Greg Lipper
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theglipper.bsky.social
Greg Lipper
@theglipper.bsky.social
2.7K followers 630 following 7.1K posts
Criminal and constitutional lawyer; former church-state separator; (virtual) taekwondo student; theater and improv lover. #NeverSkeet (he/him/his)

https://www.lipperlaw.com
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theglipper.bsky.social
Among other things, the majority's invocation of Purcell is comprehensively frivolous.
"Texas is not on "the eve of an election," as was true in the case the majority cites. Republican National Committee v. Democratic National Committee, 589 U.S. 423, 424 (2020) (per curiam); see ante, at 2. The election there was five days after the injunction. Similarly, the election in Purcell was "just weeks" away. 549 U. S., at 4. Here, Election Day is eleven months from now. Even the primary election (which Texas could change) is in March. The District Court carefully listed the various "election preparations" underway to switch to the 2025 map. App. 144. On the other hand, the court noted how the 2021 map--which the injunction reinstated--was, in a real sense, the status quo. See id., at 145. Officials, candidates, and voters are all familiar with it from the last two election cycles. Until late last summer, everyone expected that map to govern 2026 too. And indeed, it will be used in a special runoff election in the State's largest county on January 31, 2026. So, the District Court properly concluded, "[a]n injunction in this case would not cause significant disruption." Id., at 144. Except to the extent all of us live in election season all the time, the 2026 congressional election is not well underway." "And even supposing it is now the ninth or tenth hour, whose choice was that? It was of course the Texas legislature that decided to change its map six months before a March primary. The plaintiffs could not have moved any faster: They requested an injunction before the new law was even signed. And to try to speed the litigation, they declined discovery. (That decision, by the way, probably accounted for their failure to submit an alternative map, which to be probative must be based on the State's particular districting criteria. See supra, at 13 n.) The District Court moved expeditiously too, issuing its 160-page opinion (on November 18) just a month after post-hearing briefing concluded. No one dilly-dallied in this case. The District Court ruled as "late" as it did because the legislature enacted a new map less than three months before. If Purcell prevents such a ruling, it gives every State the opportunity to hold an unlawful election. The District Court, once again aptly, made the point: Were judicial review so broadly foreclosed, then to implement even a "blatantly unconstitutional map," the "Legislature would need only to pass" it on a schedule like this one. App. 154--155. That cannot be the law--except of course that today it is. According to the majority, Texas had a free pass to redistrict in August 2025 for the 2026 House elections. See ante, at 2. All that the plaintiffs can hope for is better luck in 2028."
December 4, 2025 at 11:20 PM
theglipper.bsky.social
I dare say that the SCOTUS majority's Texas gerrymanding order is sloppier and flimsier than even Bush v. Gore. utexas.app.box.com/s/b91ggd9h1k...
"And this Court's eagerness to playact a district court here has serious consequence. The majority calls its "evaluation" of this case "preliminary." Ante, at 1. The results, though, will be anything but. This Court's stay guarantees that Texas's new map, with all its enhanced partisan advantage, will govern next year's elections for the House of Representatives. And this Court's stay ensures that many Texas citizens, for no good reason, will be placed in electoral districts because of their race. And that result, as this Court has pronounced year in and year out, is a violation of the Constitution."
December 4, 2025 at 11:15 PM
theglipper.bsky.social
Exclusive photo of Technical Controller Shawn Rettstatt preparing to assign levels in the Free Dance at the Finlandia Trophy. #finlandiatrophy #GPFigure
Photo from Kill Bill Volume 1: Uma Thurman in yellow track suit, with blood spatter on her chest and arms, readies her sword to battle at least half a dozen henchmen in black suits and skinny ties.
November 22, 2025 at 5:50 PM
theglipper.bsky.social
Today's news reminds me that in a Shakespeare class I once recited the Scrivener's monologue about the indictment of Lord Hastings (Richard III Act 3, scene 6). www.folger.edu/explore/shak...
Enter a Scrivener. Here is the indictment of the good Lord Hastings, Which in a set hand fairly is engrossed, That it may be today read o'er in Paul's. And mark how well the sequel hangs together: Eleven hours I have spent to write it over, For yesternight by Catesby was it sent me; The precedent was full as long a-doing, And yet within these five hours Hastings lived, Untainted, unexamined, free, at liberty. Here's a good world the while! Who is so gross That cannot see this palpable device? Yet who so bold but says he sees it not? Bad is the world, and all will come to naught When such ill dealing must be seen in thought. He exits.
November 19, 2025 at 7:49 PM
theglipper.bsky.social
Photo of Count von Count.
November 12, 2025 at 2:51 AM
theglipper.bsky.social
This is Plessy-like reasoning: www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25p...
"Displaying passport holders’ sex at birth no more offends equal protection principles than displaying their country of birth—in both cases, the Government is merely attesting to a historical fact without subjecting anyone to differential treatment."
November 6, 2025 at 8:31 PM
theglipper.bsky.social
The bolded text really reinforces the used-car salesman vibe, Thomson Reuters.
Email from some Westlaw sales rep: "Your firm's current Westlaw subscription has served you well, but you’re now three generations behind the latest AI-powered research capabilities that your competitors are already using." The second clause, start with "but you're" is bolded.
October 24, 2025 at 4:50 PM
theglipper.bsky.social
What was even the point of the Revolutionary War?
“Due to the restrictions imposed by Royal Mail, we are currently unable to provide tracking information for its deliveries.“
October 17, 2025 at 10:21 PM
theglipper.bsky.social
Over at the DC Bar Animal Law Committee, we're holding a dog-friendly happy hour (aka a yappy hour) at Aslin Beer Company (1740 14th Street, a few blocks from Dupont Circle.) Tonight at 6 pm. 🐶🦮🐩🐾
Graphic for dog-friendly happy hour: October 3 from 6 to 8 pm at Aslin Beer Co. The graphic includes a photo of a very good dog, who would like you to shake their left paw.
October 3, 2025 at 5:50 PM
theglipper.bsky.social
Paul Wellstone’s grave!
Large, engraved rock, which serves as tombstone for Senator Paul Wellstone and his wife Sheila.
September 23, 2025 at 3:10 PM
theglipper.bsky.social
Any questions?🎃
Photo of the orange back of the iPhone 17 Pro. Screenshot of iPhone name in system settings: "David S. iPhones"
September 20, 2025 at 12:11 AM
theglipper.bsky.social
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/13/w...
"Defiance has defined Brazil’s response to Mr. Trump since he began trying to bully the country. So far, it hasn’t resulted in disaster. President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has watched his poll numbers rise as he has denounced his American counterpart. Alexandre de Moraes, the Supreme Court justice targeted by sanctions, has been fiercely backed by Brazil’s democratic institutions. And last month, when Mr. Trump’s 50 percent tariffs on Brazilian exports took effect, Brazil said its global exports actually rose 4 percent because of increased purchases by China."
September 14, 2025 at 5:30 AM
theglipper.bsky.social
Screenshot of Sebastian the Crab from The Little Mermaid.
September 11, 2025 at 5:14 PM
theglipper.bsky.social
This is unusually disturbing. Summarily executing civilians, and then hiding their bodies, to make sure there were no witnesses. www.nytimes.com/2025/09/05/u...
"A North Korean boat appeared out of the dark. Flashlights from the bow swept over the water. Fearing that they had been spotted, the SEALs opened fire. Within seconds, everyone on the North Korean boat was dead." "The shore team swam to the boat to make sure that all of the North Koreans were dead. They found no guns or uniforms. Evidence suggested that the crew, which people briefed on the mission said numbered two or three people, had been civilians diving for shellfish. All were dead, including the man in the water." "Officials familiar with the mission said the SEALs pulled the bodies into the water to hide them from the North Korean authorities. One added that the SEALs punctured the boat crew's lungs with knives to make sure their bodies would sink."
September 5, 2025 at 4:38 PM
theglipper.bsky.social
Some personal news: I would like to leave the office and go play Pooh Sticks.
Drawing of Pooh and friends at a river on/near the bridge, playing Pooh Sticks.
August 20, 2025 at 8:37 PM
theglipper.bsky.social
Yes hello: To everyone making service-of-process jokes about the new lawsuit, Jesus Christ of Nazareth Son of God v. Satan god of this world, please review the same joke made by the court—64 years ago—in United States ex rel. Gerald Mayo v. Satan and His Staff. #NeverSkeet
"We note that the plaintiff has failed to include with his complaint the required form of instructions for the United States Marshal for directions as to service of process."
August 18, 2025 at 4:14 PM
theglipper.bsky.social
CJ you are 64 years too late with that joke! See United States ex rel. Gerald Mayo v. Satan and His Staff: en.wikisource.org/wiki/United_...
"We note that the plaintiff has failed to include with his complaint the required form of instructions for the United States Marshal for directions as to service of process."
August 18, 2025 at 4:01 PM
theglipper.bsky.social
No.
Headline for NY Times column by John McWhorter: Springsteen Isn't Who I Thought He Was
August 8, 2025 at 7:20 PM
theglipper.bsky.social
I still cannot believe his actual name is Chatterton. www.nytimes.com/2025/08/03/b...
Williams's book is impaired by slapdash prose. His writing abounds with interminable, convoluted sentences that teem with digressions and then awkwardly limp toward disorienting conclusions. Here is one from the prologue: "For non-whites, even though the mixed-race population has become the fastest-growing segment of the American demos and, in real terms, a disproportionate but statistically small and decreasing number of unarmed Black civilians were killed by police annually (typically between 15 and 25 per year from a population exceeding 40 million, according to The Washington Post's 'Fatal Force' database) -- and indeed other quality-of-life markers have been equalizing for significant numbers of Black people since the civil rights movement -- the death of [Trayvon] Martin followed by [Michael] Brown (regardless of the specific contingencies of that case), and a high-profile slate of videotaped police and vigilante killings that converged with the proliferation of camera-equipped smartphones and the pervasiveness of social media, thwarted any self-congratulatory sense of the inevitability of social progress still alive in the first half of Obama's second administration." Huh? In addition to such passages, 'Summer of Our Discontent' includes many distended excerpts -- some spanning three pages -- from not-so-obscure sources, including The Times. Midway through the book, Williams chides another writer on the race beat for propounding 'an excruciatingly simplistic tale, fueled by a powerful unwillingness and incapacity to grapple with contemporary American racial and social complexity.' Regrettably, I know the feeling.
August 4, 2025 at 10:45 PM
theglipper.bsky.social
Why not both.
Pigpen speaking and gesturing, surrounded by his usual cloud of dust.
July 25, 2025 at 3:43 PM
theglipper.bsky.social
The feckless Democrats lack the skill to highlight the (reasonably obvious) connections between (a) Americans' economic insecurity, and (b) Trump's attempt to censor a comedian for joking about a rich company bribing Trump for regulatory approval to get even richer. www.nytimes.com/2025/07/23/u...
"When I asked Senator Chris Coons of Delaware if he thought it made sense for his party to keep talking about Colbert, he rolled his eyes. 'Compared to what? Like, millions of people losing health care?' he said, steering our conversation back to Trump’s domestic policy bill. 'I love Stephen Colbert, and his show is very funny,' Senator Tina Smith of Minnesota told me. 'And I also think that what happens with the Colbert show is not like the most salient issue for most voters right now.'"
July 25, 2025 at 3:41 PM
theglipper.bsky.social
Exclusive comment from Death:
Photo: The Ultimate Warrior, wearing orange trunks and with his face paint gone from sweat, celebrates his victory over Hulk Hogan at Wrestlemania VI. He is hoisting his world and intercontinental title belts.
July 24, 2025 at 4:18 PM
theglipper.bsky.social
It remains troubling that Alina Habba still has her law license: www.politico.com/news/2023/11...
"The lawsuit claims that Habba 'groomed' Bianco into believing she was her friend, and that her law firm ultimately drafted the non-disclosure agreement that she signed, which Habba claimed would not be taxed and payments for therapy. Neither was true, according to the suit, and New Jersey since 2019 has barred non-disclosure agreements in cases of workplace harassment. Weeks later, according to the lawsuit, it became public that Habba worked as an attorney for Trump."
July 22, 2025 at 10:15 PM
theglipper.bsky.social
Aka “eight times.” apple.news/AlvuigDfdQRG...
“Her opinion speaks of ‘lawlessness’ no fewer than eight times.”
July 19, 2025 at 3:30 PM
theglipper.bsky.social
Today is Lipper Law’s first birthday. (The firm recently uttered its first word, Yikes.) www.lipperlaw.com
Photo of green brain-shaped stress ball with Lipper Law name and logo, atop a white desk.
July 18, 2025 at 5:20 PM