NY Solicitor General Underwood is struggling in oral argument in the census case after conceding that there would be no problem with government submitting two sets of figures "in separate envelopes." Some justices are slamming what they view as a "meaningless" distinction.
...Justice Sotomayor came to the rescue by saying that the Court could decide whether the Secretary should be barred from submitting "illegal information" to the President, including figures excluding "illegal aliens."
The justices are discussing a possible off-ramp based on the view that this is premature since no action has occurred. This raises a serious standing issue. It is ironic that the liberal justices voted that the New York challenge over Cuomo's pandemic order was premature.
...Of course, the conservatives justices (except Roberts) voted in the New York case that it made no sense to wait since the "zone" limiting religious gatherings could change. It is not an identical issue but offers an interesting comparison on timeliness.

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
 

Keep Current with Jonathan Turley

Jonathan Turley Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @JonathanTurley

29 Nov
Pres. Trump just suggested that he may still be considering the type of "Death Star" strategy discussed earlier over contested electoral votes. jonathanturley.org/2020/11/23/the…
...Trump is arguing that there was rampant fraud and that, without these six targeted states, he has more electoral votes. Trump just added that the DOJ is "missing in action" and asked "Where is Durham? jonathanturley.org/2020/11/15/dur…
...Trump just said that he will consider the appointment of a "special counsel" to look into what occurred in the 2016 election. He would need the cooperation of AG Barr on that appointment. The DOJ has had the investigation into the 2016 issues through the IG but also Durham.
Read 5 tweets
22 Nov
This is truly painful to watch. The Trump campaign just declared that Sidney Powell (who was featured by the Trump campaign a few days ago) is not representing the campaign. reuters.com/article/us-usa…
Here is the statement about the person just featured in the campaign presser: "Sidney Powell is practicing law on her own. She is not a member of the Trump Legal Team. She is also not a lawyer for the President in his personal capacity.”
If B.F. Skinner was right that "chaos breeds geniuses," the Trump legal team will soon be given Mensa status.
Read 6 tweets
22 Nov
Here is tonight's Pennsylvania decision dismissing the Trump curing challenge. The court found that the voters had an injury in fact but blasted other aspects of the case, including the relief... courtlistener.com/recap/gov.usco…
...The court did not contest the voters were treated unequally but noted that the redress in such a case should be to "level up" to be sure that these votes are counted rather than "level down" to invalidate millions of other votes...
...Thus, the different curing standards do present an injury but not the basis for such sweeping relief as to deny certification. The court also hit the Trump team on standing and the chosen county defendants.
Read 7 tweets
19 Nov
Giuliani is raising the "curing" issue and the Equal Protection claim. The challenge is with the number of affected "cured" ballots and the tendency of courts to use the mootness doctrine to dismiss such challenges if insufficient to change the outcome. jonathanturley.org/2020/11/18/is-…
Giuliani is quoting My Cousin Vinny on the inability of observers to observe from the required areas of separation. He is citing 60 affidavits. However, this claim has not been successful in the state courts.
...CNN is not showing the press conference on the Trump claims of voter fraud.
Read 23 tweets
17 Nov
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court rejected one of the main arguments raised by the Trump campaign on observers. The Court found that officials are only required to be in the room not necessarily close to observe details. It deferred to the officials...
...This is a matter of state law and the Court ruled that the legislature did not specify a distance and it would not judicially add one as a matter of interpretation. That is a fairly textual approach that many conservative jurists would find compelling.
As I stated last week, observer and sharpie challenges are not going to do much for challenging these results. The Trump team has to produce systemic problems with authentication or tabulation. In the interim, the GSA needs to "ascertain" this election to allow for a transition.
Read 5 tweets
15 Nov
Martha Raddatz is exploring the continued failure to officially start the transition briefings for Biden-something many of us have called for. Since the tabulation period is now effectively over, I fail to see the basis for the GSA not "ascertaining" a Biden victory...
... My equal concern is the lack of Covid briefings with the task force. Trump can continue to litigate these challenges, but many of us said that this week would be critical to seeing any evidence of systemic problems or fraud. That has not emerged in these cases.
...Ascertainment under the federal law is not calling any election or certifying results. It is merely an administrative decision that sufficient evidence supports releasing transitions funds and resources. That should have been done last week.
Read 5 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!


This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Too expensive? Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal Become our Patreon

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us on Twitter!