Mystal had predicted a 6-3 decision against the Biden administration in the OSHA case and a 5-4 decision for the Biden administration in the health care workers case. He was right about the latter (because there are four dissenters responding to the unsigned majority opinion), but we don't know if he was right about the numbers in the former (because there were three dissenters responding to the unsigned majority opinion, and three other justices who wrote a separate concurrence), although obviously he, like many court observers, correctly guessed that based on the justices' questions, Biden would lose in the OSHA case.N.E. Brigand wrote: ↑Tue Jan 11, 2022 1:05 am Elie Mystal, who writes about SCOTUS for The Nation, argues that Solicitor General Prelogar's response to Justice Gorscuch's comment indicates that she understood him to be saying that the number of flu deaths is in the hundreds of thousands. While I enjoy Mystal's punchy argument against those defending the "hundreds, thousands" interpretation of Gorsuch's remarks ("According to you guys, Prelogar was basically like 'not that many people get crushed by vending machines' and Gorsuch was like 'actually I do think the thread of people being crushed by vending machines is pretty grave. But OSHA doesn't regulate them... so no SEAT BELTS IN CARS'"), I'm not sure he's right. ...
I also think Mystal makes a good point here, and the Court's conservatives are going to have tie themselves in knots to get around this:
"[T]he OSHA rule says 'vax, or get tested and masked, or work from home, or find a new job.' It is squarely within the government’s authority to set workplace safety regulations. OSHA can, and does, regulate the air quality in workplaces; it can certainly regulate how much coronavirus a person can spew on their coworkers."
And on the subject of predictions, I'll quote something Mystal wrote following the announcement of today's decision:
"I want everybody to remember that the Supreme Court has said the government doesn't have the authority to make people wear a mask when it later says it *does* have the authority to force women to give birth against their will."
Again I appreciate the rhetorical flair, but to be fair, what the Court very well may announce later this year is that the *states* have the authority to force women to undergo childbirth.