Political Quotes

“I am back today for the 29th time on my ``scheme'' series to explain to the American people how the rightwing managed to capture the Supreme Court. Today, I would like to discuss the scheme's deliverables--how the Court rewarded its big donors with favorable outcomes that benefited partisan Republican or corporate interests and, particularly today, how the Roberts Court used false facts to produce decisions like Shelby County and Citizens United. This speech is the short form. For the full analysis or the long form, you can read my recently published law review article in the Ohio State Law Journal, 84 Ohio St. L.J. 837 (2023). False factfinding is the trick that has enabled the Court to do a lot of damage in recent years. Let's start with some basic principles about how factfinding is supposed to work in the American judicial system. Facts are an important part of every case, and it matters to get them right, and it also matters that courts stay within their constitutional boundaries. To achieve those two purposes, the American system has facts ascertained at the trial court level--the trial court level. First, the trial judge is closest to the facts on the ground. That is where the evidence comes in. That is where each party can challenge each other's facts, where facts receive robust adversarial scrutiny. That is where the judge can evaluate credibility and dedicate the time to compiling a robust factual record.…”