#BREAKING: Over dissents from the three democratic appointees, #SCOTUS puts Texas's new House maps back into effect for (and, presumably, through) the 2026 midterms.
The three Democratic appointees, in an opinion by Justice Kagan, dissent.
I'll post the ruling shortly.
For this week’s bonus “One First,” I wrote about the legal questions surrounding any attempt to court-martial Senator Mark Kelly—and why (1) it’s not likely to go anywhere; (2) the threat is still ominous; and (3) the real story continues to be what the military is *doing,* not who’s criticizing it:
Bonus 195: The Mark Kelly Mesh...
Here's a link to the memo that identifies the cases in which the flowchart is to be followed:
acrobat.adobe.com/id/urn:aaid:...
It isn't applicable to *every* syllabus, but it's still the beginning of the end.
Adobe Acrobat
There's a lot going on, and immigration law is notoriously labyrinthine. But it's still wild both that (1) the Trump administration is trying to treat millions of non-citizens who have lived here for years/decades as "arriving aliens"; & (2) *hundreds* of courts have (almost unanimously!) said "no":
195. The Immigration Detention...
#BREAKING: Ideologically diverse Third Circuit panel unanimously *affirms* district court ruling that Alina Habba was *not* lawfully appointed to serve as Acting U.S. Attorney for New Jersey *or* to otherwise exercise the functions of that office:
storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
Opinion Filed – #81 in United ...
“I can’t recall any other example of a federal policy that provoked quite so much litigation in such a short period of time—or in which so many judges from across the geographical and ideological spectrum so overwhelmingly rejected the executive branch’s new interpretation of the relevant statutes.”
195. The Immigration Detention...
Me on DOJ’s behavior: “it’s malevolence *exacerbated* by incompetence. That’s problematic enough for the government’s credibility before federal district judges. But at some point soon, one suspects that the Supreme Court itself may well have to grapple with its consequences—or risk being duped.”
194. Another Bad Week for the ...
If you had told me Mamdani and MTG would both be in the news today, and gave me eleventy thousand guesses as to why, I’d … still be guessing.
#BREAKING: Just hours after Texas asked #SCOTUS to pause Tuesday’s ruling that had blocked its new House congressional district maps, Justice Alito has issued a temporary “administrative” stay pausing that ruling (and putting the new maps back into place) while the full Court considers next steps:
https://amanita.us-east.host.bsky.network/xrpc/com.atproto.sync.getBlob?did=did:plc:nwnlnixtjh3qhkwpz2uy5uwv&cid=bafkreicgytldjpxulbftwg2x5v27abivj3darx6ctqxmpoib2gkszusmqm
"Before folks assume that one side of this fight clearly acted in bad faith and the other didn’t, it’s worth indulging the possibility that Purcell itself is the culprit—and that its standardless-ness creates perverse incentives for lower courts in election cases."
Me on the TX redistricting case:
Bonus 193: The Pernicious Effe...