I watched the appellate arguments made to the Ninth District Court today, which was just a coincidence since the TiVo Suggests algorithm for who knows what reason thought I’d want to see a soap opera called Passions but the local NBC affiliate preempted that with the live court proceedings. Quite interesting to watch Lawrence Tribe, a very famous lawyer, make the argument on behalf of the plaintiffs, while the State of California was represented by a no-name nudnick from the Attorney General’s staff.
Nothing I heard was surprising or shocking but this was my first viewing of such a proceeding. Or rather my first viewing of a real appellate proceeding as opposed to the fictional versions on such TV shows as Law & Order, which turned out to be a reasonable facsimile once I made allowance for the time constraints and such.
My opinion is that the whole recall is a farce foisted on the people of this state by a stupid, greedy, rich Republican moron (Darrell Issa). Anything, such as a challenge on constitutional grounds as this case is, that can make the likelihood that Gray Davis will remain governor or at least be replaced by another Democrat is a good thing. Whichever side loses will almost certainly appeal to the US Supreme Court, meaning whether or not the vote will take place on October 7 will remain up in the air until almost the day of the vote, especially if the Supremes actually hear the appeal.
Update, 9/23: Sadly, the judges wasted no time at all in overturning the decision to delay the recall vote. According to the NYT, “The speed of the full court’s ruling today, and the tone of the 13-page document, suggested that the 11 judges had not agonized over their decision.” I had hoped for a few days of amusing feverish speculation before what many commentators saw as this pre-ordained verdict. Will the ACLU go the final step and if they do will the Supremes take it on? My coffee buddy says no but one can hope.
BillSaysThis 