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Sean Marotta @smmarotta.bsky.social · 1h

She-Hulk deserves a second season, dammit.

Sean Marotta @smmarotta.bsky.social · 21h

Also, this isn't just DOJ. Good factual development in agency cases requires good cooperation from the agency's lawyers and policy people. And. Uh.

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Sean Marotta @smmarotta.bsky.social · 22h

I agree with this. Even in the olden days, the inner workings of agencies were often opaque and cloudy. These days, agencies are just flashing TILT TILT TILT.

Joe 👻 BOO! 👻 dek @joedudekjd.bsky.social · 22h

I still think the Trump DOJ is failing to produce competent witnesses here more out of incompetence than out of contempt — the lawyers in charge just cannot navigate agency structure and law. But as Judge Xinis’s “two strikes” comment suggests, they’re running out of time to learn their jobs.

Adam Klasfeld @klasfeldreports.com · 1d

Judge Xinis shows her frustration at the Trump DOJ.

"See, Mr. Ensign, this is the problem that I have."

She notes that her order demanded a witness who could deliver answers on Costa Rica.

"You come today with a witness that knows nothing about Costa Rica."

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Sean Marotta @smmarotta.bsky.social · 22h

Again. The problem is not that this happens. It happens. It's a mistake. You blush. You move on.

It's that when you're doing such wildly destructive things you incinerate all their goodwill with everyone so you need to have to square away this stuff. And they don't.

Bradley P. Moss @bradmossesq.bsky.social · 23h

Someone gonna get fired …. @kenwhite.bsky.social @annabower.bsky.social

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Sean Marotta @smmarotta.bsky.social · 1d

"I can come testify."

"He's going to plead out."

"But you don't understand. I can fly to London and come testify."

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Sean Marotta @smmarotta.bsky.social · 1d

(In fairness, the Court found that the MO Supreme Court couldn't sanction mentioning the fact of SCOTUS admission without a finding that it was misleading. But still.)

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Sean Marotta @smmarotta.bsky.social · 1d

"Somewhat more troubling is appellant's listing, in large capital letters, that he was a member of the Bar of the Supreme Court of the United States. The emphasis of this relatively uninformative fact is at least bad taste."

In re R.M.J., 455 U.S. 191, 205 (1982) (citation omitted).

Raffi Melkonian @rmfifthcircuit.bsky.social · 1d

Went on a firm's website and one of the things they tout on their front page is.... this? I am... puzzled by that claim.

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Sean Marotta @smmarotta.bsky.social · 1d

* Unless they feel like it.

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Sean Marotta @smmarotta.bsky.social · 1d

This is big "the Super Bowl halftime show used to be the music my parents liked but now it's the music I like!" energy.

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Sean Marotta @smmarotta.bsky.social · 2d

Not to brag, but I just successfully tested out of all eight of the modules in the Firm's annual cybersecurity training.

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Sean Marotta @smmarotta.bsky.social · 2d

In Okalahoma, as in many places, the AG is elected separately from the Governor.

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Sean Marotta @smmarotta.bsky.social · 2d

My bar card is signed
I'm gonna /s/ on the line
Gonna let it please the Court
Wanna make my case, really state a claim

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Reposted by Sean Marotta

Raffi Melkonian @rmfifthcircuit.bsky.social · 2d

Let's repeat Raffi's Second Law of Federal Litigation (the first is: "is your name Bivens? If not, there's no Bivens") which is, "It's never Rooker-Feldman."

www.ca5.uscourts.gov/opinions/pub...

Because the source of the injury asserted by English’s complaint is
Defendants–Appellees’ conduct, not the state court judgment, Defendants–
Appellees’ Rooker–Feldman arguments fail. See Avdeef v. Royal Bank of
Scotland, 616 F. App’x 665, 673 (5th Cir. 2015) (“If the plaintiff claims
damages for injuries caused by the defendants’ actions—even those
occurring during litigation—rather than injuries arising from a state-court
judgment itself, the federal suit is not barred by Rooker–Feldman.” (citing
Truong, 717 F.3d at 383)).
Defendants–Appellees raise five other grounds to dismiss English’s
defamation claim that were not reached by the district court. Given the factbound nature of many of these grounds, we vacate the district court’s
dismissal of this claim and remand to the district court for consideration of
these arguments in the first instance. See R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. v. FDA,
96 F.4th 863, 868 (5th Cir. 2024).
II

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Sean Marotta @smmarotta.bsky.social · 2d

At some point, I think you need to declare amnesty for past grievances and have both sides reset to some form of norms. But no one trusts the other side to do that, and perhaps with good reason, so shruggie. I just don't know. And it makes me despair.

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Sean Marotta @smmarotta.bsky.social · 2d

Call? On the phone? In esta economia?

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Sean Marotta @smmarotta.bsky.social · 2d

The foundation of our friendship.

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Reposted by Sean Marotta

Raffi Melkonian @rmfifthcircuit.bsky.social · 2d

Yep! It turns out that you can meet awesome people if you don’t like physically meeting people and spend all cocktail parties eating shrimps.

Sean Marotta @smmarotta.bsky.social · 2d

Personally, I met some of the best people through #AppellateTwitter.

Professionally, I was kind of a nobody with a nothing clerkship from a not-elite school who became a decently well-known commentator on the law and SCOTUS because I tweeted and knew how to be interviewed on niche legal topics.

Conrad Hackett @conradhackett.bsky.social · 3d

Has anything great happened in your life because of social media?

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Sean Marotta @smmarotta.bsky.social · 2d

"But Uncle Greg says to never tweet!"

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Sean Marotta @smmarotta.bsky.social · 2d

Two weeks ago, I was getting off a plane in Chicago and a guy walked up to me and said, "Hey, are you Sean? I love the multicircuit lottery, too."

It was very confusing to explain to my 8YO why he knew me.

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Sean Marotta @smmarotta.bsky.social · 2d

This is classic "we should deport everyone, but not the nice family in my kids' class"-style thinking that is sadly common in public opinion.

Like "we should cut taxes, but also the deficit is important to me."

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Sean Marotta @smmarotta.bsky.social · 2d

Personally, I met some of the best people through #AppellateTwitter.

Professionally, I was kind of a nobody with a nothing clerkship from a not-elite school who became a decently well-known commentator on the law and SCOTUS because I tweeted and knew how to be interviewed on niche legal topics.

Conrad Hackett @conradhackett.bsky.social · 3d

Has anything great happened in your life because of social media?

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Sean Marotta @smmarotta.bsky.social · 2d

"Elements" is a perfectly reasonable way to say components of the TXNG. Lots of things are weird but that isn't one, in my view.

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Sean Marotta @smmarotta.bsky.social · 3d

Viewpoint discrimination is very much an established thing in First Amendment law.

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Sean Marotta @smmarotta.bsky.social · 3d

Slow walking these appeals right to January 21, 2029.

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Sean Marotta @smmarotta.bsky.social · 3d

Yeah. This makes sense when it's an exit row.

bsky.app/profile/kash...

Kashmir Hill @kashhill.bsky.social · 3d

Now we’re stuck in Denver to refuel. Flight attendant tells me they can’t charge dude’s credit card a premium seat fee while we’re in the air and it becomes a safety issue when a person in exit row won’t comply.

If he had gone to biz class seat instead, they could have dealt with it after flight.

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