Jonathan R. Nash, the Robert Howell Hall Professor of Law at Emory University School of Law in Atlanta. (Courtesy photo)
The common wisdom is that the Supreme Court will—with unanimity or near unanimity—overturn the Colorado Supreme Court’s decision to remove former President Donald Trump’s name from the Colorado ballot. Justices of various ideological predilections expressed concern over the power of a single state to influence presidential electoral politics.
A good advocate at oral argument seeks to assuage the concerns that judges express over the ramifications that a decision the advocate is pressing might have. In performing that task, lawyers will sometimes concede points of weakness in order to win the bigger case. Indeed, Jonathan Mitchell, Trump’s lawyer at the hearing this past Thursday, did just that (perhaps distinguishing himself from Trump’s lawyers in some other current proceedings).
