Heidi Li FeldmanTonight, an extraordinary order, opinion, and dissent make explicit that the ongoing cold Second American Civil War is raging at the U.S. Supreme Court, as it is throughout the U.S. 1/ #LawFedi
On the heels of the awful substantive Supreme Court ruling and opinion in _Callais_, Louisiana’s governor sought to cancel an ongoing election, House primaries, which had begun before the decision was handed down. He ordered cancellation even before the Callais judgment was made final, “certified”. There is a Supreme Court rule which delays certification for 32 days, allowing time for a party to request rehearing. 2/
There are almost no times when the Supreme Court has not followed this rule. But the Callais plaintiffs applied to the Court to have the judgment certified right now and tonight the Court ordered this to happen, trying to quash ongoing lawsuits filed to prevent Louisiana’s governor from cancelling the election, a result in no way required by Callais itself. 3/
All of this has happened on the shadow docket. So the Roberts Court has ok’d election cancellation without merits briefing, oral argument, etc.
This would be extraordinary and pernicious enough. But because Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented and pointed out how exceptional and dangerous the Court’s order is, Alito, joined by Gorsuch and Thomas, wrote an opinion basically calling her uppity. 4/
You can read the order, opinion, and dissent at https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25pdf/25a1197_097c.pdf.
You may want to read Jackson’s dissent, the second document in the file first. 5/
You may want to read Jackson’s dissent, the second document in the file first. 5/
Jackson lays out the Supreme Court rule and relevant precedents to explain that the Court’s short-circuiting of its own procedures has “principles give way to power.”
She writes forcefully but in an even, professional way. 6/
But Sam Alito just cannot handle a dissent from Brown that explains that he and the other Roberts Court judges who went along with him are nakedly using their privilege and authority to advantage the Republican Fascist Party and its white supremacist agenda. 7/
Taking the greatest umbrage, Alito starts, “The dissent in this suit levels charges that cannot go un-answered.”
What has so disturbed him? Jackson telling it like it is. 8/
Alito: “The dissent goes on to claim that our decision represents an unprincipled use of power. … That is a ground-
less and utterly irresponsible charge”.
Translation: How dare she? 9/
Finally, Alito concludes by chastising Jackson: “It is the dissent’s rhetoric that lacks restraint.” 10/
There you have it. In one exchange, central issues being fought in a so-far cold Second American Civil War are on full display at the Supreme Court. The issue of white supremacy is of course at play because tonight’s developments relate to Callais. But in Alito’s response to Jackson is an equally central issue: patriarchy. 11/
Alito simply cannot stand that Jackson has spoken as his equal and professional peer and questioned his ethics, integrity, practice of the craft of adjudication. He’s set off, in a way that most women I know will recognize. 12/
And he responds as lovers of patriarchy do: he calls his peer, a woman who disagrees with him, irresponsible for doing so and says her views, which she supported with factual information (the rule, the precedents, etc), are “baseless.”
Patriarchal posturing on full display. 13/
So far I’ve talked about how tonight’s order and opinion from Sam Alito and the Roberts Court take sides on white supremacy and patriarchy, two major issues in the current cold civil war in the US. The third big issue Alito and those justices who did not oppose his order take a side on (for sure Gorsuch and Thomas, who explicitly concur, and presumably the others in the Callais majority) is endorsement of authoritarian executive power. 14/
Remember: tonight’s order from the Roberts Court makes it almost impossible to reverse or stop the Governor of Louisiana from cancelling an ongoing election. Doesn’t get much more authoritarian than cancelling elections. But when done in service to white supremacist, patriarchal Republican Fascism - a palpably anti-democratic, authoritarian program - the Roberts Court is all for it. 15/
White supremacy, patriarchy and Republican Fascist authoritarianism in service of same: tonight’s order and opinion are in naked support of all three. 16/16
M.S. Bellows, Jr.
Masto Reader@msbellows here's the unrolled thread: https://mastoreader.io?url=https%3A%2F%2Fc.im%2F%40msbellows%2F116520177679416039
Next time, kindly set the visibility to 'Mentioned people only' and mention only me (@mastoreaderio). This ensures we avoid spamming others' timelines and threads unless you intend for others to see the unrolled thread link as well.
Thank you!
John Breen@heidilifeldman And as a white man, I say fuck all that.
LukefromDC@heidilifeldman Cancelling elections turns cold civil war hot
Finitum@heidilifeldman mouthing Not True to Obama during SOTU. Has Alito ever indicated which side he wished won the civil war?
Shirley Eugest
JonathanNo. Only "his wife" has, apparently.
Sure, Alito you corrupt sack of garbage.
(Ref. https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/scotus-alito-flag-controversy-1.7219068
And don't forget her had a different flag flying at his cottage. That he can fly these things with impunity shows us the civil war never ended )
U.S. Supreme Court justice Alito blames wife for flying flag associated with Trump election deniers | CBC News
Justice Samuel Alito said on Wednesday there were no ethical concerns regarding his presence on the bench in certain high-stakes cases before the U.S. Supreme Court. Find out about the flags that have caused controversy after being spotted at his homes, and the ethics code challenges confronting the top court.
Roy #EatTheRich Pardee 🇺🇸@Finitum @heidilifeldman Yet another example of his willful, motivated ignorance.
Ludwig Vielfrass@heidilifeldman Alito, Gorsuch, and Thomas should be dropped into a deep dark hole and drink rainwater and eat bugs for the rest of their lives.
Now, THAT’S what lack of restraint looks like.
Bob Blaskiewicz 🇺🇦 🇨🇦 🇬🇱I dunno. Seems kind of restrained to me.
Klara@rjblaskiewicz @lerxst @heidilifeldman So you have seen the painting in Bruges about the unjust judge?
@lerxst @rjblaskiewicz @heidilifeldman So many schoolchildren get a trauma from visiting Bruges. I wish I could say that we improved, that torture doesn't happen anymore.
Loved your alt text, with the word invented by your brother.
Edit: TIL that the correct name of this punishment is flaying, and they didn't stop at one side for Sisamnes.
@Klara @rjblaskiewicz @heidilifeldman That was Bob who posted that. Apart from music, I'm mostly a fine art philistine. 😁
@lerxst @Klara @heidilifeldman
Hemidermectomy was a word that my brother made up when he was learning classical roots of words in high school. It is the stuff of legend in the Blaskiewicz household.
@rjblaskiewicz @lerxst @heidilifeldman the little scene in the top right shows a new judge later on (his son) with the empty skin draped around his chair as a reminder.
@Klara @lerxst @heidilifeldman
I too am an inveterate souvenir collector.
Matt Panaro@heidilifeldman so, let me get this straight: the rebuttal from what is supposed to be one of the preëminent juridical minds of the nation is, "No, U"…?
Dave Mangot@heidilifeldman lacks restraint? It must be because *she's hysterical*. Never heard that trope before.
James M.@heidilifeldman Alito seems to confuse his being offended with an actual rebuttal. (A lot of people make this mistake in various contexts.)
John Colagioia@heidilifeldman For a while, I've felt convinced that the entire conservative movement boils down to "why can't we just go back to the days when wealthy white men could externalize our insecurities on everybody else without anybody making us feel bad about it?"
Todd Knarr@heidilifeldman They can't go unanswered, yet he proceeds to not answer them at all. All he does is call her names. As an old white man myself, I suggest he's an insipid, delusional toad-nurbler who failed the entrance exam for sanitation worker school.
@heidilifeldman I of course appreciate your attention to the normal process of Socratic Method, but I'm a simple kind of man, who both appreciates details but also lists noise reduction as a skill.
This is the Dred Scott Decision and the Fugitive Slave Act. Happening again. For the same reasons.
There can be no response but to shut it down. No reasoning with it. No trying to understand their point of view.
Shut it down. Or it gets worse. IMHO.
Jeff Atwood@heidilifeldman cc @jwz look man, I'm ready for two countries. Fuck SCOTUS. That's no longer the United States I believe in. I dissent... permanently. California should secede... anything else is utter cowardice at this point.
@heidilifeldman @jwz poke the bear and find out. Bring it. https://infosec.exchange/@codinghorror/114653319629705580
Evan Prodromou@evan @heidilifeldman @jwz we aren’t leaving. We’re creating something even greater than they can possibly imagine. A new constitution. A better one.
three tigers in a trench coat@codinghorror @evan @heidilifeldman @jwz if there's a constitutional convention called under Trump, FOR ANY REASON, there's no stopping the fascists.
Several republican committees are rehearsing in mock assemblies already. It's that blatant and dangerous.
@thygrrr @evan @heidilifeldman @jwz that's the point. Let them form their own terrible country and we can secede from it.
@codinghorror @evan @heidilifeldman @jwz
They made a game about this a while ago... I'm all for small local governance but I'm not sure this would be nearly as fun as some of us imagine.
They made a game about this a while ago... I'm all for small local governance but I'm not sure this would be nearly as fun as some of us imagine.
Joe Cooper 🇺🇦 🍉@codinghorror @heidilifeldman @jwz secession would guarantee these motherfuckers never face justice, because Democrats would never win another presidential election without those electoral votes. And, they need to face justice.
@swelljoe @heidilifeldman @jwz they will face the justice of living with the consequences of their actions for the rest of their lives.
Gabriel N@swelljoe @codinghorror @heidilifeldman @jwz after 26+ years, we are no longer waiting for justice in Venezuela. Life is too short.
Will Goring@codinghorror I’m not from the US, so to a degree none of my business, and definitely outside my expertise. But.. would this work? The one historical attempt to secede didn’t go so well. Wouldn’t the federal government just roll in with the military again? Or is the idea that California’s economic power is such that Washington couldn’t do that?
(Genuine questions from someone trying to understand your position, btw. Absolutely not trying to poke holes or even “just ask questions”.)
Full Metal Archaeopteryx@AggroBoy
Whole can of worms, really
California provides a significant chunk of money to US government and the union as a whole
That money comes via the tech sectors and the oligarchs who own and control the corporations
You see where this is going?
California can not come to a consensus on secession when you have a millionaire governor pretending to be leftish and all his billionaire friends funding the no vote
And if it were successful, then those fascists would either depart with their corps and cash or shred the new country vying to be the top dog
And, of course, the hot war would begin
@codinghorror
@codinghorror @heidilifeldman @jwz I suggest the following scenario:
1) Two different constitutions are proposed, perhaps based on the current one, but one appeals to the left and one to the right.
2) Each state's population votes on which they prefer.
3) The US splits into two countries based on which states support which constitution.
This approach might even get bipartisan support.
Unfortunately, this abandons vulnerable populations in the red states, but right now everyone is suffering anyway. The new "blue state country" should allow immigration from the "red state country" to mitigate this.
Hey, if we split again and the red states *don't* implement slavery this time, I'd call it a win.
Lily Star@jamesmarshall Literally the dream of Putin to divide the US. Dont fall for it.
@starlily he's already divided the US, and we're currently ineffective against him anyway. The "blue state country" would be much more able to check Putin's actions than the US is today. Also, a hard ejection of the fascism would give us a chance of regaining international trust, which is lost now.
@jamesmarshall OK, traitor.
@starlily @jamesmarshall Hey Star Lily, feel free to go kick SCOTUS' ass for us. Let me know where your gofundme is and I'll happily fund you if you document what you're doing.
@codinghorror Doing Putins work for him, eh comrade?
@starlily I don't see any other way out at this point. Do you?