Two More Bad Court Decisions
As has become the norm during this second year of the MAGA regime, every week federal court rulings affect our society and our futures. Last week, a couple were good, some were bad. Two of the bad ones have implications that may not be immediately apparent from media accounts.
DHS v. League of Women Voters.
Last week, the Supreme Court (SCOTUS) issued a 6-3 ruling enabling portions of the voter-suppression SAVE Act to be applied to the midterm election. The Washington DC federal court had previously issued a ruling that blocked use of the SAVE Act, but the six Republican members of SCOTUS used an 'emergency' process to 'temporarily' stay (block) the DC court's prohibition. The full case will be formally and finally decided at some point in the future. For us, this means:
Many Red states that have state-level versions of the SAVE Act on their books are now free to use a corrupt, inaccurate, and politically-biased federal citizenship-database to challenge the right of targeted individuals to vote in the upcoming midterm election.
Some of those Red states – possibly as many as 27 – are now free to use the federal citizenship-database to block voters in close local, state, and congressional races to tilt the result against surging Democratic challengers who may unseat MAGA incumbents.
However, it appears unlikely that Red states will have time to conduct mass computer-generated voter-purges before November 3rd as they previously have done in some states.
This ruling does not apply to California because (so far) we do not have a state-level version of the SAVE Act. (Though if it passes, Prop 39 will be a step in that direction.)
If significant voter-suppression does occur, we need to stand ready to defend voting rights everywhere. Please consider signing up with Bay Resistance, Indivisible, and many other groups to defend ballot integrity if it becomes necessary.
Anthropic v. Dept. of Defense.
In a case that is formally named, "Anthropic PBC v. United States Department of War and Peter B. Hegseth," the DC Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 last week that the Pentagon can legally blacklist the Anthropic AI company if it continues to include guardrails that (theoretically) prevent its AI products from being used to create autonomous lethal weapons or conducting mass surveillance of American citizens.
Some observers worry that the legal rationale used by the DoD to blacklist Anthropic could be extended to other departments or to the entire federal government.
As a result of this ruling, Anthropic remains barred from the entire, very-lucrative, defense industry unless it allows its software to be used for autonomous weapons or mass surveillance.
In effect, the practical effect of this ruling is to threaten wide loss of government business for anyone who chooses to incorporate moral, ethical, humane, or political concerns in their products against the wishes of Hegseth's Pentagon. As the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) points out, that is a fundamental violation of 1st Amendment principles.
Hegseth claimed that Anthropic's guardrails were a, "national security threat," because they impeded the Pentagon's, "lawful" actions. In real life, the MAGA administration and the Republican Party have blocked all attempts in Congress to limit autonomous weapons or mass surveillance. Which means they are "lawful" because no one has been able to specifically outlaw them despite their obvious dangers and risks and despite their obvious conflicts with the Constitution and widely accepted human-rights principles.
There is growing public and insider awareness about the very real dangers posed by Artificial Intelligence. There is growing demand for regulatory legislation, and growing pressure on the AI industry to prioritize safety and human well-being in their products. This broad blacklist threat is a direct attack of financial intimidation aimed at coercing businesses into obedience regardless of public opinion, the wishes of their employees, or the concerns of industry leaders.
As this issue continues to unfold, we of Indivisible will no doubt continue to vigorously demand more and stronger AI regulation and control. We will continue to demand that AI companies act in a responsible manner. Now we will also have to tell our members of Congress to enact legislation that prohibits broad federal government blacklists against individuals and corporations who refuse to comply with immoral, unethical, unacceptable, or illegal orders from the Pentagon or other MAGA-controlled agencies.
For more information
Supreme Court Allows Expansive Federal Database for Voter Screening, NY Times, 9/25 (no paywall)
The Supreme Court revives a controversial data system for citizenship checks, NPR 9/25/36
The DHS v. League of Women Voters case. LWV.
Trump Administration’s Blacklisting of Anthropic Was Legal, Judges Rule, NY Times 9/26 (no paywall).
Judge Rules DOD Unlawfully Retaliated Against Anthropic, Electronic Frontiers Foundation (EFF). (Note that this article refers to an earlier, lower-court case that favored Anthropic.)