CHASING SHADOWS

 This NY times article about a senate investigation of federal judges who responded to a NY Times inquiry about the Supreme Court's shadow docket caught our attention. 

The Republicans are going after federal judges who had the temerity to criticize the nine members of the highest court in the land. Impeachments may follow. 

Why did this catch our attention? Because of the renewed grumbling at 1350 NW 12th avenue about your humble blogger. 

"Something should be done"; "file a bar complaint"; "have you read what he wrote in the comments about our office?"

The third comment irks us the most. WE DO NOT WRITE THE COMMENTS, GENIUS. Others do. You might want to thank us for letting you know how lowly your office is viewed. 

Back to the federal judges, who we now, uncharacteristically find ourselves sympathizing with.  Fear not, denizens of courtrooms with ultra-high ceilings, we feel your pain. And we (you members of the judiciary and us- your blogger) are in good company.  Forty-six different aliases were used by commentators /authors of the federalist papers. And if Publius was good enough for Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison, then Rumpole suits us just fine. There is a long tradition of using pen-names to spark discussions about issues, The practice pre-dates the republic. So to you ASAs grumbling about us: as James Madison would say: stuff it!

And if you would like to learn more about the Supreme Court's shadow docket, then our own modern-day Federalist Judge Milton Hirsch will be giving a CLE zoom lecture about this very topic. His latest constitutional calendar on Milton's Paradise Lost...Guy de Maupassant... Ernie Banks...Mark Twain...Ulysses Grant, had this missive about an upcoming CLE. 

On an unrelated note: Although the Supreme Court normally rises on or before the July 4 holiday and doesn't reconvene till the first Monday in October, this past summer saw a torrent of path-breaking opinions (and "shadow docket" orders without opinions).  I'm doing a one-hour Zoom CLE on those cases at lunchtime next Thursday, Nov. 13.  If you need an hour of CLE, you can get it painlessly from the safety, comfort, and convenience of your own chair and computer.  Here's the link: https://mbba.wildapricot.org/event-6409682

So there you have it. A defense of pseudonyms. 

A Pennsylvania Farmer 

(the pseudonym of federalist John Dickinson - one of our favourite Founding Father). 

ONE SMALL TINY PROBLEM

Wednesday the Supreme Court ("Textualism, textualism, textualism!!!) takes up the challenge to the Dear Leader's willy-nilly imposition on tariffs without congressional approval.  "Barbados thinks it can win a trade war with us? Think again tough guy."

The Dear Leader's justification for his careful and well thought out imposition of tariffs?  A Jimmy Carter era law: International Emergency Economic Powers Act (“IEEPA”). 

The question is simple?  Has Congress given the president the authority to impose broad import duties (i.e., tariffs) by invoking an emergency-powers statute that was originally aimed at foreign threats? 

The answer is simple to the six conservative justices on the Supreme Court: Of course the President is right. The law gives him the powers do impose tariffs when he wants, for how much he wants. If it's Wednesday, the tariffs on China must be 30%. If it's Friday, the rate is 11%. 

And of course, the legal reasoning that the majority will use is textualism. Just rule based on what the law says.  People will die- sorry, Textualism does not allow us to intervene. The planet will be destroyed- sorry, Textualism does not allow us to intervene. 

Textualism rules the day. So all the majority needs to do is read the IEEPA (which sounds like a bad local pub brew in Cleveland) and simply point out that the law gives the President the right to impose tariffs in an emergency. Should take about three pages- The Dear Leader wins because he always wins (except when prosecuted in NY State Court). 

One eeny, weeny, teeny  tiny small problem. IEEPA never mentions imposing tariffs or duties, nor creating taxes. Under past precedent, tariffs are legislative‐taxing measures belonging to Congress. 

The United States Court of Appeals for the DC Federal Circuit ruled 7-4 via Textualism reasoning, that the Dear Leader exceeded his authority under IEEPA by imposing sweeping tariffs. The majority held that the statute did not clearly authorize tariffs and in fact did not have the word tariffs in the statute. 

So now, that truckload of valium in DC being delivered to the Supreme Court will be used by six judges whose two loves in life: their sole desire to please the Dear Leader, and the use of Textualism to accomplish all their personal goals, are in conflict. 

What to do? Oh what to do? Will their love of unencumbered presidential power - when they like the president- carry the day? Or will they demonstrate the kind of intellectual honesty that their love affair with textualism requires? They love giving speeches about how textualism often requires them to rule in ways that they personally would not do. (If it hasn't happened in the past, in the future the audience should cough **bs**bs** bullshit** bullshit**). 

Call us pessimistic, but we predict the kind of legal yoga that will allow these sycophants to support their Dear Leader. 

Something like, "Textualism can be carried a bit too far. It is perfectly reasonable to apply the legal principle to deny starving children food, dying people medicine and medical insurance, but it must yield when a Republican President that we like declares an emergency. Plus, the president says he sees the word tariffs in the statute, and as we have often ruled recently, if the president says it, then it must be true. "

So let's see how intellectually honest these six bootlickers really are. 

NFL WEEK NINE 2025

 Your Miami Dolphins fired their GM after Thursday's thrashing my the Ravens. With the Dolphins in free fall, the front running Miami fans can turn their attention to the Heat for the start of the NBA season. 

If you didn't watch games 6 and 7, you missed classic October World Series drama. Props to the Dodgers who were fire and won two on the road to come from behind 3-2 in the series. And in case you're worried, Rumpole, sitting on a juicy Blue Jays to win it all bet in May, laid off his action in games 6 &7, placing bets on LA (against our ticket) that paid off and guaranteed us a 50% win on our bet, which was still a nice five figures score and putting us in the black for MLB 2025 after suffering all those losses on the Mets and Red Sox. Pitchers and Catchers report in 100 days.  Cannot wait.  

Slim pickings this week. Often by November a team's tendencies have been established and it's hard to find lines that are off and give the bettor an advantage. 

Detroit -8.5 at home over Minnesota? Pass.  Ditto Giants  +2.5 at home over San Fran; and most of the other games. 

So let's take under 48 Giants/Niners; under 48.5 Vikes/Lions;  under 51 Bears/Bengals; under 51 Colts/Steelers. 

The game of the week that everyone has been waiting for is Jacksonville/ Raiders   Chiefs at Bills.   And while we love us a home dog, which the Bills are at +2 we are going to take the points and the Mahommes to win this sucker as the marquee afternoon matchup. 

As to the Jags /Raiders clash? An ethics discussion between KFR and a Judge from the 3rd DCA would be more interesting. The Rules of Ethics are a serious two-digit underdog in that matchup. 

SURVIVOR

We are down to three. Rumpole (naturally), Daniel Tibbitt, and Lucy Lew. 

Rumpole and Tibbitt are rolling with the Rams and Double L has the Chargers. We could crown a 2025 champion in what could be Rumpole's last hurrah. 

You know what we did Halloween night? Watched Abbott and Costello v. Frakenstein and Dracula. They don't make movies like that anymore. 

FINAL THOUGHT

We have remained silent as the royal contretemps played itself out these last few weeks, ending in the removal of a royal title, eviction from a royal estate, and bandishment to the King's private estate at Sandringham, a cold and dank place on the North Sea. 

But this is what we are thinking. If Andrew Montbatten Windsor takes up painting, as Churchill did from time to time... (wait for it)

Will he be known as ...(hang in there until the end)

The Artist Formally Known as Prince?

LMAO....

THE BALL BOUNCES FUNNY IN OCTOBER

 This world series is turning out to be a classic. The Blue Jays, in last place last year, had the world champ Dodgers down 3 games to 2 heading into last night's game six in Toronto. And then something happened, which showed once again why there is nothing better in sports than October baseball. 

But before we get to last night's game, we will briefly talk about a similar play in what we consider to be the greatest world series game ever played: Game Seven, Yankees at Pirates 1960. The Yankees were overwhelming favourites in the series. And as the series played out, it showed. The Yankees won three games 16-4, 10-0, and 6-4. Getting to game 7, the Pirates won 6-4, 3-2, and 5-2.  Now Game 7 1960 is famous for the only game 7 bottom of the 9th walk off home run. Bill Mazeroski hit it, and the Pirates shocked the Yankees and became world champs. 

But before Maz's famous dinger, there was the bottom of the eighth inning. The game had see-sawed back and forth with the Pirates going up 2-0, and then 4-1 before the Yankees went up 5-4 and then 8-4. In the bottom of the 8th, Bill Virdon came up with a runner on first and no outs. He hit a sharp grounder to Tony Kubek at short. It was an easy double-play ball. But the infield in Forbes Field had small pebbles in the dirt. The sharp grounder hit a pebble that kicked up and hit Kubek in the throat. He collapsed and was subsequently taken to the hospital. 

The ball can bounce strangely in October game sevens.

 Without the double play, the Pirates had two on, and slugging catcher Hall Smith bashed a three-run homer in what turned out to be a five run Pirate inning. The Yanks tied it back up  in the top of the ninth, setting the stage for Maz's clutch immortal home run. But none of that happens if the grounder doesn't hit a pebble that causes a freak injury to Kubek. You can hear Mel Allen on the call mistakenly thinking that the ball hit Kubek in the face. 

Which brings us to Game Six in the current Series Friday night.  The Jays were down 3-1 in the bottom of the ninth with a man on first. Addison "Bam Bam" Barger came to bat and was the tying run. Barger hammered a fastball from Roki Sasaki to deep left-center, over the head of the outfielders. The runner from first scored, and the Jays were down by one with a man on second. A walk off world series championship hit was in the cards. 

Except it was Halloween and the ball bounces funny in World Series games in October. 

Barger's ball stuck in the bottom of the fence... what??? 

  We shall repeat it, because we did not believe it. The ball stuck in the bottom of the fence.  We have NEVER seen that in a baseball game (of course no one had ever seen a grounder hit a pebble and take out a shortstop either). The umpires called it a ground rule double, the runner that scored was moved back to third- and this being October baseball, the next batter flied out to short center and Barger, thinking the ball was going to drop, was doubled off second-  this being the first 7-4 double play to end a world series game. 

GAME SEVEN TONIGHT! 

This is just the best time of the year. 

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

 

Happy Halloween! 

Want to be really scared? 

Did you notice how nice and easy the REGIB was this week? 

That was because your favourite Judge most likely was in Orlando swilling gin at a judicial conference. 

So the scary news is ......they're baaaaaackkkkkk! (Cue Poltergeist music). 

CANDY

MMs or Reese's Pieces? 

Three Musketeers or Nestles Crunch? 

Candy Corn or Sour Patch? 

Snickers Bar or Hershey's Bar? 

MMs plain, peanut, pretzel, almond, or other? 

Friday the 13th or Halloween or Poltergeist or The Exorcist? 

For our money, the Exorcist is one of the finest films ever made. 

THE JUDGE BRONWYN MILLER POST YOU'VE BEEN SCREAMING FOR

 Last week came the formal news, not unexpected, that 3rd DCA Judge, and Miami SAO Alumnus Bronwyn Miller was accused of placing bets on the Miami Heat with inside information. 

Wait! No. We got our Miami scandals all mixed up. Miami Heat player something Rozier was accused of tanking to get under prop bets on his performance to payoff. 

Judge Miller was accused by the JQC of something much less egregious- essentially being a prosecutor in robes. Granted by the time robe wearers get to the 3rd, it's much easier for them to simply PCA criminal convictions (Defendant was beaten until he confessed, not read Miranda, and prosecutor urged jury to send a message to the community about crime- PCA duh) - so we don't usually see this level of prosecutorial advocacy with appellate judges (at least not before January 20, 2025). 

You can read the complaint below. Nothing less than a conspiracy to subvert justice between an appellate judge and the elected State Attorney. But they were BFFs donchaknow, and like Snapchat is soooo hard to use when you're over 30, so they had text. 

Make of it what you will. There's no excuse for this conduct. And at least the complaint is semi-vindication for Judge Wolfson, who should win a JFK Profiles In Courage Award for not backing down and speaking truth to power- the kind of Judge everyone but the Governor and President want on the bench.

But we are so done with this court which avoids the hard criminal cases by PCA'ing the convictions, that it is tough to summon the outrage that this conduct deserves. 

Not to mention the money we have lost on the NBA- but give us credit. We walk into a poker room with an NBA coach and see fish jam the turn and rivers on two-outter gutshots and have it pay off more than once a night, and we know there's a mechanic* in the game. 

What all of us didn't know was that there was mechanic* wearing a robe out by FIU dealing from the bottom of the deck to the State. 

Just one more reason that come the end of June we are D O N E done. 

Notice - Formal Charges Redacted (1) by Anonymous PbHV4H

* A mechanic is wise-guy 70's speak for a card player who cheats, especially when they deal. 

NFL WEEK 8 2025 WE FEW WE HAPPY FEW EDITION

UPDATE: Consistent with the Battle of Agincourt, the J E T S Jets Jets Jets have gotten off the schneid and defeated the Cincinnati Bengals, knocking out three players in our Survivor Pool, and leaving four. Also, your Miami Dolphins thrashed the Falcons 38-10. We few, we happy few...

Coming Monday: The Judge was a mechanic. 

Saturday, we posted about the NY Mets 1986 World Series win and the magical game six with Mookie at bat.

October 25 is also St Crispins day

From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remember’d  

and the Battle of Agincourt anniversary where Hank, otherwise known as King Henry V gives his famous speech to his small army on the eve of the battel against France. We few, we happy few, we band of brothers...

So we happy few, let's take the Bengals -5 over the winless Jets, and the Bucs, our best bet, -2.5 at New Orleans.

Less confident, but we like Da Bears +2.5 in Baltimore against the Lamar-less Ravens, and the Titans +100 (actually +15) against the only team with one loss in the NFL this year- your Indianapolis Colts.

SURVIVOR POOL 

Until we get the Survivor Pool up, enjoy this speech.

WEEK 8 by Anonymous PbHV4H 

ENJOY