1/ Court expansion thread @TakeBacktheCourt Day 14 - New @538politics podcast today w Prof @danepps on SCOTUS and institutional legitimacy. fivethirtyeight.com/videos/what-it… 2/ Thoughtful discussion, and/but I wonder if focus on institutional legitimacy is the right lens for this moment, with a court that is unlikely to allow future administrations to fix climate even though there's essentially no time left on climate clock... takebackthecourt.today/scotus-will-ov…

1/ Court expansion thread @TakeBacktheCt Day 13 - I was amused to see right-wing media mocking how Biden handled court expansion @ last night's debate. National Review headline: "Biden Refuses to Answer the Court-Packing Question" 2/ NYT also tried to concoct some click bait: Progressives furious! Biden won't endorse court expansion! nytimes.com/2020/09/29/us/…

1/ Court expansion thread @TakeBacktheCt - Day 11 I was asked several times today how I feel about Biden and other Dems declining to endorse expansion nbcwashington.com/news/politics/… 2/ (Joe Manchin also declining to hop aboard the court expansion bus) dailylocal.com/news/national/…

1/ Court expansion thread @TakeBacktheCt - Day 10 Just one point to make today, underscoring how unfortunate I find 'notorious ACB' logo to be. slate.com/news-and-polit… 2/ 'Notorious ACB' logo seems like an instance of 'punching down,' joking at someone's expense when you have more power than they do.
buzzfeednews.com/article/scaach…

.@DavidColeACLU is a hero, but his new WaPo oped on SCOTUS has some claims that I disagree with washingtonpost.com/opinions/this-… 1st: Cole implies that split-decision rulings have gone both ways roughly evenly, with some breaking liberal and others breaking conservative. No. Even the Kennedy Court, far more moderate than today's Court, was extremely conservative on most issues acslaw.org/issue_brief/br…

1/ Court expansion thread @TakeBacktheCt - Day 9 Focus today is what R's would do if D's win & enact democracy agenda (=kill filibuster, pass HR1, expand federal courts) & enact bold agenda (health care, racial justice, climate, guns, immigration, eco inequality...) 2/ Respectfully disagree w/ .@clairecmc & .@davidplouffe, who say if D's go big, R's "have a laundry list of things that they’ve wanted to do...And they will do them all." podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/cam…

1/ Court expansion thread @TakeBacktheCt Day 8 - Scary day today bc of Amy Coney Barrett nytimes.com/2020/09/25/us/… 2/ The prospect of a 6-3 SCOTUS is frightening, but the path to protecting ACA, restoring democracy & enabling the next administration to address climate is the same as it was in July 2018 when .@brianbeutler laid it out. crooked.com/articles/trump…

1/ Court expansion thread @TakeBacktheCt Day 7 -- Short thread tonight bc I have to take Burberry Belkin to 24-hr vet to get his stitches removed. I hope his serenity over past few days isn't bc he's doped up on pain meds. 2/ So very important that .@jessewegman .@nytopinion endorsed court expansion

https://twitter.com/jessewegman/status/1308423273047379970

1/ Court expansion thread @TakeBacktheCt Day 6 Some bad arguments in media today. Note inferential leap from header "Dem Senate hopefuls spurn expansion" to sub-header "Even if Democrats win back Senate, they may not have votes to overhaul high court" politico.com/news/2020/09/2… 2/ The prospect of expansion doesn't depend on whether folks campaign on it. The ? is whether voters, advocates, journalists, electeds understand that (a) democracy can't be restored unless Court is expanded (bc SCOTUS will kill HR1 & John Lewis VRAA)... takebackthecourt.today/supreme-court-…

1/ Now that GOP has stolen SCOTUS, and anticipating possibility of Democratic sweep at the moment when progressives are for 1st time calling en masse for court expansion, Federalist Society co-founder Steven Calabresi endorses term limits for justices. nytimes.com/2020/09/22/opi… 2/ That's particularly rich given that Calabresi, co-founder of Federalist Society, proposed packing federal courts in a 2017 paper. archive.thinkprogress.org/uploads/2017/1…

1/ / Court expansion thread @TakeBacktheCt Day 4. Let's start with something gross & disappointing: Utah Senator & alleged adult in the room Mitt Romney OK with violating McConnell rule. nymag.com/intelligencer/… 2/ On brighter side, support for expansion growing. Former Senator and current .@acslaw Pres .@russfeingold "...we need to take a very serious look at the fact that it is perfectly appropriate for the Congress to determine that there should be more justices on the court..."

1/ Court expansion thread @TakeBacktheCt Day 3. Plenty of bad SCOTUS news today, in particular this: nytimes.com/2020/09/21/us/… 2/ But before getting more into the weeds, why not start with a smile, today's .@BorowitzReport about Brett Kavanaugh newyorker.com/humor/borowitz…

1/ Court expansion thread @TakeBacktheCt Day 2. Yesterday I started daily court expansion thread to address topic that many hadn't thought much about, but that's on the agenda following McConnell's threat to violate his "rule" that POTUS mustn't add to SCOTUS in final yr of term 2/ Court expansion is the simple idea that Congress can pass a law adding seats to the Supreme Court. (The Court's size has changed 6 times in US history) supremecourt.gov/about/institut…

1/ Court expansion @TakeBacktheCt, Day 1. I'm starting a daily tweet thread about court expansion, a strategy that emerged as a hot topic after RBG died yesterday, and that could be part of the national conversation for awhile. 2/ I'll address various aspects of expansion on different days, starting with a few examples of what happened over past 24 hrs, + a basic primer. Here goes. Immediately after RBG died, McConnell said Senate will vote soon on Trump's nominee to replace her. cbsnews.com/news/mcconnell…

New gallup poll: Only 27% of Black Americans express confidence in the Supreme Court. Perhaps that's because Roberts et al destroyed Voting Rights Act so that GOP could keep Black voters away from the polls, eg cheat to win elections news.gallup.com/poll/317114/bl… Or maybe it's because of SCOTUS's role in hyper-incarceration (warehousing) of Black people newjimcrow.com

Today's decision in Bostock is clearly the right one and a welcome one for the LGBTQ community and the cause of civil and human rights. But we should not have to wait with baited breath to see if SCOTUS has protected our rights or not. A Supreme Court under John Roberts that has voted for GOP interests in close cases 100% of the time-- 80-0 in 5-4 decisions since 2005-- cannot be trusted. press.org/newsroom/white…

SCOTUS Title VII decision has no impact on Trump's transgender military ban. Today's ruling is purely about statutory interpretation: has a Title VII employer taken an action "because of sex." The transgender military ban rests on a (fabricated) medical judgment about fitness for military duty as a result of gender dysphoria or treatment for gender dysphoria. And federal Courts of Appeals have consistently held that Title VII doesn't apply to uniformed personnel.

McConnell is forcing Senators to risk their health by showing up in person to vote on Trump's extremist judicial nominees 1//

https://twitter.com/lolgop/status/1256693163659493376?s=21

So much for the "McConnell rule" that Senate shouldn't confirm judges in final year of a presidency. That's the rule McConnell used to deny Merrick Garland a hearing in 2016 2//
static1.squarespace.com/static/5ce33e8…

Draft Judicial conference advisory opinion would ban membership in Federalist Society & American Constitution Society bc membership calls into question impartiality. 1// nytimes.com/2020/05/03/us/… 200 judges, over 100 of them Trump judges, virtually all GOP appointees, sent letter opposing and urging withdrawal of this advisory opinion. Justin Walker, nominee to DC Circuit, signed letter, but failed to disclose in Senate Judiciary Committee questionnaire as required.

1/My colleauge @jeremyaparis WaPo op-ed destroys Trump's boneheaded plan to adjourn Congress. washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/… 2/Jeremy: "Still, part of me hopes Trump and McConnell go ahead with the adjournment and recess appointments. The appointments that resulted would last only until the end of this Congress, a few months from now, and thus would be of very limited utility to Republicans..."

Wildly irresponsible WaPo oped by @gtconway3d & @DavidLat today says don't blame SCOTUS for its Wisconsin ruling that forced voters to choose between health and casting a ballot. washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/… If conservative majority correctly interpreted the law, why did its ruling rely on highly implausible assertions? RBG: "The Court’s suggestion that the current situation is not 'substantially different' from 'an ordinary election' boggles the mind"... supremecourt.gov/opinions/19pdf…