Thread for January 6 Committee Hearing 8 Chairman Thompson is quarantining with Covid-19 and is appearing over videoconference.

January 6th Committee Hearing 7 - Chairman Thompson is gaveling in "When I think about the most basic way to explain the importance of elections in the United States, there's a phrase that always comes to mind...we settle our differences at the ballot box." - Rep. Thompson

January 6th Committee Hearing 6 thread will be right here. Hope these live tweets are useful to you. Watching live here:

Let's talk about this case. Settle in for a thread, please. supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/…

https://twitter.com/publichistory/status/1437442884870057987

Jacobson v. Mass is a Supreme Court case from 1905. Massachusetts had a law stating that the board of health or a city or town could “require and enforce the vaccinations and revaccination of all inhabitants thereof.”

Agree with Branden that the language around this has been imprecise. It is a sweeping action, AND testing is an alternative to vaccination. And, there's a lot of other stuff in this plan that isn't getting much coverage:

https://twitter.com/BrandenHarvey/status/1437160246439395331

The administration is using the Defense Production Act to increase the availability of testing. Rapid, at-home tests will be sold at cost for 3 months via Walmart, Amazon, Kroger. The administration is sending 25 million rapid tests fo community health centers and food banks.

Tomorrow on the podcast, my friend Brian (in Sarah's absence-enjoy the vacation, Sarah!) & I briefly discuss the corporate fallout from Georgia's elections legislation. I have a little more I would like to say about this, with help from America's favorite pastime. I've read so many "is it really voter suppression?" takes over the past few days. I would so much like to exit the Take Economy.

A few thoughts, as I take this in and reflect on how and why I used to vote for Republicans and will not again:

I'm overwhelmed by sadness that a combination of truly devastating events did not compel more than 57 people to do the right thing. I'm grateful for those who did do the right thing today, even though it came at the very last minute--much too late. Even though they helped create this and could have done more to stop it. Even though some of them did the right thing when they didn't have much to lose.

Hi. I'm watching the Senate trial. For those of you who are not, the strategy today from Trump's defense team is "I know you are but what am I?" The House managers seemed to carefully, deliberately avoid partisanship. The strategy today from the defense is all partisanship. "Democrats have said 'fight.' Democrats have objected to elections. Democrats encouraged riots this summer."

I think we have to consider what "unity" means.

In the most foundational sense, unity exists whether we want it to or not. Our fortunes are tied together. We all impact each other. That form of unity carries risks, benefits, and, mostly, responsibilities. /1

https://twitter.com/kathycush/status/1348968521833836544

The trouble with calling for "unity" after you, say, abused a procedure to jeopardize and break trust and invite violence in the foundation of representative government, is that it sounds like a shield, not a shared responsibility. /2

I know many important things are happening in the world right now. It's hard to make room for particularized atrocities, especially those that involve people who have committed terrible crimes. Please spend a minute with me on a grave injustice that's unfolding in our system. In 2011, Lisa Marie Montgomery was convicted of killing a woman in order to kidnap her unborn baby. Although the crime itself indicates mental illness, prosecutors sought and secured the death penalty under federal law.

Good morning.
I'm not going to tell you to keep your chin up because I know how disturbed and discouraged many of you are. I know how disturbed and discouraged I am.

We are in for some long days as a country (I didn't think they could get longer but here we are).

https://twitter.com/jessiepjones/status/1323843562895740930

Who do we want to be right now? People who pay attention. People who can share good information and counter bad. People who check and double check their sources. People who know what they're talking about.

We've had lots of questions about what's going on in Harris County, Texas, and I'll be talking about it on today's Nightly Nuance. First, here's what we know as of this morning... Harris County is Texas's most populous county, and it's quite diverse. It offered voters an opportunity to drive thru polling stations at 10 different locations -- 9 using tents and one, at the Toyota Center, using a parking garage.

Today's episode of the Nightly Nuance discusses Democratic National Committee v. Wisconsin State Legislature. With the caveat that any opinion from Justice Kavanaugh makes me act like a disgruntled pelican, let's recap with the Roses to attempt to numb the effects. 6 weeks out from Election Day, a District Court extended the deadline for counting WI absentee ballots postmarked by Nov. 3 to Nov. 9. In WI, you can request an absentee ballot until Oct. 29. With Covid, it takes ~ 2 weeks to return the ballot, so the math is...not hard

I think there is value in answering these questions from @OrinKerr, so I will share that I favor expanding and otherwise reforming the court in every scenario below. We are a country of 300+ million people. The Court receives 7-8k petitions for certiorari each term. /1

https://twitter.com/OrinKerr/status/1320637576299118597

That's too much for 9 justices and their clerks.The workload seems to be getting to the Court. Some of its most significant decisions are coming with no explanation. One paragraph orders in voting rights and death penalty cases don't cut it. This speaks to the need for reform.

We recorded tomorrow's show this morning, and I've been thinking about why I had such a hard time getting my words under me (other than, you know, lack of sleep, overwhelming stress, and profound concern for the direction of our country). We're seeing lots of messages from people that, paraphrased, go like this: Sorry, Sarah and Beth, but I don't have any nuance left.

And you know what? I don't have a lot right now either. I am beyond finished with the Republican Party and its leadership.

The details of this NY Times story are bananas. So let's review, and imagine Kamala Harris reacting, shall we? 2014: "After tabulating all the profits and losses from Mr. Trump’s various endeavors on Form 1040, the accountants came to Line 56, where they had to enter the total income tax the candidate was required to pay. They needed space for only a single figure.

Zero."

This coming week on the Nightly Nuance is RBG Week. On Monday, we'll discuss at two cases involving women's rights and treatment under the law. US v. Virginia and Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co.

We've received several questions about why a grand jury was involved in the Breonna Taylor case.

In Kentucky, grand juries are convened to consider felony charges. Prosecutors have complete control over what goes to a grand jury. In Taylor's case, the Attorney General acted as a special prosecutor. AGs stepping in as special prosecutors is becoming common practice in cases involving police violence because of the relationships that prosecutors and police departments have.

Here's the truth. Today has not been my favorite. My parents are sick, and the exhausted daughter in me wants to control a situation that is out of my control. Ellen went to school for the first time and was scolded for using her own water bottle. The exhausted mother in me wants to pull out all of my favorite adult words to let her teacher know how I feel about that. (I won't)

I know many of you have questions and grave concerns about a complaint filed with the Office of the Inspector General for the Department of Homeland Security. The coverage of this complaint raises some red flags for me. Here is what we know. (Read with care; it is disturbing). A number of organizations sent a letter to the Office of the Inspector General at DHS, the Officer for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties at DHS, the Acting Director of Atlanta's ICE Field Office and the Warden of the Irwin County (GA) Detention Center.

Last week, the DHS Whistleblower story was swept up in an intense news cycle -- part of a tumultuous whole. Today, I want to share more about that story because it is important on its own. This story is not about an anonymous whistleblower. It is an allegation that Brian Murphy, Principal Deputy Under Secretary, Department of Homeland Security Office of Intelligence and Analysis, spoke up at least 5 times about illegal activity and was demoted for it.