Non-Sequiturs: 10.14.18 | Above the Law

* Adam Feldman examines the historical record to look at how Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s brutal confirmation process could affect his jurisprudence. [Empirical SCOTUS]

* And Joel Cohen looks at how Justice Kavanaugh’s confirmation fight might affect his judging of the accused. [Law and Crime]

* Meanwhile, David Oscar Markus argues that criminal defendants in federal court get treated much worse than Justice Kavanaugh. [The Hill]

* Jemele Hill points out the support and sympathy for Justice Kavanaugh from a possibly surprising quarter: African-American men. [The Atlantic]

* Packing the Supreme Court? There ought to be a constitutional amendment about that, Jim Lindgren says. [Volokh Conspiracy / Reason]

* In fact, is it time for progressives to fight against, rather than within, the courts? Howard Wasserman offers thoughts on the recent Slate debate between Daniel Hemel and Christopher Jon Sprigman. [PrawfsBlawg]

* Patrick Gregory reports on the latest controversy in the world of lower-court nominations: the ABA’s “not qualified” rating of Eighth Circuit nominee Jonathan Kobes. [Big Law Business]

* Edmund Zagorski has multiple legal challenges to his execution (which is now on hold); former federal defender Stephen Cooper looks at the one based on the method of execution. [Tennessean]

* Congratulations to Pedro Hernandez on the dismissal of his case — and to his counsel, Alex Spiro of Quinn Emanuel, on the great result.


DBL square headshotDavid Lat is editor at large and founding editor of Above the Law, as well as the author of Supreme Ambitions: A Novel. He previously worked as a federal prosecutor in Newark, New Jersey; a litigation associate at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz; and a law clerk to Judge Diarmuid F. O’Scannlain of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. You can connect with David on Twitter (@DavidLat), LinkedIn, and Facebook, and you can reach him by email at [email protected].

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