Today’s Thought from my Readwise collection is from Amanda Knox’s Atlantic essay about how people continue to exploit for profit her identity and the lies told about her.
As someone who has been falsely accused, reading this impacted me in a significant way.
So now I also try to give everyone the benefit of the doubt. We don’t know the whole story about any other person.
I know how it feels for a group of people to be wrong about me. That is a pain I don’t wish on others. So I work to refrain from the judgment of others. I don’t want to make that same mistake.
All of this has made me extremely skeptical of those who easily pass judgment. It has made me allergic to the impulse to flatten others into cardboard, to erase their human complexity, to rage against things about which I know only a snippet. Judgment only gets in the way of understanding. Refraining from judgment has become a way of life for me. Call it radical empathy, or extreme benefit of the doubt. I know how wrong people were about me, and I don’t ever want to be that wrong about another person. The world is not filled with monsters and heroes; it’s filled with people, and people are extraordinarily complex.
“My Identity Continues to Be Exploited,” by Amanda Knox in The Atlantic
The Long Twilight Struggle is a newsletter focused on opposing authoritarianism, Christian nationalism, corruption, tech broligarchs, and wrongful convictions. I also share comments about other stories I’ve found interesting in politics, sports, and culture.
In this edition:
It’s about time that all of the connections between Trump and Epstein are making news; I was skeptical about a conspiracy theory involving Vice President Vance and the Murdochs until Trump made a post today; thoughts about law enforcement using AI to make false arrests, Peter Thiel’s Antichrist theology; Hulk Hogan was a racist scab; clearing my tabs; and what’s giving me hope!
Here we go. I’m glad you’re here.
Opening Thought:
“It might be helpful for you to know that you are not alone. And that in the long, twilight struggle which lies ahead of us, there is the possibility of hope.” “The Long Twilight Struggle.” Babylon 5, created and written by J. Michael Straczynski, Season 2, Episode 20, 1995.
Leading Off
MAGA has a solid motivation for its anger about the Jeffrey Epstein scandal. His crimes demonstrate how elite and powerful individuals frequently escape accountability for their actions while officials ignore the victims.
After all, how was Epstein able to operate his sex trafficking ring for so long? Why did Epstein receive a sweetheart nonprosecution agreement from the Department of Justice in 2008?
Was the DOJ told to make a deal? Vicky Ward, who has been writing about Epstein since 2003, reported that the U.S. attorney in charge of making that plea deal, Alexander Acosta, told Trump transition officials that he “was told Epstein ‘belonged to intelligence’ and to leave it alone,” while preparing for his 2019 Secretary of Labor confirmation hearings.
And some people wonder why people want to get to the bottom of what the hell has been going on with Epstein and the government? Where are the files that the Trump Regime promised?
I have been frustrated for years that the MAGA cultists have ignored President Trump’s long-time connection with Jeffrey Epstein.
There is overwhelming evidence that Trump and Epstein were close friends. As Nina Burleigh explains in a post that summarizes what we know about Epstein and Trump’s interactions, “More than half of all the photos of Epstein in the Getty archive between 1987 and 2004 seem to be with Trump or at Mar-a-Lago.” Virginia Giuffre, Prince Andrew’s late accuser, was working as a locker room attendant at Mar-a-Lago when Ghislaine Maxwell recruited her.
People have been reposting their previously largely ignored reports on BlueSky and other social media sites. And if you are online at all, you’ve seen the collages of all of the photos of Trump, Epstein, and Maxwell together. Media outlets have been unearthing new photos and videos of them together at events—including Trump’s 1993 wedding to Marla Maples.
It is useless to complain today about the lack of this kind of media follow-up at any point since Trump came down that golden escalator in 2015. (So, let me take a deep and cleansing breath.)
However, we are witnessing how the media can prioritize a story when they choose to do so. We see how the media can keep a story on its front pages and keep advancing it with follow-up reporting.
But after all the scandals involving Trump: why this story? Are publications keeping it alive because people across the political spectrum (and not just liberals) are angry at what they see? Do we finally have a Trump scandal they are willing to flood the zone to cover because they can’t be accused of liberal bias since MAGAites are also upset?
Well, yeah, duh.
It’s about time. The victims deserved this kind of serious coverage long before now.
So, About the Vice President
In the midst of all the coverage of the president and his inelegant attempts to cover up his relationship with Epstein, there was a news nugget that I want to make sure we don’t overlook.
It may be nothing. But given JD Vance’s—and his patron, Peter Thiel’s—ambitions, it is notable how the Vice President has been a bit cagey in his support of Trump throughout the past week.
Jonathan V. Last explains how Vance has been hedging his support of Trump since Elon Musk went rogue at the beginning of June. Vance didn’t condemn Musk at the time. He didn’t express full support for the Iran bombing. And he’s refused to say that Trump has no connections to Epstein. Given the many other instances where Vance has willingly denied reality, I agree with Last that these are posts worth noting.
Right after the Trump-Musk falling out, Vance went to Montana for a secret meeting with Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch. There was confusion this week about whether there were one or two meetings, and whether the potential second meeting happened after the Wall Street Journal published its scoop about the profane birthday letter Trump allegedly wrote to Epstein.
After clarifications, it appears that there was just one secret meeting among them on June 10. But why was Vance meeting with the Murdochs after Musk provided the initial fire to the Epstein-Trump connection’s flames? Given Vance’s refusal to fully support Trump the past few weeks, was that meeting an attempt by Vance to solidify connections in case Trump is unable to survive this attack?
Even more intriguing, I wonder if Vance was actually pushing the story forward since the tech broligarchs—like Thiel and Musk—are his primary supporters?
Yeah, that may be a bit far-fetched. And after the clarification of the Vance-Murdoch meeting’s timeline, I grew more skeptical of this conspiracy.
That is, until today, when President Trump posted this on his knockoff social media site:
Screenshot of a Photoshopped image of the June 1994 O.J. Simpson police pursuit with President Obama in the white bronco and Vice President Vance and President Trump in police cars following behind.
I could go down a rabbit hole here about how Trump’s altered image here does not support his false claim that Obama is a traitor. (I’ll just note that Trump has previously said that he thought Simpson was framed and O.J. was not driving the Bronco, so how does this make his deranged case that Obama is guilty?)
Donald Trump is one of the all-time great social media trolls. He is also quick to take offense at people who he feels are not 100 percent loyal to him.
Given Trump’s history, I believe the use of the Babyface Vance meme is not a mistake. Whether or not Vance is doing something sneaky, it’s pretty clear that Trump is taking a shot across the bow of his Vice President.
And I am left to wonder why.
No, none of this is normal.
Tabs I Closed Above
Is JD Vance Out to Destroy Trump?(Jonathan V. Last, The Bulwark, Link to Article)
Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein: A Timeline of Their Long Bromance (Nina Burleigh, American Freakshow, Link to Article)
Jeffrey Epstein’s Friends Sent Him Bawdy Letters for a 50th Birthday Album. One Was From Donald Trump. (By Khadeeja Safdar and Joe Palazzolo, Wall Street Journal, Link to Article)
Virginia Giuffre: What we know about Prince Andrew’s accuser (BBC, Link to Article)
“I Was Told Epstein ‘Belonged to Intelligence’ And to Leave It Alone.” (Josh Marshall, Talking Points Memo, Link to Article)
Jeffrey Epstein’s Former Prosecutors Used ‘Poor Judgment’ In Deal, DOJ Says (Jaclyn Diaz, National Public Radio, Link to Article)
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Authoritarianism
Tulsi Gabbard’s Dangerous Disinformation Campaign Against America (David Corn, Mother Jones, Link to Article) The Trump Regime’s war against former President Obama and members of his administration is based on a series of fabrications. Here’s how far she had to sink to get back into Trump’s good graces.
Woman says ‘pro-life’ Texas Republican paid for multiple abortions(Laura Bassett, Nightcap, Link to Article) The Texas state representative who wrote the state’s abortion campaign ended his reelection campaign this week after admitting a 17-year affair with a woman who says he paid for several abortions. These are the people stripping women of their rights.
The intolerable memes of Alligator Alcatraz(Gaby Del Valle, The Verge, Link to Article) I am old enough to remember when the consensus was that concentration camps were not funny. And make no mistake, what is happening in Florida is a concentration camp. There must be consequences for this cruelty.
I Watched It Happen in Hungary. Now It’s Happening Here. (David Pressman, The New York Times, Link to Article) A former ambassador to Hungary explains how Trump is running Victor Orbán’s playbook to sideline the press as part of his authoritarian attempt.
Christian Nationalism
If MAGA Is So Upset About Epstein, They Should Hear About Baptists!(Evan Hurst, The Moral High Ground, Link to Article) Evan Hurst provides his latest monthly update of the “Christian” pastors, priests, youth leaders, teachers, and others who have been arrested or convicted of sex crimes against minors. He’s up to 125 through the first half of the year.
Trump and the Catholic Church Fight a Law Requiring Clergy to Report Child Abuse (Alex Ashley, Rolling Stone, Link to Article) Given everything else going on with Trump right now, it certainly is interesting that he is opposing a vital effort to protect children from abusers. Catholic doctrine about confessions is not more important than the safety of children.
Corruption
Trump, Epstein, and the WWE Ring Boys (Karim Zidan, Sports Politika, Link to Article) While we are discussing Donald Trump’s connections to pedophiles, let’s not forget the World Wrestling Entertainment ring boy scandal cover-up allegations involving his Education Secretary, Linda McMahon.
Tech Broligarchs
Stop Pretending Chatbots Have Feelings: Media’s Dangerous AI Anthropomorphism Problem (Parker Molloy, The Present Age, Link to Article) The media needs to stop misleading the public about how it is covering artificial intelligence. Large language models are unable to engage in self-reflection. The real story, as Molloy explains, is the tech broligarchy’s failure to implement basic safety measures before releasing these programs to the public. Our reporters should stop being cheerleaders for corporate negligence.
Peter Thiel and the Antichrist (Interview of Peter Thiel by Ross Douthat, The New York Times, Link to Article) Given his connections to Vice President JD Vance, and as the closest thing we have to an intellectual leader of the tech broligarchs, understanding Peter Thiel’s bizarre worldview is vital.
Is Peter Thiel the Antichrist? NYT Didn’t Think to Ask(Gil Duran, The Nerd Reich, Link to Article) Thiel thinks climate emergency activist Greta Thunberg is the Antichrist because, well, because he is a bizarre man. However, his wealth and connections make him an influential figure. As Duran writes, “The whole DOGE destruction of government? Thiel wanted to do that during the first Trump term. Curtis Yarvin’s influence over the Republican Party? Thiel funded him and pushed his ideas for decades. Vice President JD Vance? Thiel funded his entire career and political rise.”
Wrongful Convictions and False Allegations
California cops are breaking surveillance laws. Who’s going to stop them? (Tomoki Chien, The San Francisco Standard, Link to Article) It’s well past time for the police agencies breaking this law to be held accountable. No more letters of concern. The stakes are too high given what other states are trying to do to criminalize women traveling to other states for abortions and reproductive health services. Time for bad cops to go to jail. We need to see California Attorney General Rob Bonta and his team make this issue a higher priority.
Police Use Busted Facial Recognition System, Arrest Random Man and Accuse Him of Horrible Crime (Joe Wilkins, Futurism, Link to Article) Here’s another example of law enforcement’s misuse of facial recognition systems leading to a wrongful arrest. It is well past time to establish safeguards as these tools become more prevalent.
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Other Reflections
Hulk Hogan, Trump idol and enemy of the free press, dead at 71(Josephine Riesman, The Handbasket, Link to Article) Oh, how Hogan deserves this fuckeulogy. The line between Peter Thiel using Hogan to destroy Gawker and our current authoritarian hellscape is quite short. Oligarchs destroying media outlets and demanding huge payments is bad for a democracy.
Hulk Hogan Was a Racist, Liar, and Scab (Dave Zirin, The Nation, Link to Article) I love it when the headline is to the point. No, I won’t be celebrating such a legacy.
Hulk Hogan Was A Racist Scab, And Now He’s Dead (Robyn Pennacchia, Wonkette, Link to Article) I thought I would say it louder for the people in the back.
The Possibility of Hope
I am encouraged by the people who are opposing the ongoing mass deportation efforts by confronting the secret police agents who are taking people off our streets. We need them to feel shame for doing their secret work behind masks and unmarked cars.
“Consider how this evasion plays out in our current discourse:
We don’t say “Trump is implementing fascist policies.” We say “Trump’s approach raises concerns about democratic norms.”
We don’t say “Republicans are supporting mass deportation operations.” We say “There are disagreements about immigration enforcement strategies.”
We don’t say “Conservative media spreads lies designed to enable authoritarianism.” We say “Different sources present different perspectives on complex issues.”
We don’t say “MAGA supporters have chosen to enable fascism.” We say “There are legitimate grievances driving political polarization.”
Each euphemism makes the reality a little less clear, a little less urgent, a little less morally demanding. Each hedge creates space for people to avoid confronting what they’re witnessing or participating in. Each refusal to name plainly is a small act of collaboration with the forces that depend on confusion to operate.” (Mike Brock, The Moral Imperative of Clear Language, TechDirt, July 1, 2025)”
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People were hurt and police officers died protecting the Capitol. Vice President Pence and other elected officials just barely escaped danger. Our national streak of peaceful transfers of power ended.
It was not, as Trump claims, a “day of love.” And we must resist his efforts to rewrite the history of that dark day.
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Here are five things I found interesting while on the internet:
1. It should not be difficult for wrongfully convicted people to get a judge to review new evidence or science relevant to their case. The Innocence Project shared a story about how a wrongfully convicted man used a re-run of the Discovery Channel’s Mythbusters to prove his innocence. “In 2007, John Galvan was about 21 years into a life sentence for a crime he didn’t commit when he saw something on the prison television he thought might finally help him prove his innocence and secure his freedom: A re-run of an episode of the Discovery Channel’s MythBusters.” Galvin was convicted after a coerced false confession under the theory that he and two others had “started the fire by throwing a bottle filled with gasoline at the building and then tossing a cigarette into the pool of gasoline on the porch to ignite it.” That Mythbusters episode demonstrated that while this may be a frequent plot point in movies and television shows, it isn’t scientifically possible. It took 15 years for Galvin and his attorneys to use this science to get the false convictions suppressed. Illinois freed Galvin and the two others falsely convicted earlier this year after they served a combined 105 years in prison for a crime they did not commit.
2. Jessica Valenti warns about the next lie forced birth activists will try to use to keep women and people capable of becoming pregnant from receiving necessary health care. Republicans have learned that the radical laws they’ve enacted are unpopular with voters. As Valenti explains, “And with horror stories from anti-choice states rolling in at record speed—from sobbing cancer patients and raped children being denied care to women going into sepsis—conservatives have realized that they need a new message and tweaked legislation. And they need it fast.” So we are about to see anti-choice activists suggest amendments to these laws to guarantee equal care for the mother and child. But this is just another so-called abortion exception that is a lie designed to protect Republican politicians instead of patients. Valenti shares how this equal care standard would have complicated critical medical decisions during her pregnancy. Doctors and patients should make health care decisions, not political activists.
3. Humanity does not have a plan for what to do if we detect a signal from an alien civilization. And this could be a problem, as The Guardian’s Ian Sample explains. “It would be a transformative event for humankind, one the world’s nations are surely prepared for. Or are they? “Look at the mess we made when Covid hit. We’d be like headless chickens,” says Dr John Elliott, a computational linguist at the University of St Andrews. “We cannot afford to be ill-prepared, scientifically, socially, and politically rudderless, for an event that could happen at any time and which we cannot afford to mismanage.” Elliott is bringing together researchers to propose ways to get ready, including whether we should even respond. That’s a complicated question, one scientists and science fiction writers like Liu Cixin (in his masterpiece The Three-Body Problem) have considered. I don’t think we should respond because of the risks involved, but I am glad some people are thinking about this challenge.
4. Ten Major League umpires are retiring this year, the highest number since 1999. As Bleacher Nation’s Brett Taylor explains, this kind of turnover has some benefits: “The sudden openings mean MLB will be able to promote ten new umpires from the minor leagues, where there will already have been familiarity with the new rules, and, in most cases, with the automated balls and strikes system.” That is a good point. But I continue to be stunned that a couple of particularly bad umpires are not on this list and continue on like a bad sitcom.
5. President Ulysses S. Grant couldn’t hear music and was particularly sensitive to military songs. As Salon’s Matthew Rozsa writes, Grant (along with Theodore Roosevelt and William Taft had “…congenital amusia, or an inability to hear music and understand it as — well — music. To those with the condition, music typically sounds cacophonous, like noise.” I may need to use this factoid in pub trivia someday.
Here are five things I found interesting while on the internet today:
1. We must stop tolerating the police and prosecutors who do not seem to care if their lies and mistakes put innocent people in jail. ProPublica’s Brett Murphy exposes how a small-town Ohio police officer has successfully spread the junk science idea that it is possible to tell if a 911 caller is lying. Murphy’s article, They Called 911 for Help. Police and Prosecutors Used a New Junk Science to Decide They Were Liars, made me angrier with each paragraph. Police and prosecutors who believe in this junk science have sent innocent people to jail. Here’s one example shared by Murphy:
“Almost everything Carpenter said — and didn’t say — was evidence of deception, according to the state police agent who analyzed her call.
Lewis found 39 guilty indicators and zero indicators of innocence. Carpenter was arrested eight days later. Newspapers and television stations published the 56-year-old’s mugshot.
She spent three months in jail before someone else confessed to the crime.”(emphasis added)
This outcome is wrong. We need to keep junk science out of our courtrooms. And I was also not surprised to learn that the person pushing this fallacy is a police officer who has made misogynistic and transphobic posts on Facebook.
2. It turns out election disinformation isn’t just for national elections. The Los Angeles Times’ Mark Barabak focuses his column, It’s not just Russia and China targeting Washington. Disinformation is a problem in local races too, on a school board race in the San Ramon Unified School District. This school district is in the East Bay of the San Francisco Bay Area, about 20 minutes south of where I live. A radical conservative candidate won the election by 236 votes. But, as Barabak explains, supporters of the winning candidate spread a lie about an opponent’s background. It could have been a factor in the result. Barabak’s column does a great job of amplifying the original reporting in this story by the East Bay Times’ Rachel Heimann Mercader.
3. Parker Malloy shares was she wrote for the annual journalism predictions effort by Harvard University’s Nieman Journalism Lab in this post at her The Present Age Substack. She explains what she believes the dire financial situation in the media ecosystem will likely cause. “I worry that all of this will make the media ecosystem so weak that what’s left will be a mess of “pink slime” content, politically driven propaganda, and a reliance on curated material from outlets chasing new subscriptions and an ever-shrinking share of ad revenue, tied to the whims and business decisions of billionaire social media tycoons. And that’s where the moral panics come in.” I fear that’s correct. Malloy also highlights some other predictions you may find helpful to have in mind for the coming year.
4. Molly Knight is one of my favorite baseball writers, and she recaps her 2022 in this post on her The Long Game Substack. It hasn’t been an easy year for her, but she’s continued to write outstanding articles about many subjects and build a fun community. Even if you don’t like baseball, reading how the COVID-19 infection she got at the All-Star Game should remind all of us that we still don’t know how much this can impact all of us. As Knight writes, “I mention all of the stumbles I endured in 2022 because I know so many of you are hurting during this time of year, and it can feel so isolating to go online and see the curated and airbrushed lives of friends and strangers on social media who seem to have it all together.”
5. The Guardian shares its list of the world‘s top 100 female soccer players. Reviewing the profiles of these players is a great way to prepare for the 2023 Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand beginning on July 20. Meg Swanick listed the Americans in the top 100:
16- Cat Macario 18- Alex Morgan 21- Soph Smith 29- Lindsey Horan 33- Rose Lavelle 36- Mal Pugh 47- Trinity Rodman 66- Naomi Girma 70- Megan Rapinoe 88- Mia Fishel 93- Becky Sauerbrunn
And, something I want to do as many days as possible because the issue is so essential: Jessica Valenti at Abortion, Every Day recaps the news from across the country regarding reproductive freedom and sexual and reproductive health care. She explains what is happening in Louisiana: “Well, we’re seeing that terror in stark action: OBGYNs in the state are refusing to see pregnant women until they’re 12 weeks along, because they’re afraid that the high risk for miscarriage in that first trimester could end up making them a target for investigation.” Valenti covers what is happening around the country, including another story that explains why we need to be concerned about protecting the health privacy of women and other people who can become pregnant.
Here are five things I found interesting while on the internet today:
1. In Southwest Airlines’ Christmas Meltdown Shows How Corporations Deliberately Pit Consumers Against Low-Wage Workers, Adam Johnson explains so much about our economy really works. As he explains, many corporations prioritize profits, dividends, and stock buybacks over customer service and worker safety. “Watching video after video, reading tweet after tweet, describing frustrated stranded holiday travelers yelling at Southwest Airlines workers, and hearing, in turn, accounts of airline workers and airport staff breaking down crying, is a good opportunity to talk about how none of this is natural or inevitable. It is a choice, both in corporate policy and government regulation.” Johnson explains how these deliberate choices by corporate leaders harm workers and erode the trust between members of the working class.
2. Do you want to know how Ticketmaster became part of live events we hate? How did those service fees get so high, and how can they continue to have a stranglehold on the business despite fiascos like what Taylor Swift fans just experienced? The American Prospect’s Maureen Tkacik and Krista Brown go into the history of deregulation, kickbacks, politics, and threats that created this horrible experience in Ticketmaster’s Dark History. If only Pearl Jam could have gotten more support when they tried to fight back in the 1990s.
3. University of California San Francisco’s Dr. Bob Wachter shares how he weighs attending public events with the risk of being infected by Covid in this informative Twitter thread. People must make informed choices given how little we know about Long Covid. This is a personal choice, and everyone will have different risk tolerance levels.
4. I missed this article earlier in the year, but the reporting The Atlantic’s Tim Alberta does in this article about how politics has infected the evangelical movement is essential to understanding today’s politics. Alberta explains, “But a year’s worth of conversations with pastors, denominational leaders, evangelical scholars, and everyday Christians tells a clear story: Substantial numbers of evangelicals are fleeing their churches, and most of them are moving to ones further to the right.”
5. I enjoyed reading what Meg Swanick shared in this Substack about soccer and what she observed on A Train Journey to Leeds. She was taking the trip to watch Manchester City and Leeds start their post-World Cup seasons. How Leeds does is vital to many United States soccer fans, given that their coach and a few key players are Americans.
And…Jessica Valenti at Abortion, Every Day recaps the news from across the country regarding reproductive freedom and sexual and reproductive health care. In today’s edition: stories about why Republican politicians in red states are working to prevent ballot measures to protect these rights, a West Virginia Republican who wants to write a law to reduce specific sentences if the person convicted is willing to undergo sterilization, a new study that shows a link between abortion restrictions and increased suicide rates among women, and why we all should be concerned about the upcoming Republican attacks against contraception.
Here are five things I found interesting while on the internet today:
1. James Fallows analyses Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s speech to a Joint Session of Congress earlier this month. In The Skill Involved in Zelensky’s Congressional Address, Fallows provides an overview of what the Ukrainian president was trying to do, including a line-by-line analysis of the presentation. As Fallows explains, “In both parts I’ll be saying that the speech was carefully thought out as a piece of writing, and powerfully presented as a moment in living history. Zelensky could hardly have done more, or done anything more effective, to get his country’s message across.” In a follow-up post, Fallows talks to an aide to Zelenskyy about how the speech was put together and how they worked to ensure it worked in a language that isn’t his native tongue.
2. Over on her Men Yell at Me substack, Lyz Lenz gets the help of some notable writers to determine the 2022 Dingus of the Year. As Lenz explains, “We have to find humor in the fight. We have to point out the oddities, the eccentricities. We have to say out loud that emperors are naked, it’s not okay to “both sides” trans rights, and that, actually, NFTs are a scam, and Amazon is evil. We have to call a dingus a dingus when we see it.” As the post makes clear, it was quite a year for dingus activity.
4. Jessica Valenti at Abortion Every Day recaps the news from across the country regarding reproductive freedom and sexual and reproductive health care. Among the awful news is a story about how Texas is looking to expand its abortion bounty law to prevent pregnant people from leaving the state.
5.
Hey George Santos is bad. I get it. But don’t let that clown car distract us from the fact that there are MAGA Republicans in Congress who were, at worst, part of an effort to OVERTHROW THE GOVERNMENT, and at best, totally OK with that happening.
A few people have asked me about the California Justice Retention elections that appear on our California ballots this year.
California voters have the opportunity to decide whether to retain Justices on our Appellate Courts during gubernatorial election years. The Los Angeles Times explained the process in a recent editorial:
“Retention elections are held only in gubernatorial election years. Appointees generally begin serving as soon as they are confirmed by a three-person commission, and they then face voters the next time the governor is on the ballot. But their first election isn’t necessarily to a full 12-year term. Justices must first complete the unexpired terms of their predecessors, then return to the ballot for a full term. Liu, for example, was appointed in 2011, then was on the ballot in 2014 for the remainder of a term that expires at the beginning of next year. Now he’s is running for his first full term.”
Every Californian can vote on the retention elections for four California Supreme Court Justices. Since I live in Contra Costa County, I will also vote on the retention elections of nine Justices on the California Court of Appeal’s First Division. (As will all voters in Alameda, Contra Costa, Del Norte, Humboldt, Lake, Marin, Mendocino, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Solano, and Sonoma Counties.)
All of the judges in these counties were appointed either by Governor Jerry Brown or Governor Gavin Newsom. I haven’t found any significant controversy, so I plan to vote to retain all of them.
Here are more details about the backgrounds of these judges. You can also learn more about them, or if you live in other parts of California, learn more about the Court of Appeal judges who will appear on your ballot by clicking here: https://www.courts.ca.gov/courtsofappeal.htm.
Chief Justice of California’s Supreme Court Patricia Guerrero (Newsom Appointee for Chief Justice in August 2022, was Newsom Appointee for Associate Justice in March 2022)
Associate Justices of California’s Supreme Court Goodwin Liu (Brown Appointee in 2011, Retained by Voters in 2014) Martin J. Jenkins (Newsom Appointee in 2020) Joshua P. Groban (Brown Appointee in 2018)
Associate Justice, Court of Appeal, First District, Division Two Therese M. Stewart (Brown Appointee in 2014)
Presiding Justice, Court of Appeal, First District, Division Three Alison M. Tucher (Newsom Appointee for Presiding Justice in 2021, was Brown Appointee to Associate Justice, First District, Division Four in 2018)
Associate Justice, Court of Appeal, First District, Division Three Victor A. Rodríguez (Newsom Appointee in 2021) Ioana Petrou (Brown Appointee in 2018) Carin T. Fujisaki (Brown Appointee in 2018)
Associate Justice, Court of Appeal, First District, Division Four Tracie L. Brown (Brown Appointee in 2018) Jeremy M. Goldman (Newsom Appointee in 2022)
Presiding Justice, Court of Appeal, First District, Division Five Teri L. Jackson (Newsom Appointee as Associate Justice in 2019, Newsom Appointee as Presiding Justice in 2021)
Associate Justice, Court of Appeal, First District, Division Five Gordon B. Burns (Brown Appointee in 2018)
Leigh Giangreco explores the day in a Washington Post feature story:
Given real-life time constraints and logistics, we had to make tweaks to fit every activity.First, it’s nearly impossible to find a parade and a home game for the Cubs on a weekday, but on Saturday, Sept. 10, we found both a game and the actual parade from the movie.
The Cubs and the parade? Now that’s well played. Fair play to the tweaks, and all the planning it took to take all of it in.
If you love Ferris Bueller, this story is worth your time.
Judd Legum at Popular Information goes into the history of the independent state legislature theory and how it could be used to overturn any 2024 election result to which Republicans object. Chief Justice John Roberts, who gets far too much credit from liberals, has laid the foundation for this dangerous theory in a series of opinions that struck down many voter rights laws. And Federalist Society leader Leonard Leo, who has been successful in overseeing radical right efforts to take over the Supreme Court and much of the federal judiciary, is now raising money to push this theory.
As Legum explains:
The independent state legislature theory was promoted by Trump’s lawyers after the 2020 election to argue that state legislatures could simply ignore the election results and appoint electors pledged to Trump. Such actions, according to the independent state legislature theory, would be unreviewable by state courts even if they directly violated state constitutions.
Advocates of the independent state legislature theory argue that this means that, apart from Congress, the state legislature has absolute power over the administration of elections. This power, according to the theory, cannot be constrained by state constitutions or state courts.
The most important thing to know about the independent state legislature theory is that it makes no sense. State legislatures do not exist independently. They are created and constrained by state constitutions. And state courts interpret state constitutions.
The idea that the intention of the Election Clause is to allow state legislatures to violate the state constitution is absurd.
