With the acquiescence of @StanfordLaw administrators, Stanford law students yesterday shouted down Fifth Circuit judge Stuart Kyle Duncan at a scheduled event on topic of “The Fifth Circuit in Conversation with the Supreme Court: Covid, Guns, and Twitter." 1/
@StanfordLaw In email before event, Stanford DEI dean Tirien Steinbach stated support of right of students to protest event, "in keeping with University policies ... against disrupting speakers."
All good. Except she and 4 other administrators at event allowed gross disruption. 2/
@StanfordLaw Steinbach in fact fanned the flames, both in her email and at the event. Her email quoted with evident approval an absurd summary of Duncan's record. And in remarks at event, she said Duncan "literally denies the humanity of people" and told him "your work has caused harm." 3/
@StanfordLaw After drowning out made it impossible for Judge Duncan to proceed, Steinbach delivered prepared remarks that berated Duncan and sided with protestors: "your advocacy, your opinions from the bench, land as absolute disenfranchisement of their rights." 4/
@StanfordLaw Steinbach stated Stanford's policy on free speech even as she repeatedly called it into question. So Stanford has DEI administrator who won't support Stanford's policies on free speech and who made only token effort to stop gross disruption. 5/
@StanfordLaw From what I hear, Stanford law culture is as bad as Yale's, perhaps even worse. Lefty students are viciously abusive of Federalist Society student leaders. A few years ago, a federal judge was spat on. 6/
@StanfordLaw Stanford, I'm told, filmed the entire event. So let's see if it makes the video public soon, and let's see if there are any consequences, especially for DEI dean Steinbach, for violation of university policies. 7/
Here's video of Stanford DEI dean Steinbach's remarks slamming Judge Duncan and setting forth university policy on free speech while calling its soundness into question and stating that it might need to be reconsidered. /8
Not that it matters under free-speech principles or Stanford's stated policy, but protestors had no objection to Judge Duncan's topic. With support of DEI dean, these emotionally pampered crybullies instead claimed that his presence on campus made them feel unsafe. 9/
Given how ACLU has abandoned its commitment to free speech, it's perhaps not surprising that DEI dean Steinbach's previous position was chief program officer at ACLU of Northern California. 10/
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In my new Confirmation Tales post, I explore the history of recess appointments of federal judges. I found the results of my research more interesting than I expected, and I hope you will too. 1/
Did you know that some 300 federal judges, including a dozen or so Supreme Court justices (the precise number is contested), have been recess-appointed? Are you curious to learn who was the only recess-appointed justice not to be subsequently confirmed? (Hint: He was a chief justice.) Did you know that Earl Warren delayed the conference vote on Brown v. Board of Education for three months until he had shed his status as a recess appointee? 3/
I'll do a thread on oral argument today in U.S. v. Skrmetti. Begins at 10 a.m. ET, will probably run past noon.
BTW, when Chief invites Chase Strangio to present oral argument, he will surely refer to Strangio as "Mr." No one on either side should make big deal of this, as Court practice allows advocates to select honorific.
Starting very soon: Thread on oral argument in Skrmetti
From today's ruling by Missouri court in Noe v. Parson: "The evidence at trial showed severe disagreement as to whether adolescent gender dysphoria drug and surgical treatment was ethical at all...."
More from today's ruling by Missouri court in Noe v. Parson: "the credible evidence shows that a vast majority of children who are diagnosed with gender dysphoria outgrow the condition."
Hope it's wrong, but I'm hearing through the grapevine about this bonkers plan: Trump would adjourn both Houses of Congress under Article II, section 3, and then recess-appoint his Cabinet.
As predicate for Trump's exercise of adjournment power, one House of Congress would seek other House's consent to adjourn and be denied. So Speaker of House would need to be complicit in evisceration of Senate's advice-and-consent role.
House Speaker Mike Johnson needs to say NO to this right away.
BREAKING: Federal prosecutor Tina Ansari, who is trying to put whistleblower Dr. Eithan Haim in prison, has been practicing law without a license. License was suspended on September 1.
Counsel for Dr. Haim has just filed motion to punish prosecutor Tina Ansari for practicing law without a license. eppc.org/wp-content/upl…
Suspension of Ansari's Texas law license was for failure to pay dues. Suspension triggers all sorts of consequences. Rules of Southern District of Texas, where Ansari is prosecuting Dr. Haim, state that a suspended lawyer "must immediately cease practicing before this court." But Ansari hasn't disclosed suspension and has continued to take part in prosecution.
Tennessee’s Legitimate Interest in ‘Encouraging Minors to Appreciate Their Sex’
Biden administration argues in Skrmetti case that Tennessee's declared interest in “encouraging minors to appreciate their sex” is “illegitimate” because it supposedly “rests on ‘stereotypic notions’ about gender.”
As usual, Biden administration has things backwards. 1/nationalreview.com/bench-memos/te…
It's transgender ideology that is built on stereotypes about what it means to live as a man or as a woman. When senior DOJ official says "Transgender men are men — they live, work and study as men," it’s impossible to even begin to make sense of that statement without adopting stereotypes of what it means to “live, work and study as men.” 2/
DSM-5 actually incorporates stereotypes into its diagnostic criteria for gender dysphoria in children. E.g.:
“A strong preference for the toys, games, or activities stereotypically used or engaged in by the other gender.”
“In boys (assigned gender), a strong rejection of typically masculine toys, games, and activities and a strong avoidance of rough-and-tumble play; or in girls (assigned gender), a strong rejection of typically feminine toys, games, and activities.”
“A strong preference for cross-gender roles in make-believe play or fantasy play.” 3/