Will The Rubber Meet The Road? We'll Know Very Soon.
Shipwreckedcrew has a quite lengthy article out on Pennsylvania development, but the implications can be briefly summarized for those who want the bottom line:
Yesterday GOP Congressman Mike Kelly, GOP congressional candidate Sean Parnell, and five others filed an Emergency Application for a Writ of Injunction with Justice Samuel Alito of the Supreme Court, seeking to prevent Pennsylvania officials from taking any remaining steps to certify the election result or name Electors for Joe Biden to the Electoral College.
This is a very interesting development and will give us a strong indication as to the willingness of the Supreme Court to enter into the election litigation brawl.
Most people, including me, assume from Alito's past opinions regarding the actions of Pennsylvania Supreme Court in rewriting PA election law that Alito is very much in favor of the SCOTUS taking up this case. Those earlier opinions came in the context of an 8 member pre-Justice Amy SCOTUS, which deadlocked 4-4, thanks to Roberts. SWC gives a full account of those opinions and you can read all about it, but the point is this: It's a new game, now. There won't be any 4-4 opinion if the SCOTUS takes it on. How would that happen? Here's how:
Justice Alito has the authority under Supreme Court rules to issue the Emergency Injunction on his own authority, and then refer the matter to the entire Court for further consideration. The Justices are individually assigned to the 13 Circuit Courts of Appeal for purposes of receiving matters such as this, and take action individually in order to act promptly in situations with time is of the essence. ...
SWC goes through all the legal ins and outs. It's complicated for non-lawyers but he does a good job. But here's his bottom line:
I expect Justice Alito will act quickly on this application — he might have done so while I’ve been writing this — and then refer the matter to the full court for further determination.
If Justice Alito denies the injunction, then that would be a signal that there are not five votes on the Court to enter into the fight over Pennsylvania’s 20 electoral votes in connection with any of the matters now pending or making their way to the Court.
If Justice Alito grants the injunction, preventing further steps at naming electors in Pennsylvania, and that decision is affirmed by four other Justices, then you can pretty well assume that it’s “Game On” in the SCOTUS with regard to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court and State/County Election Officials.
IOW, if Alito denies the injunction it's very hard to see a second term for President Trump.