The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

SCOTUS Rejects Texas v. Pennsylvania

Posted on | December 12, 2020 | Comments Off on SCOTUS Rejects Texas v. Pennsylvania

My podcast partner John Hoge says he is “not completely surprised, but disappointed” by the Supreme Court’s refusal to hear the lawsuit filed by Texas (joined by 17 other states) which argued that changes to election procedures in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan and Georgia were unconstitutional. Jonathan Adler says the decision “should also put an end to the efforts by the Trump campaign and its allies to delegitimize or otherwise challenge the election results,” and further that the result “should not have been a surprise to anyone who was paying attention,” but adds: “There remains a serious legal question about the constitutionality of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s decision to extend the deadline for the receipt of absentee ballots beyond the statutory deadline.” As noted earlier this week (“How to Maintain Your Sanity”), because I am not a lawyer, I did not feel qualified to comment on all this, and worrying about it seemed a source of unnecessary stress.

Once a dispute becomes a matter for courts to decide, the law-abiding citizens of a republic are obligated to abide by the result. This is true, for example, in those cases that attract the attention of the “Black Lives Matter” movement — if a grand jury refuses to indict a police officer who shot a suspect, this is simply the rule of law in action. If you don’t like the law, you organize to pressure the legislature to change the law, rather than looting Target or burning down the courthouse.

If this legal battle is lost — and again, I am not a lawyer, so I can’t say what further remedies might be available — the political war will no doubt continue. We must not surrender to despair.

“Never take counsel of your fears,” as Stonewall Jackson said.

Oh, it’s not a coincidence I’m quoting a Confederate general. Just look at what Texas GOP chairman Allen West had to say Friday night:

“The Supreme Court, in tossing the Texas lawsuit that was joined by seventeen states and 106 US congressman, has decreed that a state can take unconstitutional actions and violate its own election law. Resulting in damaging effects on other states that abide by the law, while the guilty state suffers no consequences. This decision establishes a precedent that says states can violate the US constitution and not be held accountable. This decision will have far-reaching ramifications for the future of our constitutional republic. Perhaps law-abiding states should bond together and form a Union of states that will abide by the constitution.”

Deo vindice.




 

Category: Election, Supreme Court, Texas

Comments

Comments are closed.