1. Texas is trying to sue PA, GA, MI, and WI to challenge their election results *directly* in #SCOTUS.

How can it do that, how does that work, and is this going anywhere?

Here's a quick #thread on the apex of legal arcana:

The U.S. Supreme Court's "original jurisdiction."

2. One of the reasons *why* the Founders created a Supreme Court was to resolve interstate disputes (e.g., over borders, water rights, etc.).

Because lower courts might be biased, #SCOTUS was given "original" jurisdiction in such cases — allowing such suits to *start* there.
3. And today, in suits between states, #SCOTUS's original jurisdiction is *exclusive,* meaning that lower state and federal courts *lack* the power to hear disputes between two or more states:

https://t.co/ES2uwDGPoM
4. But the Court has long understood "exclusive" to *not* mean "mandatory," even though some Justices (such as Justice Thomas) believe that it is.

Instead, states must seek "leave to file" an original bill of complaint, and such a motion is *not* granted as a matter of course.
5. One of the factors the Justices look to is whether the *issues* in the case can be resolved in other cases in the lower courts, even if not between the same parties. Thus, the Court usually denies leave unless it's a *uniquely* state-state dispute (again, like borders/water).
6. Among lots of other things, that's almost certainly fatal to this crazy new Texas suit. As we've seen, these claims are already being brought in private suits in each of those states. Texas offers no explanation for why the issues can't be (and aren't being) addressed there.
7. And it's not for nothing that the Justices don't *like* "original" cases, partly because they don't come with a well-developed record and set of opinions from lower courts.

Indeed, the "original" docket has shrunk to an average of <1 argued case per Term in recent years.
8. The other reason they don't like these cases is because they're worried about opening the floodgates. If Texas can sue these states over how they conduct their elections, what's to stop Vermont from suing Texas over how it regulates the oil industry, or other permutations.
9. For instance, when Nebraska and Wyoming recently tried to sue Colorado over its legalization of marijuana directly at #SCOTUS, the Court refused, presumably for all of these reasons (albeit over a dissent from Thomas & Alito):

https://t.co/TjnhbFFpoO
10. Finally, it's worth stressing that these cases take forever—even *before* #SCOTUS votes on the motion.

TX sought leave to file another novel lawsuit against CA back in February, and the Court *still* hasn't acted on its motion for leave to file:

https://t.co/SZek8lD8oO
11. All of this is to say, yes, #SCOTUS *can* hear this case. And it's possible one or two Justices will think that it *should.*

But it's going to take forever to decide whether to hear it—which almost certainly means that the whole thing will be moot before that happens.

/end

More from Politics

All the challenges to Leader Pelosi are coming from her right, in an apparent effort to make the party even more conservative and bent toward corporate interests.

Hard pass. So long as Leader Pelosi remains the most progressive candidate for Speaker, she can count on my support.


I agree that our party should, and must, evolve our leadership.

But changed leadership should reflect an actual, evolved mission; namely, an increased commitment to the middle + working class electorate that put us here.

Otherwise it’s a just new figure with the same problems.

I hope that we can move swiftly to conclude this discussion about party positions, so that we can spend more time discussing party priorities: voting rights, healthcare, wages, climate change, housing, cannabis legalization, good jobs, etc.
What does "patriots in control" mean?
What would that "look like" in reality?


So a massive adult film star in all his glory is included in an official FBI government filing


Hunter Biden's book is categorized as "Chinese


TIME admits to "conspiracy" to "not rig, rather


A "pillow guy" has military-grade intercepts detailing the IP addresses and device MAC IDs of EVERY incursion into every county in the
My piece in the NY Times today: "the Trump administration is denying applications submitted to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services at a rate 37 percent higher than the Obama administration did in 2016."

Based on this analysis: "Denials for immigration benefits—travel documents, work permits, green cards, worker petitions, etc.—increased 37 percent since FY 2016. On an absolute basis, FY 2018 will see more than about 155,000 more denials than FY 2016."
https://t.co/Bl0naOO0sh


"This increase in denials cannot be credited to an overall rise in applications. In fact, the total number of applications so far this year is 2 percent lower than in 2016. It could be that the higher denial rate is also discouraging some people from applying at all.."

Thanks to @gsiskind for his insightful comments. The increase in denials, he said, is “significant enough to make one think that Congress must have passed legislation changing the requirements. But we know they have not.”

My conclusion:
This is partly what makes it impossible to have a constructive conversation nowadays. The stubborn refusal to accept that opposition to Trumpism and GOP nationalism is about more than simply holding different beliefs about things in and of itself. 👇


It's fine for people to hold different beliefs. But that doesn't mean all beliefs deserve equal treatment or tolerance and it doesn't mean intolerance of some beliefs makes a person intolerant of every belief which they don't share.

So if I said I don't think Trumpism deserves to be tolerated because it's just a fresh 21st century coat of cheap paint on a failed, dangerous 20th century ideology (fascism) that doesn't mean I'm intolerant of all beliefs with which I disagree. You'd think this would be obvious.

Another important facet. People who support fascist movements tend to give what they think are valid reasons for supporting them. That doesn't mean anyone is obliged to tolerate fascism or accept their proffered excuse.


Say you joined a neighborhood group that sets up community gardens and does roadside beautification projects. All good, right? Say one day you're having a meeting and you notice the President and exec board of this group are saying some bizarre things about certain neighbors.

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This is NONSENSE. The people who take photos with their books on instagram are known to be voracious readers who graciously take time to review books and recommend them to their followers. Part of their medium is to take elaborate, beautiful photos of books. Die mad, Guardian.


THEY DO READ THEM, YOU JUDGY, RACOON-PICKED TRASH BIN


If you come for Bookstagram, i will fight you.

In appreciation, here are some of my favourite bookstagrams of my books: (photos by lit_nerd37, mybookacademy, bookswrotemystory, and scorpio_books)