I Should Have Better Things To Do

This is nuts. https://t.co/HxmGnmokbr pic.twitter.com/O9TEbI3XBw

— Anthony Michael Kreis (@AnthonyMKreis) June 4, 2024

A good friend, who is a seasoned Supreme Court litigator and all-around outstanding attorney, urges Republican state attorneys general to sue the state of New York for its lawfare against President Trump (I have written about and discussed that President Trump’s lawyers should…

— Mark R. Levin (@marklevinshow) June 4, 2024

The tl:dr? This is how non-lawyers think the law works. Or even some lawyers. Ken Paxton  tried this in 2020 (if you’re old enough to remember). It didn’t work. 

The lawyer Levin mentions is his Canadian girlfriend. Among other things, “lawfare” is neither a legal term nor the basis for a lawsuit (i.e., a “cause of action”). Lawsuits require a cause of action; not liking the criminal prosecution of, well, anybody, is not a cause of action. You can raise the issue of fairness, of selective prosecution, on appeal; or petition the appeals court to allow an amicus brief and even raise the issue of “lawfare” if you like (at which point the judges will probably direct the clerks to the shredders). But you can’t use it as a cause of action to obtain original jurisdiction in the Supreme Court.

That’s pretty much what Paxton tried to do, and IIRC the Court turned him down on the issue of standing (i.e., the state of Texas had no peculiar injury/interest in the cause of action alleged.) I’m not even sure Paxton stated a proper cause of action, either, but I’m pretty sure the rejection was on one of those fundamental issues. No standing or cause of action, no access to the courts.

This is all ridiculous whinging. When Trump started it, it just sounded like a little boy crying for Mommy (the Supremes, in this case) to save him from the consequences of his actions. Now it’s out among his supporters, and it just sounds stupid; and desperate.

Whatever binky makes ‘em feel better, I guess.