The other problem for Trump is that the court ruled against them on several grounds: Standing, no cause of action, etc. etc. In other words, the judge gave multiple (good) reasons for dismissing the case.
To "win" Team Trump has to overcome each reason . . .
. . . they have to argue that they have standing (they don't) that they had a valid cause of action (they didn't) etc. etc.
One thing people don't understand about appeals is that you don't get a new trial on appeal. In fact, you don't get a trial on appeal . . .
The appellate court looks at what the lower court did to see if they applied the correct law.
The district court found the case so weak they wouldn't even allow an amended complaint.
They have to persuade the appellate court that the lower court shouldn't have dismissed the case.
The appellate court will look at the record from the lower court: docs filed, transcripts of hearings. They'll hear arguments on whether the judge erred.
The issue will be: Should the lower court have allowed the case to proceed, or was the lower court correct in throwing the whole thing out and refusing to allow an amended complaint.
The lawyers point to the record and argue about whether the court's ruling was justified.
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You see, the question for the GOP is who controls the voters. A few decades ago, the GOP made the mistake of outsourcing voter mobilization. They teamed up with FOX and the NRA, who got the voters to the polls. So FOX and the NRA control the voters, which gives them power. . .
. . . over the voters. (That insight on GOP voter mobilization is from Yale political scientist @Jacob_S_Hacker and Berkeley political scientist Paul Pierson.
This gives FOX power over candidates, which as forced candidates to adopt more extreme positions.
Technically what Judge Brann did was grant the defendant's motion to dismiss.
A motion to dismiss is what a defendant brings at the start of a lawsuit to get rid of totally frivolous claims so the court doesn't have to waste time.
The thing to notice from Tweets like these (@marcorubio and @LindseyGrahamSC) is that it's now a badge of honor for members of the Trump-Fox-GOP to be criticized by the media and the left.
Similarly, convictions are a badge of honor: Flynn and others are given a hero's welcome.
Not at all. It looks to me like the ultimate defiance. They actually rejoice in their defiance.
They consider themselves heroes for bucking rules and norms and laws.
Convictions and criticism (for them) enhance their status as victims.
Hungarian scholar Balint Magyar offers a theory that explains why the US is holding out against the same tactics that caused other countries to collapse into autocracy.
His theory also explains why comparisons across nations doesn't always work. @juliaioffe 1/
Another Republican attempt to prevent ballots from being counted loses in court.
(The ballots were received on time, but the voter failed to write the date. No allegations of fraud. Just a simple mistake. GOP wanted the votes not to count)