WJI's daily reads for Dec. 16, 2021

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: President Biden nominates Milwaukee County Circuit Judge William Pocan to federal bench.

CNN: President Biden set to pass Trump in first-year judicial nominees.

Slate: Will blue states adopt constitutional vigilantism?

On Wednesday, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced that he would push a bill called the “Stop WOKE Act” allowing parents to use the Texas vigilante lawsuit mechanism to seek a “private right of action” to sue teachers who teach “CRT.” And over the weekend, California Gov. Gavin Newsom suggested his state would copy Texas’ newly blessed scheme of issuing bounties against abortion providers and instead target sellers and manufacturers of certain types of guns. Both laws would deputize private citizens to sue fellow citizens to enforce laws that might otherwise face judicial scrutiny.

Prior to S.B. 8, Republican legislators in a number of states used similar schemes to wage their culture war. For example, as Scott Pilutik reported in Slate in September, Tennessee passed a law allowing lawsuits against schools over transgender bathrooms and Florida passed a law allowing lawsuits against schools for allowing transgender athletes to compete. And Kentucky has passed a version of the measure DeSantis proposed targeting “Critical Race Theory,” while Missouri is allowing lawsuits by anyone who thinks they are being unlawfully denied a gun. These laws existed in a legal gray area until last week’s SCOTUS decision. Now, legislators appear free to write this novel enforcement mechanism into their laws without fear of judicial intervention (though, as others have noted, it’s unlikely this hyperconservative court will apply this standard consistently between red and blue states).

CNN: U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren calls for expanding the U.S. Supreme Court.

"With each move, the court shows why it's important to restore America's faith in an independent judiciary committed to the rule of law," Warren wrote in an opinion article published by The Boston Globe. "To do that, I believe it's time for Congress to yet again use its constitutional authority to expand the number of justices on the Supreme Court."

The Democrat wrote that she did not "come to this conclusion lightly" or because she disagreed with a particular decision but that she came to the conclusion because she believes "the current court threatens the democratic foundations of our nation."

ABA Journal: Appeals court upholds using inmate's Comedy Central interview in his death penalty trial.

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