Over
the
last
eight
years,
a
lot
of
lawyers
lent
their
credibility
to
the
Donald
Trump/MAGA
takeover
of
the
country
—
often
to
their
professional
detriment.
But
one
MAGA
attorney
seems
to
have
slipped
by
the
worst
backlash,
despite
his
prominent
role
in
creating
the
legal
framework
to
try
to
steal
the
results
of
the
2020
election
for
Trump.
I
am
referencing
Mark
Martin.
The
dean
of
High
Point
University’s
law
school
was
previously
Chief
Justice
of
the
Supreme
Court
of
North
Carolina,
Associate
Judge
on
the
North
Carolina
Court
of
Appeals,
dean
and
professor
of
law
at
Regent
University
School
of
Law.
He
was
also
the
brains
behind
the
theory
that
the
Vice
President
could
just
choose
not
to
certify
the
election
results
on
January
6th.
Trump
told
Mike
Pence
he
“had
spoken
with
Mark
Martin,
the
former
chief
justice
of
the
North
Carolina
Supreme
Court,
who
he
said
had
told
him
that
Mr.
Pence
had
that
power
(to
reject
the
Electoral
College
votes
on
January
6th
2021).”
All
of
which
resulted
in
effigies
of
Pence
during
the
attempted
coup
that
day.
But
even
after
Martin’s
high-profile
role
in
trying
to
subvert
democracy
by
promulgating
piss-poor
legal
takes,
his
legal
career
continued
apace.
Martin’s
problematic
role
in
2020
election
denial
and
subsequent
coup
has
been
so
consequence
free
for
him
that
he’s
now
being
touted
as
an
election
law
expert
by
none
other
that
the
American
Bar
Association.
That’s
right,
the
ABA,
which
has
a
number
of
election-related
resources
on
its
website,
recently
recorded
a
CLE
entitled,
What
Judges
Should
Know
About
Election
Law
—
featuring
none
other
than
Martin.
How
embarrassing.
And
I’m
not
the
only
one
who
thinks
so.
Professor
Rick
Hasan
said,
“Very
disappointing
to
see
this.”
But
it
really
begs
the
question,
why
is
the
ABA
selling
out
its
credibility
on
this
issue?
This
feels
like
a
case
of
bothsideism
run
amuck.
The
other
panelists
were
Judge
Tani
Cantil-Sakauye
(officially
an
Independent,
but
appointed
by
Republican
California
Gov.
Arnold
Schwarzenegger)
and
Minnesota’s
Judge
Peter
Reyes,
appointed
by
Democratic
Governor
Mark
Dayton,
so
that
far-right
MAGA
perspective
was
missing.
But…
isn’t
that
a
good
thing?
The
bunk
theory
that
Pence
could
just
appoint
Trump
president
in
2020
is
a
stain
on
American
history
generally,
and
even
more
so
on
those
committed
to
upholding
the
rule
of
law…
like,
you
know,
the
American
Bar
Association.
As
we
rapidly
approach
another
presidential
election
—
with
judicial
shenanigans
afoot
—
it’s
more
important
than
ever
to
understand
exactly
who
we
are
looking
to
as
our
experts
on
election
law.
In
the
wake
of
the
2020
election,
Martin
proved
he’ll
abandon
legal
principles
to
advance
a
partisan
goal.
It’s
downright
shameful
that
the
ABA
is
holding
him
up
as
someone
whose
opinions
matter
—
and
offering
continuing
legal
education
credits
for
listening
to
him.
Kathryn
Rubino
is
a
Senior
Editor
at
Above
the
Law,
host
of
The
Jabot
podcast,
and
co-host
of
Thinking
Like
A
Lawyer.
AtL
tipsters
are
the
best,
so
please
connect
with
her.
Feel
free
to
email
her
with
any
tips,
questions,
or
comments
and
follow
her
on
Twitter
@Kathryn1 or
Mastodon
@[email protected].