As regular readers will know, Seth Barrett Tillman and I have spent untold hours over the past six months, and really past three years, on Section 3. But when I walked into the Supreme Court this morning, I felt a sense of closure. All of the arguments that had to be made were made–Seth and I were up till about 10:30 pm last night, working in person (for once) on a final post. Now, the only thing left to do was sit back, relax, and hear what the Justices had to say.
The arguments did not go exactly as I expected, but it was a very rewarding experience. And I suspect that Trump will win big league. Here are my immediate reactions, made based on my hand-scrawled notes. (I may write more when the transcript is released.)
Griffin's Case, which was barely mentioned in Petitioner's opening brief, occupied a lot of the argument. Our amicus brief and article led off with Griffin's Case. We've always seen this decision as a key ground of resolving the case. Justice Kavanaugh referred to the status of Griffin's Case as "liquidated" in light of Federalist 37. Tillman and I made that point expressly in our brief at p. 5.
