Unanimously Wrong

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Saturday, January 20, 2024

Unanimously Wrong

Some of the media commentary on the Trump case declares that the Supreme Court must “unanimously” reverse the Colorado Supreme Court. Why unanimity is necessary or desirable is unexplained. But that goal is foolish.

The only way to get a unanimous opinion is for the Court to decide very little. The precedent here is the first decision in Bush v. Gore, which unanimously remanded the case to the Florida Supreme Court for clarification. In that situation, kicking the can was probably worthwhile because the can was being kicked only for a few days or weeks. Here, though, the equivalent unanimous opinion would be postponing a final decision until Trump wins the nomination or wins in November. That would be disastrous, for the reasons given in several of the amicus briefs. The people who want unanimity have not thought this through carefully.

Posted by Gerard Magliocca on January 20, 2024 at 09:59 AM | Permalink

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