Teri Kanefield

Hi, Fediverse:

Whew. I finished this week's blog post. Do your thing, Mastodon.

https://terikanefield.com/beware-the-lawyers-follow-up/

It's a follow up from last week, answering some of the questions and comments I got.

In response to people telling me that I am overestimating the ability of people to decode legal news, I attempt to prove this hypothesis:

If people stop listening to legal pundits speculating, they wouldn’t feel confused and they wouldn’t think they need help from lawyers decoding the news.

1/

Beware the Lawyers (follow-up) - Teri Kanefield

Last week I summarized Peter Arenella’s 1998 piece, The Perils of Legal Punditry. Among other things, Arenella argues that much of legal punditry is “Hot air that passes for legal commentary.” If you missed it, start here. I suggested that people don’t need lawyers to decode the news. I turned off my comments and added […]

Teri Kanefield
May 18, 2024 at 9:34pmWeb
Show threadTeri KanefieldMay 18, 2024
(I hope that made sense. I've been working on this since early morning 😂)
Show threadStuart SwerdloffMay 18, 2024
@Teri_Kanefield "...with the Classified Information Procedures Act (CIPA) and the Presidential Records Act (PRA) so she’s on a steep learning curve. These are complex pieces of litigation. "
I believe you meant to use the word "legislation" rather than the word "litigation"
Show threadTeri KanefieldMay 18, 2024
@sswerdloff See. I can count on Mastodon. Thanks.
Show threadEveryday.Human DerekMay 18, 2024
@Teri_Kanefield :) thanks 😊
Show threadxtoolineMay 18, 2024
@Teri_Kanefield It was great! A small moment of hysteria-dampening. Very welcome.
Show threadCarolannieMay 18, 2024
@Teri_Kanefield It's more fun to be enraged than informed. You're a party-pooper
Show threadNick AdamsMay 18, 2024
@Teri_Kanefield thanks for these. slight typo “Cannon was nominated by Trump and confirmed in November of 2000.”
Show threadTeri KanefieldMay 18, 2024
@nadams I'm not seeing the error. (me tired)
Show threadNick AdamsMay 18, 2024
@Teri_Kanefield in the Cannon backstory.
Show threadTeri KanefieldMay 18, 2024
@nadams Right but I don't see what is wrong with it.
Show threadNick AdamsMay 18, 2024
@Teri_Kanefield she was confirmed in 2020, not 2000
Show threadPaul-Gabriel WienerMay 18, 2024
@Teri_Kanefield You wrote 2020 in the timeline but 2000 in the paragraph.
Show threadTeri KanefieldMay 18, 2024

@WearsHats Got it.

Sheesh I told you I'm tired.

Show threadNick AdamsMay 18, 2024
@Teri_Kanefield @WearsHats no worries. Thanks again for these :)
Show threadPaul-Gabriel WienerMay 18, 2024

@Teri_Kanefield Took me a bit to spot it. I'm also tired, and that one is very easy to miss.

Also, I agree. I DVR several news and politics shows, but I've taken to just fast forwarding past all the TV lawyers. I understand well enough and the speculation is pointless.

Show threadJ OdellMay 18, 2024
@Teri_Kanefield I recently read someone who knew Cannon well and noted that she had more experience in the appellate system so she thinks more like an appellate judge than a trial judge. That's why she got overturned last year in the special master case.
Show threadJonChevreau 🇨🇦May 19, 2024
@Teri_Kanefield Well argued, Teri. You nicely lay out the possible motives Judge Cannon may have for slow-walking the Documents case. Not sure I feel any better but do have a deeper understanding, thanks to your blog.
Show threadTeri KanefieldMay 19, 2024

@JonChevreau

my goal wasn't to make people feel better about Cannon.

My goal was to get people to see that much of the BS coming out of that echo chamber is embarrassing.

It's definitely getting worse. I've written it off as hopeless.

Show threadArchie's BFFMay 19, 2024

@Teri_Kanefield @JonChevreau

Just like Joe Friday said in Dragnet....?Just the facts ma'am.....

Show threadQueen of AnxietyMay 19, 2024
@Teri_Kanefield I've been following the Karen Read trial here in MA and keeping an eye on the Idaho college student murders pre-trial activity. I've also followed a couple of other cases, now "concluded." The courts are slow. There are plenty of motions in the Idaho case not yet ruled on. This is not unusual. Knowing this has helped me a lot, but I wouldn't have known it without following some legal commentators who focus on explaining what's actually happening.
Show threadQueen of AnxietyMay 19, 2024
@Teri_Kanefield It's also not just the judges that usually side with the prosecution. The people who think Kohberger has changed his alibi, when he has always said he was out driving around, is astounding. They have been told that, and it confirms their bias that he is guilty, so they believe it and will not be swayed. The Karen Read trial seems to be an aberration in that most of the comments I have read are in her favor, and I can't help but think gender and attractiveness play a role there.
Show threadQueen of AnxietyMay 19, 2024
@Teri_Kanefield Which I wish was not a thing, but it's a thing across our whole society, so of course it's a thing in our courts as well. Many of those following the Read case think the judge is biased against the defendant, but those who think she's guilty feel the other way, so she's probably actually doing a balanced job. My mom used to say that if we were all unhappy with her, that must mean she was being fair. :D
Show threadQueen of AnxietyMay 19, 2024
@Teri_Kanefield On a much more important note, JJ is indeed adorable, but I admit I'm biased to my own pups, current and former. :D
Show threadMastodon MigrationMay 19, 2024

@Teri_Kanefield

Thanks Teri. Good tonic for the week ahead. It's been fascinating to contrast the testimony in the Trump election fraud trial with the TV pundit analysis. Your timely advice that we make every effort to distinguish hard facts from opinion and speculation is going to be put to the acid test over the next few days.

Show threadOregon Animal LoverMay 19, 2024

@Teri_Kanefield

I agree with what you say, but...I have trouble getting over the NEED to panic.

While we don't know what's going to happen in the future, we do know that SCOTUS has been taken over by conservatives/Federalist Society, undermining voting rights, affirmative action, women's rights, trans rights, etc., and seem well on their way to cause further damage.

It's hard not to see conspiracies everywhere when there's already evidence that conspiracies have happened and are happening.

Show threadAnde JacobsonMay 19, 2024
@Teri_Kanefield: Excellent post. I think the vast majority of people who claim to be unable to “decode” the news are either addicted to “infotainment” like Maddow, FNC, et. al., or they are willfully ignorant. If they honestly lack the skills to separate fact from fiction and speculation, they really need to read your book - A Firehose of Falsehood. I know I keep pushing that, but it would help those who want to be helped.
Show threadSean MurthyMay 19, 2024

@Teri_Kanefield In case you haven't seen this:

https://sauropods.win/@futurebird/112424845206897510

🤦🏽‍♂️

myrmepropagandist (@[email protected])

Glen Kirshner is so fed up with 'judge' Cannon he's walking his viewers through how to file a judicial complaint. Click by click. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0MXVfiTa3KM

Sauropods.win
Show threadTeri KanefieldMay 19, 2024

@smurthys

Facepalm. What a clown.

Show threadSean MurthyMay 19, 2024
@Teri_Kanefield They play with fire. It saddens me to see otherwise smart, accomplished, and good people go down a path that is not much different from the people/conduct they condemn. 🥺
Show threadKennethMay 19, 2024
@Teri_Kanefield Excellent analysis. Two questions. 1) Are judges, particularly at the United States district court level, assigned cases at random? If so, by what method? 2) As further cases come their way, what are the provisions, if any, for their extant workload? Any consideration given to this? Thanks.
Show threadTeri KanefieldMay 19, 2024
@Kencf618033 Yes, assignments are random. Particulars are different in each jurisdiction. Each court has their own rules.
Show threadKennethMay 20, 2024
@Teri_Kanefield I hope some use gamer dice!
Show threadTeri KanefieldMay 20, 2024
@Kencf618033 It was re-assigned to Cannon because she was already familiar with the case. The fact that she was overturned wouldn't figure in. All these judges have heavy caseloads so they will reassign to the judge already familiar because it is more efficient.
Show threadKennethMay 21, 2024
@Teri_Kanefield I was thinking of the districts more generally –my predilection for gamer dice stands. That said it makes sense not to reinvent the wheel/shift judges around.