart is can Congress limit at all the

26:57

types of expenditures that are made to

26:58

influence campaigns for Democrats or for

27:01

Republicans. And obviously the Democrats

27:04

would benefit from this as well if the

27:06

caps are stricken though they have not

27:08

attacked the theory in this particular

27:10

case.

27:11

>> Why with campaign finance contributions

27:14

is it Republicans that want to get rid

27:16

of them and Democrats that want to keep

27:18

them?

27:18

>> I think it's a sense that even though

27:20

Democrats would benefit, they know that

27:22

they need to be sort of consistent with

27:24

their base and their base tend to be

27:28

smaller donors. At least that's

27:31

perceived to be the case even if it's

27:32

not true. And so they want to be seen as

27:36

people not wanting big money to rule

27:39

everything. And that's a message that

27:41

resonates with at least a large segment

27:43

of Democratic voters.

27:44

>> Let's turn now to transgender issues in

27:47

sports. State laws in Idaho and West

27:50

Virginia ban transgender girls and women

27:53

from competing on female athletic teams.

27:56

And I mean there are 27 states with

27:58

similar laws. Give us the arguments on

28:01

both sides of this case.

28:03

>> Sure. I mean the opponents of the ban

28:05

say that this is a violation both of

28:07

title 9 which limits the conduct of any

28:10

kind of school district that accepts

28:12

federal money and violates the equal

28:14

protection clause of the constitution.

28:17

So, it's an echo of the case that the

28:19

Supreme Court decided just recently in

28:21

Scrati when the case rejected similar

28:24

claims against Tennessee's ban on

28:26

hormone treatment for minors. In this

28:29

case, though, it's it's participation in

28:31

sporting events in high school. People

28:33

have more of a visceral reaction to it,

28:34

I think, than the use, for instance, of

28:36

of different bathrooms. And you know, I

28:39

think that the conservatives will

28:42

probably win on on this one on the

28:44

theory that there's at least a rational

28:46

basis for school districts to decide

28:48

either because of safety or because of

28:51

fairness uh not to allow trans kids on

28:54

women's teams, but to allow trans kids

28:57

on on men's teams is obviously a lack of

28:59

symmetry. But then the only way I think

29:02

for the challengers to win is if they

29:04

get some kind of increased protection

29:07

due to the claim either that this is

29:09

masquerade of sex discrimination that

29:12

this is like the title 7 case in Boston

29:15

because where the Supreme Court held

29:17

that any kind of discrimination on the

29:20

basis of of appearance or gender or

29:23

being trans was a violation of title 7

29:26

though you know Justice Gorsuch signaled

29:28

that he views title N differently as

29:30

title seven even though they were

29:31

modeled on the same thing. So, you know,

29:33

there the the question really is I think

29:35

most people have a consensus that this

29:37

would pass any kind of rational basis

29:40

test, but if the scrutiny gets more

29:42

strict, then it's more difficult to

29:44

justify the ban. Um, and we don't have

29:46

good statistics on what is the risk of

29:49

having trans kids play on high school

29:52

sports teams. we don't know them and the

29:54

risks are more theoretical and so any

29:57

kind of heightened attention that is

30:00

paid would I think result in a victory

30:03

for the challengers not predicting that

30:05

but that would be the case if the

30:08

scrutiny is raised

30:09

>> the woman in the Idaho case tried to get

30:12

the case dropped because she was no

30:15

longer competing Idaho didn't want the

30:17

case dropped in the West Virginia case

30:19

there was an argument that the young

30:22

woman had puberty blockers, so she never

30:26

really had those hormones that would

30:28

have given her an edge. Male hormones,

30:30

you know, I wonder if that they're not

30:32

going to get that deeply into it and

30:34

just base the decision on the plaintiffs

30:37

being transgender.

30:39

>> You know, you know, my sense from

30:40

looking at the transcript of oral

30:42

argument is that the court could get rid

30:44

of this case, as you suggest, but

30:46

unlikely to. The court seems to want to

30:49

address these issues just as it did in

30:52

Scrati last term and sort of widen the

30:56

areas in which states if they so choose

30:59

can rule against trans kid equality.

31:03

That's my sense. But there are the seeds

31:05

there that this the court wants to duck

31:08

it. It can duck it and probably with a

31:11

good face. if it doesn't duck it. This

31:14

is one of the cases where I say I will

31:16

fall off my chair if they actually rule

31:20

in favor of transgender rights because

31:21

since the Bostock case they have ruled

31:24

consistently against transgender rights

31:27

and LGBTQ rights. I mean it's just

31:30

pretty obvious.

31:32

>> Yeah. Bosto was the high point if you

31:34

will the pinnacle of protection for

31:36

people who are LGBT and trans. And there

31:39

has been a startling decline after that

31:43

and I you know you know predict that

31:45

that trend will continue.

31:47

>> So then we have Bayer. The company says

31:50

that federal regulators didn't require a

31:52

cancer warning and so state regulators

31:56

shouldn't have been allowed to require a

31:58

cancer warning either. This is only

32:01

about one suit involving failure to

32:04

warn. But there are so many suits

32:06

against Bayer. I think it's about

32:08

60,000. So the under the federal

32:11

regulation statute, it it seems that the

32:14

FDA decides, you know, what is safe,

32:16

what is not safe, and has only approves

32:19

warnings or not warnings on labels of

32:22

this case Roundup, which is a well-known

32:24

was a well-known fungicide, um, which

32:27

obviously had bad repercussions and

32:29

leads to cancer. And so the question is

32:32

was could states or warn about Roundup

32:35

without any kind of federal blessing.

32:38

And you know I think here the

32:40

administration is on pretty strong

32:42

ground to have some kind of uniform

32:44

regulation that you know to have ground

32:46

up being okay in one state or have a

32:48

warning in one state not in the other.

32:49

and what about runoff, you know, in

32:51

terms of the environment is not a a kind

32:54

of crazy way to think about regulation

32:58

that seems to need a uniform approach.

33:01

So, it's the federal regulation from

33:03

Congress that's at least directed from

33:05

Congress seems to contemplate

33:08

one-sizefits-all regulation of any

33:10

chemicals coming within the purview of

33:12

this particular regulatory scheme. Um,

33:15

and so I think that on average, again,

33:18

we're going to have see a split. I think

33:19

in ideological leanings amongst the

33:22

justices. I think there'll be a

33:24

coalition both of of conservative and

33:26

liberal judges going both ways. But I if

33:28

I had to predict, I would predict that

33:30

the federal government would win as

33:32

against the states simply because it

33:36

seems that this regulatory scheme is

33:39

focused on the need for uniformity. And

33:41

in this case, the FDA did not require

33:44

any kind of more stringent uh regulation

33:46

or roundup despite what we unfortunately

33:48

have found out is about it its true

33:50

costs. So the interesting thing about

33:52

these cases is we're not going to see

33:53

uniform I think ideological bands of the

33:56

court and I don't think we're going to

33:57

see uniform Trump administration wins.

33:59

So it's really going to be a mixed uh

34:02

set and then we'll have to see in each

34:04

particular case um how the court uh

34:07

resolves it.

34:07

>> And we will see that starting tomorrow

34:09

at 10:00. Thanks so much for getting us

34:12

ready for what's coming up, Hal. That's

34:15

Professor Harold Krent of the Chicago

34:17

Kent College of Law. And that's it for

34:19

this edition of the Bloomberg Law Show.

34:21

Remember, you can always get the latest

34:22

legal news on our Bloomberg Law podcast.

34:25

You can find them on Apple Podcast,

34:27

Spotify, and at

34:28

www.bloomberg.com/mpodcast/law.

34:33

And remember to tune in to the Bloomberg

34:35

Law Show every week night at 1000 p.m.

34:37

Wall Street [music] time. I'm June

34:39

Graasso and you're listening to

34:41

Bloomberg.

34:44

[music]

Interactive Summary

The video discusses a significant Supreme Court decision that reinstated the murder conviction of Pedro Hernandez, who was convicted for the 1979 kidnapping and murder of six-year-old Etan Patz. Legal expert Paul Kalan explains the history of the case, the controversial confessions, and the legal battle involving federal habeas corpus and Miranda rights that reached the Supreme Court. Additionally, the video features a discussion with Professor Harold Krent on several upcoming high-profile Supreme Court cases, including birthright citizenship, presidential authority to fire agency heads, election ballot deadlines, and pesticide labeling requirements.

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