Texas AG Ken Paxton is suing 4 battleground states in the Supreme Court

Posted on December 8, 2020December 8, 2020 by Denise Simon

Texas attorney general Ken Paxton (R.) is suing four battleground states in the Supreme Court, accusing them of using the coronavirus pandemic as a pretext to sidestep election laws and swing votes to Democrats.

The suit says state officials in Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin violated the Constitution when they unilaterally revised voting deadlines and allowed widespread mail-in voting. Similar post-election claims from Republican groups and the Trump campaign have struggled to gain traction in court.

“Using the COVID-19 pandemic as a justification, government officials in the defendant states of Georgia, Michigan, and Wisconsin, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania … usurped their legislatures’ authority and unconstitutionally revised their state’s election statutes,” the lawsuit reads. “Presently, evidence of material illegality in the 2020 general elections held in Defendant States grows daily.”

Texas wants the High Court to order a special election in the four battleground states and disqualify any Electoral College votes based on current results. Such orders would be unprecedented. Paxton is also pressing the Court to act on an expedited basis and hear oral arguments on Friday, an unusual move and an extraordinary one given the relief Texas requested.

Timing is a problem for Texas, since electors must be appointed on Monday. Paxton said the Court can just ignore the deadline, which is set in federal law. He said the justices “should not cement a potentially illegitimate election result in the middle of this storm.”

The justices rarely decide lawsuits filed directly in the Supreme Court, as Texas’s case is. While the Constitution provides that the Court should hear cases involving the states, the justices have long held that they have discretion to turn them away.

Paxton’s future in public life is in question after senior aides accused him of bribery and abuse of office. An FBI investigation is ongoing. His current term expires in 2022.

Texas v. Pennsylvania motio… by Washington Free Beacon

Protest SCOTUS Judge Nominee Plan is Here

Posted on September 26, 2020September 26, 2020 by Denise Simon

Primer: Amy Coney Barrett went through the confirmation process less than 3 years ago and received bi-partisan votes. You can also be confident that security teams have been deployed to protect Barrett and her family based on what happened during the Kavanaugh hearings.

Okay, read on.

This guide was written and compiled by a coalition of groups including: MoveOn, Frontline/ M4BL Electoral Justice Project, Demand Justice, NARAL Pro-Choice America, CPD Action, Indivisible, and Sunrise Movement.

SCOTUS Rapid Response Action Guide

(c4 non-electoral actions)

September 24, 2020

TABLE OF CONTENTS

STORY OF THE MOMENT

MESSAGING

SLOGANS

SOCIAL MEDIA CONTENT
TALKING POINTS

PLAN YOUR ACTION

ASSEMBLE YOUR TEAM

CONFIRM THE BASICS

CREATE ACTION VISUALS

MAKE A PLAN

PREPARE AND PRACTICE

PROMOTE & RECRUIT

ACTION FOLLOW-UP & CALL TO ACTION

POST ON SOCIAL MEDIA

CALLS TO ACTION

DEBRIEF YOUR ACTION

WHAT IS THIS GUIDE FOR?

This is a guide to support and empower people who are ready to fight back this weekend when President Trump names a SCOTUS nominee and attempts to fill Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s seat before the inauguration. We will be having a distributed day of action this Sunday, Sept 27 at 2pm local time. This guide will provide a roadmap for taking action, and ensure your actions align with actions across the country so that together, we can be a powerful united force for justice.

COVID REMINDER: If you choose to participate in an in-person event, follow key precautions to reduce the safety risks you may face while protesting during the COVID-19 pandemic, including staying home if you are not well or have reason to think you have COVID-19; wearing a mask or face covering over your nose and mouth; and maintaining at least 6 feet of physical distance from other protestors to the extent possible.

STORY OF THE MOMENT

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died on Friday, September 18, 2020. Many of us are grieving her death and remembering her legacy as a fearless champion for women’s rights and social justice.

With voting already underway, it should be left up to the American people to decide who gets to nominate the next Supreme Court justice. No nomination should advance or be voted on before the 2021 Inauguration.

Senate Leadership needs to prioritize economic relief for the millions of people who are suffering after having lost their jobs and are struggling to pay rent and feed their families, not play politics with a rushed Supreme Court nomination process.

In this moment of overlapping crises–a global pandemic, mass unemployment, systemic racism, and climate change–the stakes of nominating and confirming a new Supreme Court Justice could not be higher. Supreme Court justices are appointed for life and as the highest court in the US, their rulings shape all of our lives—everything from abortion to segregation, transgender rights to climate change, big money in politics to healthcare. It is unjust and unacceptable to try to rush through a nomination less than 40 days from the election.

With our futures on the line, we must rise up to demand that US Senators stand on the right side of history and let the people decide on the next Supreme Court Justice of this country. We must demand no nomination before inauguration. It’s our future and we should get to choose our justice.

MESSAGING

SLOGANS FOR ACTION ART

Slogans are a simplified version of your message. Having unified slogans helps us make our demands clear. Slogans are the words that we use on our action art. These slogans should be used in ALL CAPS on action art. For more information on how to make art for your action see the action visuals section below, or check out the action art toolkit.

NO CONFIRMATION BEFORE INAUGURATION
LET THE PEOPLE DECIDE
OUR FUTURE, OUR JUSTICE
I DON’T WANT YOUR NOMINEE. I WANT _____________ [fill in the blank to personalize]

JUSTICE FOR BREONNA TAYLOR
RACIAL JUSTICE
ECONOMIC RELIEF
A GREEN NEW DEAL
MEDICARE FOR ALL
COVID TESTING
COVID RELIEF
REPRODUCTIVE FREEDOM

SAMPLE SOCIAL MEDIA CONTENT

Social media is a powerful organizing tool. You should post on social media leading up to your action, to recruit people to attend, as well as post during the action and directly after. See the call to action section for more info about posting on social media after the action.

Here is sample language to use on social media:

Protect our democracy and our communities. No confirmation before inauguration.

We’re less than 30 days out from the election. Honor democracy and RBG. Let the people decide who will be the nominee.

It’s time for the Senate to pass economic relief, not ram through a Supreme Court nominee.

#RuthBaderGinsburg leaves a legacy on the Supreme Court that is etched into the fabric of our democracy. We must fight to protect it by ensuring that there’s no confirmation before the inauguration .

Health care for people with preexisting conditions is on the line. Right now there is a case at the Supreme Court that may end the entire Affordable Care Act, which would kick millions off their insurance in the middle of a pandemic. If he is able to pick another justice that could put health care at risk for all of us.

One more conservative justice on the Supreme Court would lock in a conservative supermajority for decades to come. Everything — including abortion rights, gun violence prevention, LGBTQ+ rights, economic justice, and voting rights — would be at risk. Progressives are ready to rally and fight back to protect our rights and our democracy.

Senate leadership should be focused on addressing the COVID-19 crisis, not fast-tracking a Supreme Court nominee. No confirmation until inauguration — period. #LetThePeopleDecide

If Trump confirms a replacement for #RBG, there’s no telling what damage they could do to reproductive freedom or healthcare access. To protect our rights, we need to make sure there’s no confirmation until after the inauguration.

Our most fundamental freedoms are at stake. Another conservative justice threatens access to reproductive freedom, healthcare, and equality. The people should pick the next president, and the next president should choose the nominee.

What’s at stake if senate leadership replaces #RBG with a radical new justice who could serve on the Supreme Court for decades? EVERYTHING. We have to fight this nomination with all that we’ve got, because we’re fighting for our freedom.

Primary Hashtag (use this on all your social media posts): #LetThePeopleDecide

Additional Hashtags: #OurCourts #OurFutureOurJustice #ProtectTheCourts #PeopleOverPolitics

Sample graphics:

Graphics Folder
Additional Graphics from MoveOn
Additional Graphics from Planned Parenthood Action Fund

TALKING POINTS

These are for the speakers at your action to use to craft their speeches, and for writing a press release or sharing more info to your base to encourage people to come support your action.

With voting already underway, it should be left up to the American people to decide who gets to nominate the next Supreme Court justice.
No nomination should advance or be voted on before the 2021 Inauguration.
Senate leadership needs to prioritize economic relief for the millions of people who are suffering after having lost their jobs and are struggling to pay rent and feed their families, not play politics with a rushed Supreme Court nomination process.
The Supreme Court makes rulings that shape all of our lives—everything from abortion to segregation, transgender rights to climate change, big money in politics to healthcare. It is unacceptable and unjust to try to rush through a nomination less than 40 days from the election.
We must rise up to demand that US Senators stand on the right side of history and let the people decide on the next Supreme Court Justice of this country. We must demand no nomination before inauguration. It’s our future and we should get to choose our justice.

DO lead with values
DO name the violation of those values and/or culprits
DO focus on an irresistable vision of the future
DO name your audience/s and think about what moves them, this is another great way to localize your rally
DON’T use/repeat the opposition’s language or frames.
DON’T lead with data. You can include it, but numbers shouldn’t be the lead

PLAN YOUR ACTION

Holding an action at your local courthouse will help move your community into action and bring this narrative into the public. Below are the key steps in planning your action. Check out this action planning resource from Sunrise Movement for more details on how to plan an action.

If you’re planning to host an in-person action, please register it on social media and fill out this quick form to spread the word! http://bit.ly/RegisterSCOTUSAction.

If you aren’t able or don’t feel comfortable holding an in person action, you can still take action online – see the bottom of this section for more information on digital actions.

COVID Note: To address COVID concerns, it is best to strongly discourage anyone who feels unwell or is exhibiting symptoms from attending. There will be a digital event to participate in at the national level (see below for digital action). In the recruitment materials, make it clear and explicit that social distance and mask wearing rules will be in effect. Make sure there is someone at your action thinking about COVID safety. Those who are high-risk should understand the potential risks of attending, and organizers should take precautions to keep attendees safe.

ASSEMBLE YOUR TEAM

Below are all of the key roles for an action, if you have a small group, it’s ok if the same person holds multiple roles. There is more information about how to do each role in other sections of the guide.

Action coordinator

Coordinates the team and manages the overall event

Recruitment Lead

Recruits people to the action, supports action coordinator with outreach

Police Liaison & Safety Coordinator

Is prepared to speak with the police if any are at your action
Identify yourself at the action as the person for everyone to point the police to if they arrive and want to speak to someone
Ensures COVID safety during the event
Has first aid materials or coordinates with volunteer medic to bring first aid materials

Speaker(s)

Makes a short (2-4 minute) speech during the action, and uplifts the action’s purpose, mixing with their personal narrative of why this is so important to them and their community. Speakers should refer to the messaging guidance (above).

Media coordinator

Creates a press advisory and/or press release about your action
Contact reporters and media outlets before and after the event
Connects speakers and spokespeople with reporters during event

Social media coordinator

Assigns someone to take photos of the action
Assigns someone to livestream the action
Shares photos, posts or livestream of the event on facebook, twitter, and instagram
Use this Photo & Livestream toolkit to capture powerful content that communicates the message of our action
Uses the hashtags with all posts from the event

Action Art Coordinator

Coordinate the creation of the action art
Oversee the art (banners and signs) and action staging the day of the action

CONFIRM THE BASICS

LOCATION

We are asking people to take action at their local courthouse. Google where your local courthouse is if you don’t know, if there are multiple courthouses, think of which is best for the action – which one is in the neighborhood of the community you want to come to the action? Which one is most accessible to get to?

A good location is:
1) High profile/high traffic so the action is more likely to be seen and raise awareness of our demands 2) Is the most symbolic location that represents the messaging of your action

TIME & DATE

Sunday, September 27th at 2pm (local time) is set as a national day of action for SCOTUS rapid response courthouse actions. Doing your event at this time will help you get traction on the event because it will be at the same time as events across the country. If you need to adjust the timing of your event, aim to have it as close to 2pm on Sunday as possible.

If you’re planning to host an event, please register it on social media and fill out this quick form to spread the word! http://bit.ly/RegisterSCOTUSAction.

CREATE ACTION VISUALS

Visual Strategy is everything communicated through the visuals of your action. This includes your action art (banners, signs, t-shirts), your staging (the way people stand and hold their signs), and lots of details like people’s body language. The more thoughtful and aligned with your overall strategy your visuals are, the more powerful your action will be. The visuals for your event are crucial for telling a powerful story. Across the country, we’re coordinating our slogans to clearly communicate our demands with a unified voice.

Staging is making a plan for how your participants and action art will be positioned during your action to be as powerful as possible and to be able to capture photos and video that tell a clear story of the action. You can make a plan for staging by drawing what you want the action to look like.

On the day of your action, plan to have someone overseeing staging, and someone overseeing the action art, and at least one person taking photos. All of the people in these roles should coordinate about what the action will look like and what photos of the action you need.

For more guidance and resources for how to make powerful action art for your action, check out the SCOTUS Action Art and Staging toolkit.

MAKE A PLAN FOR THE DAY OF

Work with the rest of your action team to make a plan for the action day. Think about what the action will look like (consult the staging guide), what equipment you will need, like a bullhorn or amplification system, and recruit your speakers. You can use the action planning toolkit to make a tik-tok for the day, so you have a plan for how the day will run.

SPEAKERS & SPOKESPEOPLE:

An important part of your action planning is preparing the people who will be speaking publicly. Speakers should write and rehearse their speech ahead of time, and spokespeople, the people who are designated to talk to the press, should also review talking points ahead of time to make sure that your topline messaging, demands, and objectives are highlighted in short sound bites and so that you’re ready to answer questions during the action. Help people keep their speeches to 3-5 minutes, and focus on what inspires you – speak from your heart!

RISK:

There is a level of risk inherent in any action we take, and each of us experiences that risk in different ways. Participating in an action may be a much higher sacrifice for some of us, depending on our race, gender identity, our ability, our immigration status or other factors. When we take action together, we need to take into account how different people will experience interactions with the public, press, and police. Check out this Know Your Rights Guide from the ACLU to make sure you are prepared. Consult Sunrise Movement’s Taking Action Guide for more information about risk.

PREPARE & PRACTICE

For many actions, and always for actions that include the possibility of arrest, you should hold a training. We recommend holding the action training the evening before your action, for everyone holding a key role, so all the information is fresh in people’s minds.

Set a time and date to get your group together for a run-through of the action plan and invite everyone who you want to attend the action. You can make an event for this action prep meeting to collect RSVPs so you know how many people to expect and can remind people to show up! Spread the word for this meeting by texting everyone in your hub, sending an email, calling people who you want to make sure show up, and posting the event link on social media.

In this meeting, make sure everyone knows their legal rights. Your action lead and police liaison should talk at the training about rights, risk and de-escalation. You should make plans for who will step in if a situation arises that needs to be deescalated.

Practice your deployment (how you approach the area where you are taking action) and practice your staging (who’s holding what sign, where everyone is standing). If you can’t meet in person, meeting virtually is a good secondary option. Share your Action Plan with all participants who are confirmed as participants in the action, which includes the details of your training, the march plan, what to bring, tick-tock (day-of schedule), and other important details. For privacy purposes, at this meeting you should set up a secure group message for everyone holding roles to communicate centrally via an app like Signal.

PROMOTE & RECRUIT FOR YOUR EVENT

Recruitment is an extremely important part of your action: the more people that show up to the action, the better! Below are several ways that you can recruit people to show up to and participate in your event:

Make a Facebook event and invite all your friends – remind attendees to wear a mask and practice social distancing
Register your event here: http://bit.ly/RegisterSCOTUSAction (list of events is forthcoming and will be available here).
Promote on social media platforms with graphics or videos hyping up the action, send an email to your networks
Call or text people from your network who would be interested in the action. This could be your friends or people who signed up from events you’ve held in the past
Outreach through other groups in your community and in student networks
Create an online form (like a google form) to sign people up to attend the action
Recruit people to help volunteer with certain roles, logistics, social media, etc. (it makes it more likely to come out if they have a role to help with)

Remind people the day before or the morning of the event so they don’t forget and so you can encourage them to join!

ACTION FOLLOW-UP & CALL TO ACTION

Your follow-up call to action is super important to helping keep the momentum going after your in person action. If you aren’t able to hold and in person action you can still do these digital actions and encourage others to do them with you!

Below are the key digital actions to take after your in person action, make sure to share these with people in person, and send out information about them to attendees after the action so everyone can participate and amplify the calls to action.

POST ON SOCIAL MEDIA
Social media is a powerful tool to use for actions. It allows you to tell the story of your action in your own words and gives you the possibility to show your action off to thousands of people who may not have been there while you did it.

We’ve seen a lot of powerful actions that are well documented but the photos aren’t well utilized on social media. Social media is a key way to build power. Often we only post one image from our action after the action is over, but you can use your social media to share images and the livestream during the action, post images and interviews with attendees after the action is over, and share the call to action.

When sharing photos and short video clips after the action on your social media, use the caption of the post to write a short sentence about why this fight is important to you, and include a link to the call to action. Calls to action are often more effective when shared with photos from the event!

CALLS TO ACTION

Share these two calls to action in the captions of your social media posts:

SIGN THE PETITION

MoveOn: Do not fill Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s Supreme Court seat until after the 2021 inauguration

Planned Parenthood Action Fund: Protect RBG’s Legacy

Call Your Senators:

Planned Parenthood Action Fund: NO VOTE on ANY Nominee Before Inauguration Day

DEBRIEF YOUR ACTION

Debriefing is often forgotten in the urgency of moving onto the next urgent thing, but it’s a really important part of your action. Your team members have just gone through a powerful experience and were asked to take on responsibilities they may not have done before. Here is a link to a template agenda for a team debriefing: Sample Action Debrief Agenda

Debriefing should be held shortly after the action is done, ideally immediately. You want folks to have the experience fresh in their minds to be able to have them share learning and reflections.

‘I Was A Master At Fixing Mail-In Ballots’

Posted on September 2, 2020September 2, 2020 by Denise Simon

First question here is challenging the word ‘was’……

The next question to consider is voting or not voting is free speech at least….notice how the Democrats are now forcing speech by manipulating the voting process and votes themselves?

But first, begin with this potential scandal. A Constitutional crisis is upon the nation.

The building crisis is real for those who care to see it.

A top Democratic data firm is warning that a huge increase in mail-in ballots in 2020 may have the election night effect of making President Trump appear to have a landslide lead, even though he may lose once all the mail-in votes are counted.

Hawkfish, a Democratic data firm funded by billionaire former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, expects far more Democrats to vote by mail than Republicans. That expectation is based on a July 1-Aug. 16 survey of 17,263 registered voters nationwide, which measured how people intend to vote and who they intend to vote for.

Because it could take days or weeks to tally the mail-in ballots, that could create the effect of making Trump look like he is in the lead on election night.

“We are sounding an alarm and saying that this is a very real possibility, that the data is going to show on election night an incredible victory for Donald Trump,” Hawkfish CEO Josh Mendelsohn told Axios, calling the effect a “red mirage.”

In one scenario, if only 15% of mail-in ballots are counted on election night, that could make Trump look on pace to get a 408-130 Electoral College vote lead. But by four days later, if 75% of mail-in ballots are counted, then Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden could show a lead.

“When every legitimate vote is tallied and we get to that final day, which will be some day after Election Day, it will in fact show that what happened on election night was exactly that, a mirage,” Mendelsohn said. “It looked like Donald Trump was in the lead, and he fundamentally was not when every ballot gets counted.”

The project is a warning to news outlets and voters on what to expect during election night. Part of that “mirage” scenario assumes that those who project election winners like the Associated Press will not make adjustments in how they portray results on election night due to the rise in mail-in votes — but many newsrooms are preparing for a different pace and method of election results reporting due to mail-in ballots, in order to prevent the scenario that Hawkfish describes.

Trump could further complicate matters. The president has said that he thinks that the results of the election should be announced on election night.

Election analysts have warned for months that due to the expected large increase in mail-in and absentee voting, it may take days or weeks to know the final results from the Nov. 3 election.

(Hawkfish is a US political data and technology-based agency headquartered in New York City founded by Michael Bloomberg.The firm was founded in the spring of 2019 to support, “Democratic candidates, good causes, and common sense solutions.”)

Hawkfish - Who We Are

***

One top Democratic operative took it upon himself to whistleblow on the fraudulent practices of voting, especially with mail-in ballots. Speaking on condition of anonymity because of his own criminal activities participating in voter fraud, the Democratic operative sought out New York Post reporter Jon Levine to explain it all.

Levine’s article published over the weekend was titled, “Confessions of voter fraud: I was a master at fixing mail-in ballots.” A “top Democratic operative says voter fraud, especially with mail-in ballots, is no myth. And he knows This because he’s been doing it, on a grand scale, for decades” writes Levine. The anonymous operative admitted, “this is a real thing…and there is going to be a f-king war coming November 3rd over this stuff” but admits “if they knew how the sausage was made, they could fix it.”

Operative trick #1: “the ballot has no specific security features – like a stamp or a watermark – so the insider said he would just make his own ballots. ‘I just put [the ballot] through the copy machine and it comes out the same way’ the insider said.” The man admitted, “his dirty work has taken him through the weeds of municipal and federal elections in Paterson, Atlantic City, Camden, Newark, Hoboken and Hudson County and his fingerprints can be found in local legislative, mayoral and congressional races across the Garden State.”

The Post confirmed the whistleblower’s identity, rap sheet and “long history working as a consultant to various campaigns.” The insider “says he not only changed ballots himself over the years, but led teams of fraudsters and mentored at least 20 operatives in New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania.” Unfortunately, “some of the biggest names and highest officeholders in New Jersey have benefited from his tricks, according to campaign records The Post reviewed.”

The whistleblower is a self-admitted Bernie Sanders “die-hard with no horse in the presidential race.” He simply said he “felt compelled to come forward in the hope that states would act now to fix the glaring security problems present in mail-in ballots.”

Additional unethical practices the insider engaged in, is “he would have his operatives fan out, going house to house, convincing voters to let them mail completed ballots on their behalf as a public service. The fraudster and his minions would then take the sealed envelopes home and hold them over boiling water. ‘You have to steam it to loosen the glue’ said the insider.” They would then replace the real ballot with a counterfeit ballot and reseal the envelope.

He and his operatives would be careful to sprinkle fake ballots in mailboxes around town. He even said sometimes postal employees are in on the scam. “You have a postman who is a rabid anti-Trump guy and he’s working in Bedminster or some Republican stronghold…He can take those [filled-out] ballots, and knowing 95% are going to a Republican, he can just throw those in the garbage.”

Congress Attempting to Issue New Code of Conduct Rules for Judges

Posted on May 18, 2020May 18, 2020 by Denise Simon

This has been building for quite a while and was noticeable if anyone watched any Senate confirmation hearings for judge candidate nominees. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, (D-RI) is one of the loudest drivers of this change.

House Judiciary Committee ranking member Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, is launching an investigation into a draft advisory opinion by the Judicial Conference’s Committee on Codes of Conduct which, if approved, would prohibit federal judges from being members of the right-leaning Federalist Society or left-wing American Constitution Society (ACS).

Jordan’s concern with the draft advisory opinion is that membership in these groups had previously been allowed, and while under the draft opinion this would no longer be allowed, membership in other groups including the American Bar Association (ABA) would continue to be permitted. The committee said their concern with the Federalist Society and ACS is that membership could lead to people questioning a judge’s impartiality when it comes to issues on which those groups have taken positions.

Humm, the judges can participate in events held by those organizations, they just cant be active members? It was not too long ago that Senator Dianne Feinstein also had a huge issue with Judge Amy Barrett’s fidelity to Catholic theology. Other senators joining with Senator Feinstein were Senator Durbin (D-IL) and Senator Hirono (D-HI).

It is interesting that Trump Judge nominee and confirmed, Judge Ralph Erickson of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, who chairs the committee behind the draft opinion. That opinion to change the code of conduct is found here. (important read)

Simply put, Judge Erickson has enlisted a panel to challenge the Federalist Society.

The proposed rules change is the latest salvo in a campaign to cast the Federalist Society as too political, and thereby politically risky, for judiciary participation. The Wall Street Journal editorial board labeled the proposal “judicial political mischief masked in high sounding rhetoric,” a step that is spurring a backlash among “judges and others” who should denounce it as “undermining legal education in America and perhaps violating the First Amendment right of association.”

Conservative activists put it more bluntly, calling the rules change a transparent attempt to neuter the Federalist Society. The motivation is obvious, these activists say, after the Senate has confirmed a record number of Trump-appointed judges, many of whom are Federalist Society members or have participated in the group’s events.

“This rules change was probably instigated and driven by people who are upset with the transformation that is taking place in the federal judiciary, and since they are on the left, they are accustomed to addressing problems by trying to censor the other side,” a longtime Federalist Society member told RealClearPolitics. “And that’s exactly what this is — an act of censorship.”

Carrie Severino, the chief counsel and policy director for the conservative Judicial Crisis Network, said the new rule would create a different standard for judges than they have been held to in the past and severely limit their civic participation.

“Obviously there are situations that do require recusal – if someone is involved in a political campaign or directly advocating for a political position,” she said. “But simply being in a group that believes in certain principles — they are misconstruing the Federalist Society by calling it a group that takes political positions.” Read more here.

Birthright v. Jurisdiction

Posted on October 31, 2018October 31, 2018 by Denise Simon

Let’s begin with the 39th Congress shall we?

1865-1867, it was a time of reconstruction. For context, scan this summary of the activity of Congress.

On the matter of ratification of the 14th Amendment, a year long study was completed by a 15 member committee. Much of the debate was on citizenship for slaves. For reference, the Joint Resolution was H.R. 127.

Of particular note is the text in the middle column under ‘Reconstruction’. This document is found in the Library of Congress. This matter has been debated often over many decades and there is no law defining natural born v. foreign ownership, loyalty or jurisdiction. Hence the reason the debate continues and proposed legislation in addition to President Trump considering an Executive Order. Frankly, the common existing definition on birthright gives an additional argument to chain migration, somewhat in reverse.

Here is a cogent presentation on the case against birthright.

Need more?

Claremont Senior Fellow Matthew Spalding

Spalding raised the question in “Should the Children of Illegal Aliens Be U.S. Citizens?” and his U.S. News & World Report op-ed: “14th Amendment Doesn’t Make Illegal Aliens’ Children Citizens”

Others

Frequent Claremont Review of Books contributor and summer fellowship faculty member Richard Samuelson provides more historical and legal context in his essay for The Federalist: “Birthright for Whom?”

*** Is it okay that there are actually birthing hotels in California where Chinese woman take full advantage?Federal agents raided several maternity hotels in January of 2018 where these pregnant women paid between $40,000 to $80,000 to give birth in the United States. This has been the case for many years. There was/is a list of sites for birthing tourism for California.

How about pregnant Russian women making the long trip to Miami just to give birth? Birthing tourism is a thriving business for Russians in Miami. It is all for dual citizenship. If the mainstream media complains about President Trump authorizing an Executive Order, the text is most important. He cannot alter any Constitutional amendment but he can issue an order to stop birthing tourism. Even NBC News is quite aware of the issue.

“for a growing number of Russian women, the draw isn’t sunny beaches or pulsing nightclubs. It’s U.S. citizenship for their newborn children. In Moscow, it’s a status symbol to have a Miami-born baby, and social media is full of Russian women boasting of their little americantsy.”

*** If President Trump signs an Executive Order it will be legally challenged with a lawsuit before the end of the day. Perhaps this is a good thing to begin a final legal opinion on the matter.