Most people, understandably, see the Supreme Court of the United States as the court of last resort. After all, there is no higher court in the land, so where else would one go to grieve a bad ruling? Certainly a bad ruling is bad and, by dint of being bad, should be reversed. Isn’t that what the law is for, what the Supreme Court is for? Well, not quite, according to its rules.

Review on a writ of certiorari is not a matter of right, but of judicial discretion. A petition for a writ of certiorari will be granted only for compelling reasons. The following, although neither controlling nor fully measuring the Court’s discretion, indicate the character of the reasons the Court considers: Continue reading →

Now that Halloween is in the rearview mirror, Saks is decorating its windows for Christmas, except you won’t be able to see them because they’re behind plywood sheets like a great many stores in Manhattan. You see, they are preparing for rioting and looting. Whether it will happen remains to be seen, but as the coasties say, semper paratus.

To his credit, Joe Biden has condemned rioting and looting, and been roundly excoriated by his supporters who use the hashtag #SettleForBiden as they await the great coming of WokeWorld when he either capitulates to AOC’s demands or Kamala Harris shoves the knife in his back. But what to do about it, beyond saying words, remains a mystery. If there’s rioting, if there’s looting, then what? Continue reading →

Historically, the “turnout” statistics of eligible voters for presidential elections in America is abysmal. It generally ranges about 55%, Of course, not voting is a choice as well. But this year is proving to be very different with more than 90 million votes already cast, around two-thirds of the total case in the last election, and it’s not yet Election Day.

A while back, I wondered whether there would be a huge turnout or this election would be a huge dud. It appears that I’ve got my answer. Much of it comes from the efforts to register and motivate demographics that traditionally didn’t bother to vote, particularly the 18 to 29 cohort. Continue reading →

In the aftermath, as partisans spew their rationalization in response to partisans accusations, there will still be Graham, North Carolina. While there’s more than enough basis to reject riots and looting, this was about as peaceful as a protest gets. Indeed, was it even a protest, or merely Americans celebrating their rights? So naturally, they were pepper sprayed for it.

A racially diverse group of about 200 people walked with a police escort from Wayman’s Chapel AME Church to Court Square, where they held a rally encouraging people to vote. The event was organized by Rev. Greg Drumwright, a Burlington native who leads the the Citadel Church in Greensboro, according to his website. Continue reading →

Had it somehow been revealed, a mere decade ago, that scientific journals had kept tabs on the race or sexual orientation of its writers, it would have sent waves of outrage through the scientific community. How dare anyone suggest that a scientist’s race, gender or love life play a role in assessing the quality of her work, her ideas or her discoveries? Scandalous. Outrageous. Offensive. Until it wasn’t.

Studies continue to reaffirm that diversity — on a multitude of axes — boosts performance and the quality of work across disciplines. Science is no exception. Only researchers as diverse as the people and phenomena they study, experts said, can accurately capture the dizzying amount of variation in the natural world and innovate beyond it. Scientists who hail from across spectra of gender, race, ethnicity, disability, sexuality and more are also uniquely equipped to collaborate with communities that have been ignored, silenced or even exploited and abused by the discriminatory practices of Western scientists.

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Dr. SJ made the most delicious lemon cake, and as we sat around the table sipping tea and licking lemon glaze off our fingers, she asked me, “Do you think it’s possible that Trump could actually win?” “Sure,” I replied, in the “anything’s possible” way that I do. Not so much at the hand of people who like Trump, but at the hand of people who reject the possibility that Biden will be the last liberal president, and while Trump has done enormous damage to the institutions of government out of his combination of astounding ignorance and self-aggrandizement, the institutions are still there, badly bruised but standing.

Will Biden pay back the left wing of his party, the Squad, Bernie and Liz, by letting them reinvent a nation in their image? Will they follow Biden into power and do so then? Will Biden last long enough to keep the ambitious Kamala from doing so, not because she has any belief in progressive destruction of the institutions of government but because it will promote her ambition to pretend to be woke rather than a cop? Continue reading →

At home, Mayor Tribe sat in his comfortable gaming chair playing “Fortnite” on his Xbox when he noticed something peculiar on his security camera monitor. A Mud Lick Sheriff’s Department cruiser had pulled into his driveway, lights activated.

“Will someone see what the fuck’s the problem?” Tribe yelled to no one in particular. Switching his game off, he studied the security monitor. Deputy Ernesto Miranda was now visible at his front door. Miranda carried a duffle bag and sported an N95 mask and gloves in addition to his uniform.

“How can I help you, Deputy Miranda?” Mayor Tribe asked. Continue reading →

An action was commenced by the NAACP Legal Defense Fund to enjoin implementation of Trump’s Executive Order prohibiting the federal government, its contractors and grant recipients, from engaging in “diversity training.”

Today, however, many people are pushing a different vision of America that is grounded in hierarchies based on collective social and political identities rather than in the inherent and equal dignity of every person as an individual. This ideology is rooted in the pernicious and false belief that America is an irredeemably racist and sexist country; that some people, simply on account of their race or sex, are oppressors; and that racial and sexual identities are more important than our common status as human beings and Americans.

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The law, in its majestic equality, forbids rich and poor alike to sleep under bridges, to beg in the streets, and to steal their bread.

―-Anatole France

It’s no crime to be poor. But then, the connection of poverty to crime gives rise to a great many issues, many of which are being brought to the forefront by reformers of late. Why does a person charged with petty theft sit in jail awaiting trial while presumptively innocent when an accused killer walks free because he has the wherewithal to make bail? Continue reading →

Between the hysteria and obsession with the Supreme Court, in general, and believing that it’s a bunch of hacks doing the Republican’s bidding, people seem oblivious to the fact that elections are run by states. Even federal elections. State legislatures enact the laws under which their state’s elections are run, and challenges to the laws are heard in state courts.

Because of COVID and the huge expansion of mail-in voting, combined with the push to get demographics that did not traditionally vote (the 18 to 29 cohort, for example), and the concurrent expansion of the franchise to people with prior felony convictions, this election is replete with novel issues that were poorly considered and left unaddressed until the last minute. Continue reading →