This article is part of TPM Cafe, TPM’s home for opinion and news analysis.
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://talkingpointsmemo.com/?p=1485351
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://talkingpointsmemo.com/?p=1485351
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Apologists will tell you our legal system is better than any other. I worked at a farm during my college years so I know all manner of shit. Goose shit is the most onerous. Horse shit is the more benign yet it is still shit.
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It’s no surprise these are centered on Texas. Worth remembering that Texas joined the USA and then promptly joined the confederacy.
Two-faced religious chisellers hell bent on power since their founding. Read the history.
The big talking vicious bigot is the Texas watermark.
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You don’t have to be old to remember when “activist Judges” were the worst thing in GOP eyes. In fact the gap between that flip flop was just as narrow as between deploring “cancel culture” then going wholesale in effort to cancel Bud Lite.
They stand for nothing.
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I beg to differ. They do in fact proudly stand up and support:
- nazis and fellow white supremacists
- domestic abuse, child neglect, pedophiles, and rapists
- cop killers, other domestic terrorists
- school shooters, “the school to grave pipeline”
- book burning and government censorship
- soviet era spies and oligarchs
- child beauty contests and forced birthing
(/s)
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What is the snark sign for? Seems spot on to me.
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It seems that the Democrats should do the same judge shopping rather than simply grab their pearls and gasp. Remember right means nothing if it’s on the losing side.
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But in a letter sent to Senate Democrats last week, the Northern District’s chief judge refused to make any changes, citing a “consensus” among the district’s judges to maintain the status quo. You may not be surprised to learn that Republican presidents appointed ten of those eleven judges.
This is actually progress, despite nothing actually changing. It has exposed the Northern District of Texas to be in violation of their own Judicial governing bodies suggestions. That builds a stronger framework for Congress to mandate those changes (in addition to other Court reforms).
That won’t happen soon, but the more the Courts fail to govern themselves, the easier it will be for Congress to do it for them.
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What happens when some State tells the Northern District “You and what army?”
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As the article mentions judge shopping is not just a conservative political act. It is very popular among the patent bar. I am sure their are other groups of lawyers who favor the rulings of some individual judges and hope to make sure their cases end up with the right judge. The problem is who is appointed to a judgeship. Groups like the Federalist Society and individuals in power like Mitch McConnell have made it easy for weak judges like Aileen Cannon to get through the Senate process which used to rely on local state senator approval. Local senators of both parties took it as their duty to carefully examine the qualifications of people appointed to the bench in their state. It was hard for a weak candidate to make it through. It did happen but most of the time local senators took it as a source of pride to make sure the best minds made it to the bench.
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I felt snarky while writing it, but you’re correct. It is not snark. Large groups of repulsive mouth breathing people really do stand up, whoop, and cheer for these things.
In theory, yes, but in practice:
- Dems routinely disarm and/or negotiate with themselves prior to any policy duel with republicans (blue slips)
- Dem districts have more people and therefore more judges with less gerrymandering.
- Dems fail to maximise their benefit if given the chance to “return the favor” (NY redistricting)
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Elected Republicans stand and fight for the people they serve (Rich, white, male people)
Everything is is play acting to achieve that purpose.
C’mon TPM! Someone there took time to write this “no shit?” article? What other obvious articles do you have for us? When it rains, stuff gets wet or Republicans are controlled by Putin?
Actually, Eisenhower federalized the Arkansas Guard.
It was a different time.
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“There is no crisis of legitimacy if we can forcibly impose our party’s highly unpopular agenda without actually passing legislation.”
Today’s GOP
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Stronger why not: Republicans hold a 6-3 majority on the SC. Democratic appointees have less of a strong hold on any given circuit than Republicans do on the 5th. Maybe you could make an argument for filing in under Guzman in Worchester. She had a brutal confirmation hearing and certainly owes no love for Republicans in Congress and she’s the only circuit judge in that town. And then the Appeals court is the 1st Circuit which is currently all Democratic appointees and a pretty small pool at that. But then you still have the Supreme Court as the final backstop and they won’t have any problems smacking them down. Ketanji Brown oversees that circuit so maybe you could get some nation-wide injunctions in place? But I suspect the SC would smack that down quickly. We’re just not set up for judge shopping the way that Repubicans have done so.
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Judge Shopping Is Destroying The Courts’ Credibility. Judges Shrug, GOP Senators Cheer.
Old news.
The GOP destroyed the Court’s credibility, and legitimacy in 2000, with their partisan political activist decision in Bush v Gore.
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“The current situation is untenable.” yeah right…