Paul Davis (Image via Twitter)
Paul Davis continues his wild march through the federal judicial system. After getting fired from the case where he asked a federal judge to replace the United States government with a government inspired by Lord of the Rings, he filed for legal fees for that stellar work. That seemed like it would be the final entry in the log of his winding trail from assistant general counsel at an insurance company to Capitol rioter to Tolkien legal scholar. But we were all wrong! He’s back and just filed a new temporary restraining order. There’s a whole lot less Gondor, but that makes it only marginally less wacky.
If at first you fail miserably…
Pursuant to the evidence and the provisions of the Constitution and the United States Code set forth herein, which conclusively and irrefutably establish current “Vacancies” in the offices of President, Vice President, all 435 House seats, and 33 Senators, the judicial power vested in this Court under Article III of the Constitution compels the shocking but logical conclusion that, because this Court is the only Article III federal court in the entire United States presented with the relief requested herein, this Court is now effectively in charge of the United States government, assuming entry of the Temporary Restraining Order, to which Plaintiffs are entitled, as follows.
We’re all here for the high comedy of this guy’s terrible legal arguments, but this paragraph is unintentionally chilling. Another district judge just struck down the federal eviction moratorium on the “comical if it weren’t so tragic” reasoning that rent is not an economic activity. This is what happens when a country spends four years packing the courts with unqualified hacks. But when you have a lawless judiciary, you really do have district judges “now effectively in charge of the United States government.”
Thankfully, none of these judges are ready to go all the way to outlawing the entire elected government. Yet. But as stupid as the arguments in these filings are, know that there was someone willing to walk into court and say that paying half your income to a landlord doesn’t constitute economic activity. The line between acceptable crazy and this motion isn’t as thick as you’d hope.
Davis takes the reader on a journey through rants about transgender people and how reducing reliance on foreign oil would increase terrorist attacks. There are a lot of references to how “clear” and “obvious” the evidence behind his dingbat theories are, proving that the old adage remains true — if you’re telling the judge how clear something is, that means it wasn’t clear.
How does he propose to fix this imagined injustice? Gone are the great Stewards of Gondor, instead we’re just shutting everything down:
IT IS, THEREFORE, ORDERED THAT all members of the 117th Congress, Mr. Biden, Ms. Harris, who are in active concert with Congress, and all of their respective officers, agents, servants, employees, and attorneys, are restrained from exercising any and all executive and legislative power in a manner inconsistent with the laws, policies, and presidential executive orders that existed as of 11:59 am on January 3, 2021 (the “Status Quo Date”)…
That seems reasonable! He’s made carve outs for legislation that keeps the government functioning. I wonder what the Senate parliamentarian would consider under that edict?
And if the government passes something that Trump disagrees with, he’s given an opportunity to demand the court reverse it.
After entry of this Order, to the extent President Trump believes continued actions taken by the Executive Branch are contrary to the limits set by this Order, he may submit a motion to the court, not to exceed 10 pages, and may attach exhibits, to explain why the action being taken is contrary to this ORDER. The Executive Branch shall have an opportunity to submit a response within a time and of a length the Court determines to be reasonable under the circumstances. President Trump shall have an opportunity to file a reply to the response within a time and of a length the Court determines to be reasonable under the circumstances.
In retrospect, the Gondor idea wasn’t so bad.
Joe Patrice is a senior editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Feel free to email any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on Twitter if you’re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news. Joe also serves as a Managing Director at RPN Executive Search.