Harris County case being appealed to the fifth circuit

[EleanorR]

And can someone tell me the ramifications of the Tribe post?

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

[The Magistrate]

1. Mr Tribe Suggests, Ma'am

That tucked away in this decision may be support for the opinion Kavanaugh recently cited, that state legislatures are solely responsible for election rules in their states, and that state courts or local officials do not count if they vary from the letter of a law passed by the legislature.

I have not read the opinion, but do trust Mr. Tribe.

The 5th Circuit is under no obligation to accept the appeal at all, let alone expedite it.

[EleanorR]

6. Thank you

So if this case makes it to the Supreme Court are they likely to rule as they did in WI?

[The Magistrate]

8. Hard To Say, Ma'am

If my understanding is correct, the Wisconsin decision over-ruled a Federal judge instructing the state to vary its law. That is a different matter from overruling a state supreme court. Kavanaugh dissented when a decision by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court was upheld (by a tie vote), citing a concurrance in Bush v. Gore, by either Scalia or Rehnquist (I confess I have forgotten which of these shit-heels wrote it), an opinion no other Justice in that misbegotten case agreed with. It is in this individual effort, shared by no other Justice at the time, which Kavanaugh cited. He has been dragged rather badly for errors of fact as well as law in his opinion. It would be an act of resurrection for the full Supreme Court to endorse it. Not impossible, mind.

[EleanorR]

9. That makes me feel a bit better

I simply do not trust this supreme court at all.

[The Magistrate]

10. I Do Not Either, Ma'am

There is a good chance, though, that the margins will be sufficient it does not matter what the enemy attempts.

[EleanorR]

19. I'm hoping that's the case

I haven’t been able to bring myself to read this opinion piece by Tribe and Mazie, but if you’re interested-

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/11/01/opinion/conservative-supreme-court-justices-are-threatening-post-election-coup/

[Ms. Toad]

11. Probably not.

Judge Hanen kicked this out on a standing issue, but suggested. In doing so, he strongly supported the plaintiff's views - but essentially said his hands were tied because the party that brought the suit was not the right party to bring it.

So - if the right party brought the suit, the outcome would be different. Since they are stuck (on appeal) to the initial party - the SC likely would rule the same way.

BUT - if a proper party brings the suit, the SC might see it differently.

[cilla4progress]

2. So sick of this

Abusive litigation!

[elleng]

3. DAMN!

[DFW]

5. I find it chilling to see how brazen Republicans are in trying to suppress votes

It's not even subtle any more. They know they lose in fairly held elections, so they try to prevent elections from being fair. No secret, no trying to hide it. Right out there in the open, and they don't care who knows it. if there is a chance a group of votes cast might be majority Democratic, they will attempt to have them disqualified. No zany reason is too far over the top for them. If a Republican judge will accept someone's word that the dog ate the paperwork in order to disqualify the votes, that is good enough for them--and for the judge.

[Fiendish Thingy]

7. Hanen rejected the suit due to lack of standing; appeal filed by legislators who claim standing

Original plaintiffs did not include any TX legislators, appeal apparently does.

[Ms. Toad]

12. Generally, you can't switch parties on appeal.

They should have to start over from scratch.

[judeling]

13. Very interesting

Quite frankly unless there is a ruling directing segregation of the ballots, time is likely to run out as they will be counted. At that point they would have to invalidate the entire counties vote and basically order a recount.

We are getting to a place where this will lead to the total destruction of the GOP. We are about to put in conflict States Rights and Federal oversight. And strike a blow at the unitary executive. It is quickly coming down to a choice of destroying the Republican party and starting a civil war, or pushing it all back to the state courts.

I expect that there will be a slow down on any rulings to see how the election plays first.

This is truly a battle for the Soul of the Nation.

[dalton99a]

14. Kick

[BannonsLiver]

15. This is a great example of how dumb our judicial system is

Don’t like the ruling? Just appeal. They’re infinite in number, apparently.

[Buckeyeblue]

16. I think it is too late for this one.

The judge even mentioned that. Curb side voting has been going on for a while. The problem is that by the time this appeal is heard, they wouldn't be able to notify impacted voters that they would need to vote by other means.

I don't think a court is going to say that votes cast in manner the state (local clerk) deemed permissible should not be counted. That would serve to really call into question the results. And I would think would violate the equal protection rights of those whose votes were eliminated.

[ananda]

18. I was wondering about that also.

Besides, drive-thru isn't exactly curbside.

[crickets]

17. You know, I seem to recall in the late '90s and early 00's

a refrain heard from Republicans over and over again: "frivolous lawsuits!" What ever happened to that?