Supreme Court rules against public health, allowing San Francisco to discharge raw sewage in drinking water

 

It didn’t take long for the tRump Supreme Court to begin its campaign of rolling back protections for the public in favor of big corporations.  Announced March 4, the Supreme Court has ruled the Environmental Protection Agency has “overstepped” its authority under the Clean Water Act.  The Republican-controlled Supreme Court voted 5-4 in favor of San Francisco, saying “the agency has adequate tools to obtain needed information from permittees without resorting to ‘end result’ permits.  The Guardian reports that “end result’ is a new term coined by the court.

That means the Supreme Court MADE IT UP!

The court said the EPA overstepped its authority with water pollution permits that contain vague requirements for maintaining water quality, preferring specific requirements.  The permit in question was to limit generic discharges of raw sewage into the Pacific Ocean after heavy rains.

Raw sewage?  Who wants any E. coli or fecal matter in their drinking water.  What part of ZERO do they not understand?  Any level of those contaminants can be harmful. I agree that it might be difficult to limit discharges after heavy rains but to relieve San Francisco of any responsibility is reckless and dangerous. 

Amy Coney Barrett was the only conservative to dissent.  Not surprising, Neil Gorusch voted in favor of rolling back protections.  If that name is familiar, it is because he is the son of Anne Gorusch, who was EPA Administrator during the Regan era.   She cut the EPA’s budget by 22% and reduced the number of cases filed against polluters.  Do you recall the character Dioxin Dolly, played by actress Audrie Neenan, from Not Necessarily the News?

Gorusch hired people from the industries they were supposed to be regulating.  Now that does that sound familiar!  Scott Pruitt.  Andrew Wheeler. And the list goes on.

This is just the start, people.  Lee Zeldin, appointed by tRump and sworn in as EPA Administrator in January, is a climate-change denier, zero science education, and tRump boot-licker.  This ruling doesn’t affect just San Francisco.  It sets a precedent that will have far reaching consequences. 

Ignoring facts or a serious lack of understanding puts us all in danger.  Look for reductions in protections for air and soil. 

 

References:

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/04/epa-ruling-sewage-water

https://apnews.com/article/supreme-court-san-francisco-water-pollution-6874dc505a394d9181b17a0aef41406f

https://www.cnn.com/2025/03/04/politics/supreme-court-san-francisco-poop-epa/index.html

 

 

Celebrating Pride Month: One, Inc. v. Olesen, first US Supreme Court ruling dealing with homosexuality and free speech rights

ONE, Inc. published and distributed ONE: The Homosexual Magazine starting in 1953, an early pro-gay publication.  The US Post Office and the FBI began a campaign of harassment and LA Postmaster Otto Olesen declared the October 1954 issue "obscene, lewd, lascivious, and filthy" and refused to mail it citing the Comstock Act of 1873.

Attorney Eric Julber filed a suit against the postmaster in US District Court, seeking an injunction.  In March 1956 US District Judge Thurmond Clarke ruled for the Olesen, stating that homosexuals should not be granted special privileges.  

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the decision in February 1957. Julber filed a petition with the US Supreme Court on June 13, 1957.  On January 13, 1958, the Supreme Court reversed the Ninth Circuit's decision. It was the first Supreme Court ruling to deal with homosexuality and the first to address free speech rights with respect to homosexuality. 

Celebrating Native American Heritage Month: Lyda Conley, first Native American woman to argue before the US Supreme Court

Eliza Burton "Lyda" Conley, born 1869, was the first Native American (Wyandot) to argue a case before the US Supreme Court. She was raised on a farm in what is now Wyandotte County in Kansas.  Lyda graduated from the Kansas City School of Law in 1902 and was the first woman admitted to the Kansas Bar Association. 

In the late 19th century, the US government was offering citizenship, but only if they gave up their tribal institutions.  Many Wyandots accepted these terms and stayed in Kansas but many did not and moved to Indian Territory (now Oklahoma).  In 1906, the Wyandotte Nation in Indian Territory approved the sale of the Huron Cemetery in Wyandotte County where Lyda Conley's ancestors were buried.  

Lyda and her two sisters rejected the sale and began to protect it, even building a structure in it for them to live in, so they could protect the cemetery around the clock.  Lyda finally took her case to the US Supreme Court. She lost her case but her cause had gained much support.  In 1916, Kansas Senator Charles Curtis (Kaw/Osage/Prairie Potawatomi) introduced a bill in Congress that precluded the sale of the cemetery and designated it a federal park.

Lyda passed away in 1946 due to injuries from an attack, in which a man hit her on the head and stole her purse.  She was buried in the cemetery she fought so hard to save.

In 1971, the Huron Cemetery was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.  In December 2016, it became a National Historic Landmark.

Celebrating Black History Month: John S. Rock, first African-American lawyer to practice in US Supreme Court

John Stewart Rock, born October 13, 1825 Salem, New Jersey, was a teacher, doctor, dentist, lawyer, and abolitionist.  His parents were free African-Americans and they encouraged him to study and provided him with formal schooling.  At 19, he became a teacher in Salem, teaching in a one-room school.  During this time, he began studying medicine under two white physicians, but was denied entry into medical school based on his race.

He transferred to dentistry and did an apprenticeship with a white dentist.  Rock opened  his dental practice in Philadelphia in January 1850. He was finally admitted to medical school, and graduated from American Medical College in Philadelphia in 1852, becoming one of the first African-Americans to attain a degree in medicine.  

He moved to Boston in 1853 and opened his dentist and medical practice, treating many fugitive slaves making their was to Canada via the Underground Railroad.  After a trip to Europe to seek treatment for health problems, he gave up his medical and dental practices and began to study law.  In September 1861, Rock gained admittance to the Massachusetts Bar where he advocated for the rights for African-Americans. 

On February 1, 1865, the day after Congress approved the Thirteenth Amendment to end slavery, Charles Sumner introduced a motion that made Rock the first black attorney to be admitted to the bar of the US Supreme Court.  He became the first African-American to be received on the floor of the US House of Representatives.

Rock passed away in December 1866 from tuberculosis at the age of 41. 

Ben Hur, first adaption of the Wallace novel, 1907

The first adaption of Lew Wallace's 1880 novel Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ, by Kalem Company made its debut December 7, 1907.  It is also a landmark case of copyright infringement by an American studio.  

Sidney Olcott was principal director with assistance from Frank Oakes Rose.  Filming took place over 4 days in October 1907.  William S. Hart starred as Messala, a role he had played in the Broadway production of Ben Hur, from November 1899 to May 1900.

Other actors who are listed as cast, but unverified, were Herman Rottjer as Ben-Hur(?), Gene Gauntier, and Harry T. Morey.

The estate of Lew Wallace, who passed away three years before the motion picture was released, sued Kalem Company since it was produced without the estate's permission.  According to screenwriter Gauntier, it was common practice in the early silent era to ignore copyrights and dismiss proprietary rights of original authors of intellectual properties. The court ruled against Kalem in May 1908, and later the US Supreme Court upheld the ruling on appeal.  

I enjoyed this 15 min short, but had to keep the imdb.com page open to understand what is going on, since there are no stills with words except when the scene changes.  One thing I noticed is the camera is always stationary.  It does not move from side to side or up and down.  Whatever is directly in front of the camera is what gets filmed.  During the chariot race, the viewer only sees the chariots when they pass in front of the camera.  With the low quality of the film and the brief glimpses of the driver, the viewer cannot tell who the drivers are or what their placement in the race is.

Still, it is great to watch.