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8 tweets,
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1/ In @TheAtlantic recently criticized #SCOTUS Justices who develop arguments based on a politician's identity. This approach is a mistaken, and I suspect going forward, the Justices will be more attuned to it. theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/…
2/ Judge Clement's (CA5) dissent in a recent voting rights case violated this principle in a different way. She criticized the District Court judge, and and repeatedly referred to him by his name. ca5.uscourts.gov/opinions/pub/1… 
3/ Identifying the judge by his name is designed to personalize the attack. Trial judges of all stripes err, and appellate judges can reverse those errors. But those mistakes, made in good faith, should be treated as such. Any errors should not be ascribed to the judge by name
4/ As a general rule, I even refrain from naming a person on Twitter. joshblackman.com/blog/2018/01/1… You see this frame far too often. Joe will attack Sally on Twitter. Sally will reply, and Say "No, Joe, you are wrong." Simply putting the person's name amplifies the attack.
5/ Judge Clement violated another principle I identified: she made a daft reference to internal procedures. No, not a vote taken by the legislature. Rather, she grasped at a vote that could not be taken by the 5th Circuit.
6/ She wrote: "I am afraid defendants have simply had the poor luck of drawing a majority-minority panel." The implication is that if the government had drawn a majority-majority panel (2 or more R-appointed judges), the outcome would have been different.
7/ Her conclusion reflected a serious lack of judgment. This is the sort of barb that a law clerk writes, knowing that the boss will cut it. But it wasn't cut. I fear this poor attempt at humor will weaken the collegiality on what can be a feisty court.
8/ Judge Clement should consider issuing a modified opinion without that single sentence. The reference to Judge Reeves is inappropriate, but within the bounds of conventional judicial behavior. The reference to the "majority-minority panel" is not.
