“Our research shows that, over the half-century period in which this section of the Voting Rights Act was in effect, thousands of racially discriminatory voting policies were stopped before they could go into effect.
But no longer.”
Bernard LaFayette, the advance man who did the risky groundwork for the voter registration campaign in Selma, Alabama, that culminated in the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, has died.
Phillip Williams, Jr., a Trump loyalist and MAGA extremist who has been nominated to serve as US Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama, is expected to receive a committee vote in one week from today. nominationnotes.substack.com/p/another-tr...
Phillip Williams, Jr., a Trump loyalist and MAGA extremist who has been nominated to serve as US Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama, is expected to receive a committee vote in one week from today. nominationnotes.substack.com/p/another-tr...
Welp, I guess this is over.
NEW: Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee just advanced four more of Trump's judicial nominees.
Anna St. John, Andrew Davis, Chris Wolfe, and John Thomas Shepherd — who all refused to say Trump lost in 2020 — are one step closer to confirmation. nominationnotes.substack.com/p/republican...
A white man named Elbridge who won’t say Biden won the 2020 election? Dude is about to get a judicial nomination.
NEW: Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee just advanced four more of Trump's judicial nominees.
Anna St. John, Andrew Davis, Chris Wolfe, and John Thomas Shepherd — who all refused to say Trump lost in 2020 — are one step closer to confirmation. nominationnotes.substack.com/p/republican...
Tillis re: Noem at today's markup: "I will deny quorum & markups for any committees I'm on until I get the information I've requested, or she resigns or gets fired, whichever comes first...I will hold my own nominations. I will not vote for anything that are a priority for me until we get it done."
NEW: Phillip Williams' US Attorney nomination is on the Judiciary Committee's agenda tomorrow. He should get a committee vote next week.
Williams is a MAGA extremist, former state legislator, conservative radio show host, and opponent of civil rights. nominationnotes.substack.com/p/another-tr...
It’s been two weeks since Trump nominated his personal lawyer Justin Smith to a Missouri seat on the 8th Circuit.
Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri, whose wife was a contender for the seat, still hasn’t commented on Smith’s nomination (and his office hasn’t responded to requests for comment).
Just registered!
This is the same role — US Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama — held by the great @joycewhitevance.bsky.social during the Obama administration.
Wrote in 2024: "Kamala rolled out an epic five-point pandering plan to lure black men to her candidacy like some creepy miscreant offering candy to kids to get in his van.”
“She should be ashamed. But she’s not. She’s desperate. So, she will pander & demean an entire demographic to stay in power.”
Last year he wrote: "If you notice, transgenderism is really not a thing in poor third world countries. It is the fat laziness of entitled Western elitists that come up with these things. The good idea fairy flies through the room and next thing you know we have another battle in the woke wars.”
A post from Williams on X that says: "Abortion is the most heinous and grievous tragedy wrought upon society.....it is nothing more than industrialized slaughter. We should be thankful and reflective today but instead we are setting up barricades around the Supreme Court"
Williams has said that “Abortion is the most heinous and grievous tragedy wrought upon society.....it is nothing more than industrialized slaughter.”
He characterized a bill introduced in the Alabama legislature, which would ensure the right to contraception, as “nanny state jackassery.”
NEW: Phillip Williams' US Attorney nomination is on the Judiciary Committee's agenda tomorrow. He should get a committee vote next week.
Williams is a MAGA extremist, former state legislator, conservative radio show host, and opponent of civil rights. nominationnotes.substack.com/p/another-tr...
It’s 3/3 and no one has wished me a happy National Triplet Day today.
(I’m a triplet)
We do need a better Senator Collins!
Agreed. And they'd probably prefer someone a bit younger!
Last week Judge Tymkovich of the 10th Circuit notified Trump that he intends to take senior status. Twelve days earlier, his former clerk received a lifetime judicial nomination.
Is this part of a larger project to create more circuit court vacancies? nominationnotes.substack.com/p/twelve-day...
Here's the video.
"And in two weeks, if I don't get a response, I'm gonna deny quorum and mark up in as many committees as I can until I get a response."
Very curious if this includes (it sounds like it would?!) the mark up of lifetime judicial nominations. That would be big.
Last week Judge Tymkovich of the 10th Circuit notified Trump that he intends to take senior status. Twelve days earlier, his former clerk received a lifetime judicial nomination.
Is this part of a larger project to create more circuit court vacancies? nominationnotes.substack.com/p/twelve-day...
The only reason I think Callais could come down this Wednesday is because this weekend is the anniversary of Bloody Sunday in Selma, and further gutting the Voting Rights Act as we approach that anniversary would be a level of evil I think some of the justices would really love to engage in.
![SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES
No. 25A914
NICOLE MALLIOTAKIS, ET AL. v. MICHAEL WILLIAMS, ET AL.
ON APPLICATION FOR STAY
No. 25A915
PETER KOSINSKI, ET AL. v. MICHAEL WILLIAMS, ET AL.
ON APPLICATION FOR STAY
[March 2, 2026]
The applications for
stay presented
to
JUSTICE
SOTOMAYOR and by her referred to the Court are granted.
The January 21, 2026 order entered by the Supreme Court of the State of New York, New York County, Index No. 164002/2025, is stayed pending the disposition of the appeal in the New York state courts and disposition of a petition for a writ of certiorari in this Court, if such a writ is timely sought. Should certiorari be denied, this stay shall terminate automatically. In the event certiorari is granted, the stay shall terminate upon the issuance of the mandate of this Court.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:36eqtmzysqf7wsslczw4uxcd/bafkreienrxbkmyb6tleuhcuei5ouveel7phkglifhixxbcj7sjedrnv3sq@jpeg)
SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES No. 25A914 NICOLE MALLIOTAKIS, ET AL. v. MICHAEL WILLIAMS, ET AL. ON APPLICATION FOR STAY No. 25A915 PETER KOSINSKI, ET AL. v. MICHAEL WILLIAMS, ET AL. ON APPLICATION FOR STAY [March 2, 2026] The applications for stay presented to JUSTICE SOTOMAYOR and by her referred to the Court are granted. The January 21, 2026 order entered by the Supreme Court of the State of New York, New York County, Index No. 164002/2025, is stayed pending the disposition of the appeal in the New York state courts and disposition of a petition for a writ of certiorari in this Court, if such a writ is timely sought. Should certiorari be denied, this stay shall terminate automatically. In the event certiorari is granted, the stay shall terminate upon the issuance of the mandate of this Court.
JUSTICE SOTOMAYOR, with whom JUSTICE KAGAN and JUSTICE JACKSON join, dissenting from grant of stay. The Court's 101-word unexplained order can be summarized in just 7: "Rules for thee, but not for me." Time and again, this Court has said that federal courts have limited jurisdiction. Time and again, this Court has said that federal courts should not interfere with state-court litigation. Time and again, this Court has said that federal courts should not meddle with state election laws ahead of an elec-tion. Today, the Court says: except for this one, except for this one, and except for this one. Ignoring every limit on federal courts' authority, the Court takes the unprecedented step of staying a state trial court's decision in a re-districting dispute on matters of state law without giving the State's highest court a chance to act. Because that order violates basic principles of jurisdiction, federalism, and equity, I respectfully dissent.
BREAKING: SCOTUS blocks New York state court redistricting order, over the strong dissent of the Democratic appointees.
Screenshot of the US Courts website showing that Judges Sutton, Livingston, and Tymkovich all recently announced they were taking senior status and handing over their seats for Trump to fill.
Congrats to these three circuit court judges for giving that man more appellate court seats to fill with loyalists.
New: A majority of the contributors to the judiciary's reference manual on scientific evidence have accused court officials of letting partisan politics shape its latest edition by yielding to demands by GOP state attorneys general to cut a climate change chapter. www.reuters.com/legal/govern...
Mind you, Trump is still naming lifetime judicial nominees — including, for example, his personal attorney Justin Smith for the 8th Circuit.
Happy March!
Two months into the year, it’s worth pausing to assess what’s happened so far in 2026 with respect to Trump’s judicial nominees — and what’s likely to come. nominationnotes.substack.com/p/two-months...
