A panel of three federal judges on Thursday denied Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill (R) and two GOP state lawmakers’ (R) emergency motion to pause the same panel’s order for a new district map that has two majority Black voter districts.
Wow, a 2/3 Trumpy panel!
Well:
The judges on the panel, which includes two Trump appointees, called the request for a stay “effectively an unsupported motion for reconsideration” of the order . . .
Nice. And the later quotes in the article would seem to indicate that the judges are deciding on the merits.
Yes. To be sure, many of his appointees we’d just as soon not be in these positions, but here and in other instances I can think of, #notallTrumpjudges . . .
“This is a straightforward Section Two case, not a legal unicorn,” the court wrote before jabbing at the defendants’ “attention-grabbing but unsupported claims” later in the filing.
Are federal judges often this sassy?
I’m thinking the Federalist Society has buyer’s remorse with these two judges they purchased. That kind of money was supposed to guarantee certain types of judgements.
Isn’t Sassy former judge Roy Moore’s horse?
A panel of three federal judges on Thursday denied Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill (R) and two GOP state lawmakers’ (R) emergency motion to pause the same panel’s order for a new district map that has two majority Black voter districts.
The next motion, undoubtedly, will be for secession. The South shall flee again!
I guess what we can take from that is, although appointed by a fool, at least some of them are still working within the law and are making reasonable decisions. This isn’t the first time.
Do you know how many candidate Leonard Leo had to vet, 234. That’s way more vetting than any single Republican can handle.
Would have preferred the judge to leave less discretion in the “or something quite close to it” bit. Perhaps something more explicit, such as a “compromise” wherein for every 5 voters - 3 of them should be black across both districts.
True. I’m sure he did his best. Heh.
They are if you piss them off substantially.
We saw what you did there…
"We bought 'em and they didn’t stay bought???" – Federalist Society
This order will make white people feel sad. Isn’t that illegal?
Texas blinked.
.
The League of Women Voters of Texas got 10k new voter registration forms after threatening to sue the Texas SOS for violating the National Voter Registration Act.
— Cristina Tzintzún Ramirez (@cristinanextgen) January 27, 2022
This is the latest example of how voter suppression laws impact disenfranchised communities, including women.
I’ve written about this before, but this decision was a welcome surprise and has the potential to effectively end the GOP’s racial gerrymandering of the South. That, of course, depends on SCOTUS, but this lower court isn’t acting like they have much fear of being overturned, so I guess we’ll have to stay tuned.
There’s something to be said in favor of lifetime appointments to the bench. Presuming the person isn’t a cast-iron, brain dead, party line ideologue, they are free to exercise reasonable judgment.
. . . And “reasonable judgment isn’t a RW thing in the GOP these days.
One day I expect a state to tell a court and the Federal government to eff off, they’re gonna do whatever it is they’ve been told not to, “Come and get me, coppers” screamed from the executive mansion. And if SCOTUS wants to get involved they can shove it up their ass, too. It’s coming.