Cobolli’s inside-out forehand is an absolute rocket!

15/Well, this decision comes close to making the Constitution a suicide pact.

14/There's a famous quote: The Constitution is not a suicide pact.

13/That's bonkers and elevates Article II protection to a full-blown constitutional obsession over all other competing constitutional norms, as well as common sense.

12/This gets everything backward. It basically suggests that the Constitution needs to protect an Article II authority to discuss subverting an election and overturning the will of the people.

11/"Applying a criminal prohibition to the President’s conversations discussing such matters with the Vice President—even though they concern his role as President of the Senate—may well hinder the President’s ability to perform his constitutional functions."

10/Finally, the majority adds this shocker to its discussion of this issue:

9/Immunities are for the defendant to assert and carry.

8/Of course, a presumptive immunity can be overcome, but the problem is that it shifts the burden of disproving the immunity to the government, where it doesn't belong.

7/None of this should be "presumptively immune" from prosecution for this category of conversations.

6/It seems odd for SCOTUS to conclude that the Constitution protects a president's authority to violate the Constitution. That would be self-defeating for a Constitution to do that.

5/None of this should be regarded as "official conduct" under any circumstances.

4/even worse hypothetical: "Your official responsibility under the Constitution is to take care that the laws are faithfully executed, but you should do the opposite of what the Constitution requires."

3/even worse hypothetical: "Your official responsibility is to do x, but you should ignore it and commit a murder." Or....

2/Imagine the following hypothetical conversation: "Your official responsibility is to do x, but you should ignore x and commit a coup with me." Or....

1/The opinion says that "Whenever the President and Vice President discuss their official responsibilities, they engage in official conduct." This cannot be correct.

"With fear for our democracy, I dissent."

@ianmkysel @CornellLaw @profbethlyon We are honored to have you here! You've done great work and have even more contributions ahead of you. I'm so excited to see what the next few years will bring.

At the Rethinking SLIC conference, a surprise guest speaker makes an appearance

The cats, all eight of them, are in charge at my house.