Alexander Linden

Hate is too great a burden to bear.

[Jake Sherman @JakeSherman]

Bombshell report from the post. Taxpayers funding half of the WH ballroom construction. https://t.co/JosTbv87Md

[Alexander Linden @AlexBLinden]

This rocks.

[Joe Bishop-Henchman 🗽💸⚖️🚆 @jbhenchman]

In its short order list today, the Supreme Court including something stunning. They have agreed to hear the case of Kian v. Florida in the fall, which is about the constitutionality of juries of less than 12 people.

Kian was convicted of practicing medicine without a license by a 6-person jury, as allowed by Florida law for non-death penalty cases. 44 states require 12-person juries, so Florida is an outlier (with Arizona, Connecticut, Indiana, Massachusetts, and Utah).

In Williams v. Florida (1970), the Supreme Court upheld this Florida 6-person jury law over the dissents of Justices Thurgood Marshall and John Marshall Harlan. Justice Marshall curtly said that anyone going to prison for the rest of their life should get a 12-person jury. Justice Harlan noted that federal cases get 12-person juries and state juries should be no less.

Kian, in his petition, directly asked the Supreme Court to overturn the Williams precedent from 1970. For their part, Florida first didn't even respond and then when ordered to by the Court, warned that reversing Williams could overturn 5,000 convictions in the state.

In 2022, Justices Kavanaugh and Gorsuch dissented from the Court's refusal to hear a challenge to Arizona's 8-person jury law. Kavanaugh did not explain his dissent, but Justice Gorsuch laid out his argument that the original meaning of juries at the Founding was 12, not 8. Gorsuch wrote in 2022: "Williams was wrong the day it was decided, it remains wrong today, and it impairs both the integrity of the American criminal justice system and the liberties of those who come before our Nation’s courts."

In 2024, Justice Gorsuch dissented alone from a denial of another case, Cunningham v. Florida. He wrote that 6-member juries depart from the original meaning of the Constitution - juries at the Founding meant 12, not 6. Gorsuch wrote in 2024: "If there are not yet four votes on this Court to take up the question whether Williams should be overturned, I can only hope that someday there will be."

That the Court will hear the case shows that now at least 4 justices want to hear the case. It will take 5 justices to overrule Williams.

Also worth noting: Kian has no fancy law firm representing him. He filed a pauperis form asking that court filing fees be waived and is represented by a public defender. The case seems to have been missed by everyone until now - no amicus briefs were filed by any other organizations urging that the case be heard. (That will certainly change by when it's argued in the fall.) But someone - or 4 someones - on the Supreme Court picked it out of the thousands of appeals they get and decided to take it up as one of less than 100 cases they'll hear next term.

[Alexander Linden @AlexBLinden]

Not a problem in South Dakota, but many states allow 6-person juries.

[SCOTUS Wire @scotus_wire]

🚨 The Supreme Court will decide whether to overrule Williams v. Florida and hold that the Sixth Amendment requires 12-person juries in all serious felony cases.

[Alexander Linden @AlexBLinden]

Glad to see this conservative columnist bravely push back against Rob Sand's idea to make politicians....talk to their constituents?

[The Gazette @gazettedotcom]

Opinion: Rob Sand’s mandatory town hall plan is probably illegal https://t.co/UYskRjhovG

[austerity is theft @wideofthepost]

Kate was a spokeswoman for John Edwards in 2008, and stayed on to the end after the Enquirer broke that he was cheating on his cancer stricken wife with a campaign videographer, fathering her child, and as we later learned committed 6 campaign finance felonies to cover it up.

[Rob Sand @RobSandIA]

@jdunwell Hey Jon! Hope you are doing well. Couldn't help but notice you shared the ending balance in FY24. That's 2 years old. Please go ahead and tell them the expected ending balance for FY26, which ends in 3 weeks. Then let us know your plan to arrive at a balanced budget.

[Alexander Linden @AlexBLinden]

A homeless man was killed in Des Moines, Iowa yesterday after a tree fell on him during a storm.

[Yashar Ali 🐘 @yashar]

BREAKING

Elon Musk is now a trillionaire.

With SpaceX now trading above $150 per share, Musk has become the first private citizen in modern history to reach a trillion-dollar net worth.

According to Bloomberg, the closest private citizen to him is Google co-founder Larry Page, whose net worth is roughly $304 billion.

[Alexander Linden @AlexBLinden]

What the fuck kind of a question is that?

[Aaron Rupar @atrupar]

MIKA: Given your sexting, can you call for the release of the Epstein files and not be conflicted in any way?

PLATNER: Yes, of course. I engaged in consensual romantic activities with adults at an earlier part of my life. That seems like a fairly normal thing most people do. Going to an island with billionaires to possibly assault children is a vastly, vastly different thing.

[Alexander Linden @AlexBLinden]

Graham Platner will beat Susan Collins and silence a lot of wealthy Democratic establishment goofballs.

[Tina Smith @TinaSmithMN]

Graham Platner is gonna win because he has connected with Mainers on what they really care about: How this country can work for them, not just the wealthy.

He’ll win because he’s not part of the Washington establishment.

If I voted in Maine he’d have my support, no question.

[Alexander Linden @AlexBLinden]

Rob Sand announced his running mate will be Dave Muhlbauer today. I met Dave five years ago. Great choice!

[Alexander Linden @AlexBLinden]

The fight never ends here in Iowa. It was a pleasure to hear from Johnson County Supervisor candidate @modestholdings and recently announced US Senate candidate, @DaveMuhlbauer. Ready to get to work!

[Julian Andreone @JulianAndreone]

Graham Platner: “Susan Collins hasn’t met a war she doesn’t like, and it’s no surprise because she’s married to a lobbyist who represents the defense industry. You don’t see as many articles about that.”

[Douglas Farrar @DouglasLFarrar]

Main source is a self described “bitter ex” GOP operative who worked at the Heritage Foundation and said in a group chat, “I will personally go campaign for Collins.”

The piece says the NYT “could not corroborate” her claims.

NYT rarely runs things they can’t double source.

[Emma Vigeland @EmmaVigeland]

So, unless there's something else coming, the big NYT exposé is that Platner was a bad boyfriend to some women but also a good boyfriend to other women?
https://t.co/IkaJnQ8LsR

["like a dog ever wanting of mutiny" @postpacem]

😢😢

[Lyz Lenz @lyzl]

This race was not about progressives v Schumer because no one in the state ever bought Wahls as an outsider and that dynamic isn’t motivating to voters here in Iowa. Iowa Democrats are just tired of losing and they picked the person they thought could win.

[Alexander Linden @AlexBLinden]

@alexstanton60 @Ollie_XVX Why didn't anyone primary Adam Zabner

[Anna Olson @AnnaOlson2006]

V Fixmer-Oraiz just secured the Democratic nomination for District Four to the Johnson County Board of Supervisors defeating Rod Sullivan who has served on the board since 2005. @TheDailyIowan

[Alexander Linden @AlexBLinden]

Pro se litigant!

[Kelsey Reichmann @KelseyReichmann]

NEWS: Supreme Court grants cert on a pro se criminal petition involving a First Step Act question @CourthouseNews

[Orin Kerr @OrinKerr]

The number of warrants obtained by the New York Police Department in the years before Mapp v. Ohio (1961), which applied the exclusionary rule to the states: negligible.

The number of search warrants obtained by NYPD in 1963, after Mapp: 5,132.

https://t.co/28kRBeSmWy