����vlog

IN ON WHAT’S AT STAKE FOR YOUR FUTURE. ♪ SOLEDAD: I’M SOLEDAD O’BRIEN. WELCOME TO “MATTER OF FACT.” THE SUPREME COURT IS BUSY. JUSTICES ARE HEARING ARGUMENTS ON CASES THAT MAY NOT BE DECIDED UNTIL THE END OF THE TERM IN JUNE. THEY ARE POISED TO MAKE DECISIONS ON EVERYTHING FROM AFFIRMATIVE ACTION TO INTERNET FREE SPEECH AND CANCELING STUDENT LOAN DEBT. THIS PAST WEEK, THEY HEARD THE ORAL ARGUMENTS BY THE NAVAJO NATION SUING THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT FOR ITS WATER RIGHTS FROM THE COLORADO RIVER. THEY SAY THAT GUARANTEE IS PART OF A TREATY THE U.S. SIGNED WITH THE NATION IN 1868. TIMOTHY JOHNSON IS THE HORACE T. MORSE DISTINGUISHED PROFESSOR OF POLITICAL SCIENCE AND LAW AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA. HE HAS WRITTEN EXTENSIVELY ON SUPREME COURT ORAL ARGUMENTS. PROFESSOR TIMOTHY JOHNSON, THANK YOU FOR TALKING WITH ME. SO, LET’S TALK ABOUT SPECIFIC CASES, AFFIRMATIVE ACTION, INTERNET FREE SPEECH, AND, AND THIS CASE WITH THE NAVAJO NATION. AND MAYBE THAT’S WHERE WE START. WHAT EXACTLY IS THAT CASE ABOUT? PROF. JOHNSON: SO, THIS CASE IS REALLY ONE THAT COMES DOWN TO WATER RIGHTS OF THE COLORADO RIVER LOWER BASIN. UM, AND THE NAVAJO NATION IS CLAIMING SOME RIGHTS TO THAT WATER BASED ON TREATIES THAT WERE SIGNED WHEN THEY WERE MOVED TO THE RESERVATIONS IN THE 19TH CENTURY. SOLEDAD: DO WE HAVE ANY SENSE AT ALL OF HOW THE COURT WILL RULE ON THIS? BECAUSE THE COLORADO RIVER IS DRYING UP, RIGHT, THERE’S A LOT AT STAKE HERE. PROF. JOHNSON: LEADING THE CHARGE PROBABLY IN FAVOR OF PROTECTION OF THE NAVAJO NATION WOULD BE JUSTICE GORSUCH. BEING FROM COLORADO, HE IS VERY ATTUNED TO THE NEEDS OF TRIBAL NATIONS WITHIN THE UNITED STATES. HE IS ALSO A TEXTUALIST ON THE TREATIES THEMSELVES. AND HE SAYS IF THE TREATIES SAY THAT WE PROTECT THE WATER RIGHTS FOR THE NAVAJO NATION, THEN WE ABSOLUTELY NEED TO PROTECT THOSE RIGHTS. SOLEDAD: LET’S TALK ABOUT AFFIRMATIVE ACTION BECAUSE I THINK THAT IS THE BIG ONE, WHICH IS THE SUPREME COURT’S GOING TO BASICALLY KILL AFFIRMATIVE ACTION. PROF. JOHNSON: IT REALLY IS SIMPLY ASKING THE COURT ONE QUESTION, AND THAT IS PLEASE RECONSIDER YOUR DECISION WHERE IT SAID, NOT THAT THERE CAN BE QUOTAS, BUT THAT RACE CAN SIMPLY BE AN ADDITIONAL FACTOR IN ADMISSIONS. AND THAT WOULD BE A FACTOR LIKE IT WOULD BE IF YOU WERE A GOOD TROMBONIST OR YOU WERE A GOOD BASKETBALL PLAYER. MANY FOLKS BELIEVE IT’S A FOREGONE CONCLUSION AND I DON’T THINK THAT THERE’S ANYTHING TO DISABUSE US OF THAT NOTION. SOLEDAD: INTERNET FREE SPEECH, THIS ONE SEEMS COMPLICATED TO ME. PROF. JOHNSON: IT REALLY IS A SIMPLE QUESTION OF WHETHER OR NOT INTERNET PROVIDERS, IN THIS CASE IT’S GOOGLE AND IT’S TWITTER, ARE HELD TO THE SAME STANDARD AS YOU AND I AS INDIVIDUALS WHO ARE POSTING THINGS ON THE INTERNET. SO, IT COMES DOWN TO THE INTERNET DECENCY ACT AND WHAT IT SAYS IS I AM THE ONE OR YOU ARE THE ONE WHO IS LIABLE FOR PUTTING THINGS UP THAT MIGHT BE CONSIDERED OBSCENE. THE GOOGLE AND THE TWITTER SIDE OF IT SAYS, LOOK, WE ARE NOT PART OF PUTTING THE CONTENT UP, WE’RE JUST POINTING PEOPLE TO THAT CONTENT. AND IF YOU START HOLDING US TO THAT STANDARD, THEN IT’S GOING TO CHANGE THE INTERNET FUNDAMENTALLY AS WE KNOW IT. NOW THERE ARE JUSTICES ON THE COURT RIGHT NOW, JUSTICE THOMAS COMES TO MIND, WHO SAYS, YEAH, I’M VERY SYMPATHETIC TO THE GOOGLE AND THE TWITTER ARGUMENT IN THIS CASE. AND I THINK THERE’S PROBABLY A MAJORITY WHO SAYS THESE LARGE-SCALE INTERNET PROVIDERS ARE NOT LIABLE FOR WHAT YOU AND I DO AND OTHERS DO ON THE INTERNET. SOLEDAD: LAST QUESTION FOR YOU, ANY IDEA ON THE TIMELINE? PROF. JOHNSON: SO, LET ME START OUT BY SAYING THAT THE COURT HAS ONLY HANDED DOWN SEVEN OPINIONS SO FAR THIS YEAR. IT IS ONE OF THE SLOWEST TERMS IN THE COURT’S RECENT HISTORY, AND BY RECENT HISTORY I WOULD ACTUALLY MEAN POST WORLD WAR II HISTORY. ALL OF THESE MAJOR CASES I WOULD EXPECT JUNE 30TH. AND THIS COURT IN THE PAST TWO TERMS HAS ACTUALLY PUSHED OFF THEIR BEGINNING OF THEIR SUMMER VACATION TO THE FIRST WEEK IN JULY BECAUSE IT HAS BEEN SO DIFFICULT FOR THEM TO FINISH THEIR WORK ON THESE CASES, BECAUSE THEY ARE WRITING, BUT THEY ARE ALSO WRANGLING WITH ONE ANOTHER ABOUT EXACTLY WHAT TO WRITE IN THOSE OPINIONS.