OFF PAGE ONE
Saturday, June 30, 2018
East Oregonian
Page 9A
Roberts is new center of Supreme Court
Farther right than
outgoing Kennedy
Trump’s hot streak: Court rulings, vacancy
WASHINGTON
(AP)
—
Chief Justice John Roberts is the
Supreme Court’s new man in the
middle. It’s just that the middle
may have moved well to the right.
The retirement of Justice
Anthony Kennedy means Rob-
erts probably will be the conser-
vative justice closest to the court’s
four liberals, allowing him to con-
trol how it rules in some of its most
contentious cases.
Roberts will be the justice who
determines “how far they go and
how fast they go,” said Washing-
ton lawyer John Elwood.
Kennedy played a similar role
for many years — his votes on
gay rights, abortion, the death pen-
alty, the environment, voting rights
and affirmative action basically
determined the outcome of cases
on which the court was divided
between liberals and conservatives.
Roberts has typically been
to Kennedy’s right. He did not
endorse a constitutional right to
marry for same-sex couples. He
dissented when the court struck
down Texas abortion clinic restric-
tions in 2016. The chief justice
also was in dissent from the court’s
first major climate change deci-
sion in 2007, when it held that the
Environmental Protection Agency
could regulate emissions of car-
bon dioxide and other greenhouse
gases as air pollutants.
New cases on any of those issues
could be before the court soon and,
Win McNamee/Pool via AP
U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts
even if Roberts is not prepared to
overrule major Supreme Court
precedents, he could be in position
to cut back on environmental pro-
tections as well as gay rights and
abortion rights.
Smaller steps might be in keep-
ing with Roberts’ preference for
avoiding major divides where pos-
sible, and attracting votes from
both conservatives and liberals.
The 63-year-old chief justice may
be in no hurry to move quickly, as
he could be on the bench another
15 to 20 years.
“Chief Justice Roberts, more
than any other justice on the court,
believes in narrow rulings that
attract broad majorities, answering
no more than necessary to resolve
a given case,” Jonathan Adler,
a professor at the Case Western
Reserve University School of Law,
wrote on the Volokh Conspiracy
legal blog.
In one sense, the Supreme
Court’s immediate future could
look a lot like the term that just
ended. Roberts seemed firmly in
control of a court that overwhelm-
ingly went conservative in divided
cases, including upholding Pres-
ident Donald Trump’s travel ban,
striking a blow at public-sector
labor unions, limiting workers’
rights to band together to complain
about pay and affirming Ohio’s
aggressive efforts to purge its vot-
ing rolls.
Only on one occasion did Rob-
erts join with the liberal justices in
a 5-4 decision, a ruling that said
police generally must have war-
rants to get telecommunications
companies’ records showing where
people have used their cellphones.
WASHINGTON — A Supreme Court vacancy just fell in his lap,
offering a chance to shape the court for decades. The current court
handed him two favorable rulings in a single week. And there’s a Rus-
sia summit on the horizon, promising headlines for a week or more.
President Donald Trump is enjoying quite a hot streak.
Some of the good news is not of his making. Still, a series of wel-
come events has given the president a reprieve from images of migrant
children being separated from their families at the border, as well as
negative headlines about administrative chaos implementing his hard-
line immigration policies.
Trump sought to keep the good vibes going Friday with an event
marking the six-month anniversary of his tax cuts.
“We are bringing back our beautiful American dreams,” Trump
declared, as he used a celebratory East Room event with top aides and
business owners to showcase the $1.5 trillion tax package passed last
December.
He called recent growth an “economic miracle,” though there’s
credit to be shared: Lower unemployment, fewer claims for jobless
benefits and many other positive economic indicators reflect the slow
and steady nine-year recovery that began under President Barack
Obama.
Trump’s tax cuts will add a hefty dose of debt-financed stimulus to
the economy. Government agencies and outside analysts estimate the
tax cuts will temporarily boost growth in 2018 and 2019, then fade as
the national debt mounts.
Twice, though, Roberts was
among a larger grouping of jus-
tices in cases that skirted the big
issue at stake, but that could return
to the court. In one case, the jus-
tices rejected a lower-court rul-
ing that set limits on redistrict-
ing for partisan gain, but without
deciding whether limits ever could
be imposed. In another, the court
ruled in favor of a baker who
would not create a wedding cake
for a same-sex couple, yet left on
the table the question of whether
religious objections could be used
to avoid complying with anti-dis-
crimination laws that protect
LGBT people.
For all his votes on the conser-
vative side of issues, Roberts has
had his critics on the right. They
include Trump, who once labeled
Roberts “an absolute disaster” for
the chief justice’s critical vote to
uphold the Affordable Care Act
in 2012. Trump has not publicly
criticized Roberts since he’s been
president.
SHERIFF: Humphreys family has been in Wheeler County for five generations
Continued from 1A
Matt English, Hood
River County Sheriff and
president of the Oregon
State Sheriff’s Association,
said law enforcement in
much of rural Oregon, and
Wheeler County in particu-
lar, is stretched very thin.
“I went out and spent
some time there,” he said.
“Resource-wise, they don’t
have anything. They can’t
pay well, the living con-
ditions are not great. They
don’t have funding. ... It’s
one of the struggles they
are having in rural counties
across the state.”
There are also more
demands on their time, and
a steadily decreasing base
of volunteers for fire, para-
medic and police positions.
As more people are recreat-
ing in Oregon’s rural places,
calls for emergency response
to far-flung locales and dis-
patches for search and rescue
are increasing exponentially.
Just last month, Humphreys’
entire staff, as well as a slim
volunteer crew, was out all
night searching for a local
woman who had a medical
emergency while walking.
They found her — a “nee-
dle in a haystack” according
to Humphreys — and saved
her life. But the whole crew
then had to do their adminis-
trative duties, and overtime
costs are not in the budget.
“It’s
just
impossi-
ble, and exhausting,” said
Humphreys.
“I empathize with him
how difficult it is,” said
English.
He said in Hood River
County his office must
respond to emergencies in
nearby Hood and Columbia
rivers, to Mt. Hood and the
national forest.
“It’s the impact of tour-
ism on rural counties,” said
English. “We are to break-
ing points. There is so much
impact on our resources, and
Wheeler County is the same
... our deputies are getting
pulled out of neighborhoods
for recreational events ...
and local taxpayers don’t
like that.”
He said the sheriff’s asso-
ciation is considering legis-
lation for the 2019 session
that could add taxes on the
hospitality industry to help
fund public safety. The exact
look of that legislation has
not yet been decided.
Whatever it is, it didn’t
come soon enough to pro-
vide financial stability and
quality of life to the Wheeler
County Sheriff’s Office,
though Humphreys notes
there were plenty of issues
that led to this point. Hum-
phreys says someone else
could have handled the
political issues better than he
did and another sheriff could
have made a more impactful
plea for additional funding.
Wheeler County Judge
Lynn Morley did not return
a call by press time about
the issue. Wheeler County
Commissioner Rob Ordway
said that he has “always sup-
ported law enforcement and
public safety,” but said he
had no plan to replace Hum-
phreys, nor did he know
how the sheriff’s office
would be able to provide
law enforcement with the
loss of the three deputies.
There are no other munic-
ipal police departments in
the county. An Oregon State
Police officer based in Con-
don can respond to emer-
gencies, but cannot commit
to working full-time in just
one rural county.
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For Humphreys, part of
the reason he is leaving has
nothing to do with fund-
ing or politics. He said he
plans to remain in Wheeler
County, where his fam-
ily has lived for five gener-
ations, and said he will be
happy to give up a career in
law enforcement.
“Believe me when I say
I am not worried about not
being a cop,” he said.
Humphreys said it has
been a devastating year
for the agency. He has a
hard time shaking the 2017
Memorial Day weekend
fatal crash that killed two
Gypsy Joker motorcyclists
and injured many others,
which he described as the
most “horrific” and “brutal”
of his career. He was driving
just behind the convoy when
it happened.
“It was tough and there
was some people that saved
some lives that night,” he
said, though noting it was
one of the scenes that you
hope to never have to expe-
rience. And the long, stress-
ful, dangerous court process
that emanated from it was
additionally taxing, he said.
He is worn out and leaving
the profession, and he said it
is unclear how law enforce-
ment and public safety will
operate in Wheeler County
in the future.
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