A Judge Cited a John Oliver Segment in a Recent Court Decision

[Bubzer]

You can now legitimately call John Oliver a popular political critic—that's because a real-life, Ninth Circuit judge is doing so, too. In her recent opinion on Paeste v. Guam​ (a class-action suit levied at Guam by its residents over a sketchy, arbitrary tax-refund program), Judge Marsha S. Berzon has cited ​Last Week Tonight​'s recent segment on U.S. territories. Oliver in March pointed out the disgusting hypocrisy behind a Supreme Court decision made more than 100 years ago (still unchanged) that has left U.S. territories without meaningful representation. Guam in particular, as noted by Oliver and Co., gives a quarter of its land and an eighth of its people to the U.S.; however, its residents still can't vote on certain monumental national issues (e.g. the commander-in-chief). In short, legally speaking, things can get muddy with Guam and the other territories because certain laws have not been updated.

But Berzon decided to nod toward the brilliant segment while referencing the "Insular Cases"—the early 20th-century cases that led to the aforementioned Constitutional mess. Behold:

We do note, however, that the so-called "Insular Cases," which established a less-than-complete application of the Constitution in some U.S. territories, has been the subject of extensive judicial, academic, and popular criticism. See, e.g., Juan Torruella, The Insular Cases: The Establishment of a Regime of Political Apartheid, 77 Rev. Jur. U.P.R. 1 (2008);

Last Week Tonight with John Oliver: U.S. Territories, Youtube (Mar. 8, 2015)

http://www.esquire.com/news-politics/a37484/john-oliver-cited-guam-decision/

[dixiegrrrrl]

1. A worthy successor to Jon Stewart, after all.

Very much loving his show.

[Bubzer]

2. Me too! I was worried at first, but He's been amazing!

[Electric Monk]

3. k&r

[think]

4. K&R.