Naw Dog Doctrine

On Wednesday, 17 state attorneys general filed amicus briefs in support of Texas Attorney General ...

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On Wednesday, 17 state attorneys general filed amicus briefs in support of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s lawsuit contesting the presidential election results in Pennsylvania, Georgia, Michigan, and Wisconsin. To make matters more interesting, President Donald Trump has said he will join the lawsuit and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz has agreed to argue the case in front of the Supreme Court. Tune in to today’s episode to hear why, in David’s words, “this Texas lawsuit as a legal and evidentiary matter is frivolous.” Today, David and Sarah also give us an update on Sidney Powell’s “Kraken” lawsuits and the Department of Justice’s antitrust lawsuit against Facebook. They wrap things up by answering some reader mail about law school.

Show Notes:

-Supreme Court’s one-sentence order denying injunctive relief to Rep. Mike Kelly.

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  1. El Kabong

    So I have a theoretical scenario regarding states modifying their election laws from what the state legislature passed. We're saying that SCOTUS will say that it is up to the states to interpret those laws. I don't have a problem with that and I agree with Sarah and David that this current Texas effort is a clown show.

    But say for instance a mythical state, Portlandia, has an extreme governor who says that Systemic Racism is a serious threat to the US and Portlandia and issues an order that says individuals can vote in the next election without registering, without identifying themselves by name, and without signing anything. All they have to do is to show up and request a ballot, fill it out, and leave. Nobody will know for sure how many times they actually do this in a given election. Let's say Portlandia has a very activist state judge that says this is ok. And it also survives the state supreme court review which says in it's opinion that the rules and procedures that the governor issued are constitutional.

    So even if my scenario is ridiculous, think of one that isn't. At what point IS it in the SCOTUS's interest to intervene and prevent something radical from happening?

    I don't think the Trump efforts are the right cases to address this and I don't think Texas's lawsuit has merit, but when is it acceptable for election officials, boards, or judges to change the rules. Say in my scenario the governor changed these rules two days before the election so time was extremely limited and the aforementioned judges had no problems with it.

    What happens?

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    WALL-E

    If you guys want to talk to someone with a free market perspective on antitrust law, you should reach out to Josh Wright, former FTC commissioner and law professor at George Mason. Would make for a great guest contributor after Facebook files its response!

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      WALL-E

      For a look at how he might view things antitrust-wise: https://nationalaffairs.com/time-choosing-conservative-case-against-weaponizing-antitrust

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  3. Josh G

    Hey guys-- I like the show, but one correction: It wasn't the U.S. Department of Justice who brought the lawsuit against Facebook. It was the FTC plus state AGs. David says otherwise at 1:30.

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    Antebellum Whig

    between this and Jonah's recent piece it's clear we need a new party for people who can't be Republicans anymore because of the Trump nonsense and the poor leadership reflected in this lawsuit (& amici) but also can't stomach signing on to the progressive agenda of the Dems.

    I propose the New American Whig ("NAW") party symbolized by the dog. it can vote as an independent bloc and tip election results one way or the other even if it doesn't run it's own candidates.

    come on, NAW dogs - let's rally!

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  5. Checking

    A question about the antitrust litigation. Isn’t it also true there has to be injury to the consumer, in addition to, a cornered market?

    Also, are there prohibitions against cartels in our antitrust laws?

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    Jerry Masters

    Law school? Serially speaking, lawyers advocate, legislate, adjudicate and finally fornicate.

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    BrettH

    Great listen thanks y’all. David gets it, I’ve lived in and was stationed in VA for a number of years (go Hokies) and I’m over the heat and humidity of the southeast. I moved to the southern Oregon coast in September of 2019 after a decade in Hawaii and the weather here is fantastic! My area stays roughly between 40-70 degrees all year round. Between the mountains and the ocean I’m in heaven.

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  8. Mathew A

    In regard to the Big Tech lawsuits. There doesn't have to be a monopoly (or near monopoly) to for a company to use/abuse market dominance and anti competitive practices. And no not all business practices are anti competitive.

    For example, building a better/cheaper mousetrap which consumers then choose to buy isn't anti competitive. Continually buying up small competitors that start to take off and provide meaningful competition could be.

    Another example, would be prices your products in an uneconomic manner temporarily to drive your competitors out of business and then raising prices later.

    To use a more concrete example, I think Apple's app marketplace is almost certainly illegal. They prevent users from getting app's from anywhere else, and then tax all app makers 30% of revenue.

    That looks like a clear example of abusing market dominance. And it definitely hurts consumers, as well as competitors (Apple of course makes apps too).




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  9. Avatar photo
    Justin Perry-Naw Dawg Doctrine

    I feel I need to defend myself here a bit. I actually spelt it "Nah Dawg Doctrine" imagining the Sarah drawl in "Dawgggg" coming through.

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      Dan

      I want it as a ringtone.

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  10. Kyle C

    What's the Discord link?

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    1. Avatar photo
      Justin Perry-Naw Dawg Doctrine

      https://discord.gg/8qNfXRyy it's an exploding offer (link)

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