J.J. Abbott Profile picture
12 Jan, 10 tweets, 5 min read
PA Republicans plan to move their partisan judicial districts scheme tomorrow.

Another attack on democracy: disenfranchises 9 million voters and steals every voters' voice in 90% of statewide court seats.

Every legal/good gov org opposes it.

Same with editorial boards. Thread.
.@LancasterOnline: “Indeed, politics already play far too large of role in choosing our judges. Diamond’s amendment would put even more emphasis on politics.” lancasteronline.com/opinion/editor…
.@YorkDispatch: “Geographical judicial districts are an unnecessary and baldly political exercise that solve a problem that doesn’t exist (unless one deems having state voters accurately represented at the judicial level a problem).” yorkdispatch.com/story/opinion/…
“It’s noteworthy that Republicans made no such calls for regional courts when they made up the majority on the state Supreme Court from 2002 until 2015. Changing the state constitution at the whim of the party in power is bad government in every way.” post-gazette.com/opinion/editor…
“That lawmakers busy themselves with political retaliation under the guise of judicial reform at a time their full focus should be on the needs of the pandemic moment speaks to their priorities: Self-interest over public interest.” - @jbaernews pennlive.com/news/2020/07/t…
.@CitizensVoice: “Judicial gerrymandering is the worst choice, all the more so because the amendment does not limit the Legislature’s ability to arbitrarily redraw districts at any time. Voters should be prepared to reject this gambit.” citizensvoice.com/opinion/editor…
.@lehighvalley: “Statewide judicial elections are working as intended. If nothing else, they level the playing field along voters’ wishes and enable elected judges to counter some of the worst power grabs by insulated partisan legislators.” lehighvalleylive.com/opinion/2020/0…
You can take action by signing @FairDistrictsPA’s petition to stop this power play to let the legislature gerrymander the courts - something PA does not need and, frankly, power that this legislature definitely has not earned.
If you made it to the bottom and you’re feeling fired up about democracy...

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More from @jjabbott

13 Jan
TODAY: Angry at being held accountable in court, PA Republicans seek retribution with their judicial districts scheme.

This constitutional change would destroy the courts and disenfranchise 9 million voters in PA.

Legal experts and good gov groups have raised the 🚨. Thread.
"These regional elections would, thereby, disenfranchise voters by eliminating their ability to select the full panel of judges issuing decisions of statewide impact and importance.” - @PA4ModernCourts pmconline.org/stop-judicial-…
"House Bill 38 goes exactly in the wrong direction by compounding the error of judicial elections statewide by making discrete districts that will cause even more pressure for judges to respond to constituents, not the law." - @pabarassn Image
Read 10 tweets
6 Jan
You’re going to hear a lot of nonsense about Pennsylvania today.

But here’s why it is all a big lie.

Our courts did not change law. They protected our right to vote.

Ballots with small errors are not illegal. PA law says count them.

GOP voted to allow mail-in voting.
Another thread debunking these lies about Pennsylvania’s election

Courts exist to both enforce law and protect our rights. Here is a simple explanation of why the talking point that the PA Supreme Court “changed” the law is a lie.
Read 5 tweets
4 Jan
The Third Circuit has already ruled in a separate challenge that these ballots can be counted. It is pure fantasy to think that a lower court judge is going to throw them out.

Republicans are showing their anti-democracy colors at every level of government. #CountEveryVote
The most likely scenario is that the federal court dismisses this claim. They will not throw out these votes over a state court.

In American democracy, the equal protection remedy should not be throwing out votes- it should be forcing Westmoreland not to trash people's votes.
Here is a thread on the background of Judge Bibas' opinion in the Third Circuit. The district court is just not going to throw out these votes when a higher court has already ruled they were legally counted.
Read 4 tweets

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