Morning Minute: There Are Good Judges, Too

redstate.com

Wednesday, October 8, 2025

Good morning, and welcome to RedState's "Morning Minute" — a brief glimpse at which stories are trending at the moment and a look ahead at what the day may bring. Consider this your one-stop shop for news to kickstart your day.

TOP O' THE MORNIN'

Red-Hot at RedState

Country Star ‘Scared’ Following Backlash to His Anti-ICE Song, Backpedals Furiously With New Statement

But let's not hide behind claims that the lyrics that were released were simply being misconstrued. Not when you have a history of talking smack to those cops during an arrest for obstruction in 2023. Not when you warned fans against "insulting transgender people" during the height of the Bud Light controversy. And not when you scolded them for using expletives to insult Joe Biden.

Watch: Democrat Katie Porter Goes Full Psycho During Interview, Blows Up on Reporter in Wild Video

Surely, Californians, as left-wing as many of them are, can do better than this. I mean, Katie Porter? Really?

Bondi Decimates Even More Dems - Even Lib Media Acknowledges They Weren't Ready for Her

She was prepared for them, but they were not prepared for her.

Trending Across Townhall Media

Entertainment's Double Standard on Guns Hits Ridiculous Level

I honestly can't comprehend why guns are unacceptable in advertisements, be they for a movie or for a non-firearm product, but are perfectly acceptable on the programs themselves, where people get all kinds of terrible ideas of how to use a gun.

Unsung Hero: Dean Phillips, Democrat From Minnesota

Dean Phillips will likely wind up as a footnote, at best, in history. But I think he deserves a pat on the back for his willingness to give up power in a vain attempt to do the right thing.

My Shocking Undercover Experience at Portland's Antifa-Besieged ICE Building

For years, the Portland Police ignored the Antifa threats and assaults, and complaints by Portland independent media. Antifa chooses reporters to target because they want to rule the streets without being unmasked.

Here's the Question That Triggered This California Gubernatorial Candidate

It led to an epic meltdown that not even the legacy press could defend.

Megyn Kelly Declares Loathing and Mocking Katie Porter Could Be the One Thing to Unify America

She probably needs meds, honestly.

WHAT'S ON TAP?

Today on Capitol Hill...

The House is still out and the Schumer Shutdown is still in full swing, but there are Senate hearings/meetings set for Wednesday, including several business meetings to consider various nominations, as well as:

Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions — Hearings to examine labor law reform part 1, focusing on diagnosing the issues and exploring current proposals

Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation — Business meeting to consider S.1070, to establish a National STEM Week to promote American innovation and enhance STEM education pathways for all students, including those in rural, urban, and underserved communities, S.2126, to reauthorize the Integrated Coastal and Ocean Observation System Act of 2009, S.2245, to amend the Digital Coast Act to improve the acquisition, integration, and accessibility of data of the Digital Coast program and to extend the program, S.2357, to reauthorize the Young Fishermen's Development Act, S.2563, to direct the Secretary of Commerce, in coordination with the heads of other relevant Federal departments and agencies, to conduct an interagency review of and report to Congress on ways to increase the global competitiveness of the United States in attracting foreign direct investment, S.2666, to direct the Federal Communications Commission to establish a taskforce on unlawful robocalls, an original bill entitled, "PIPELINE Safety Act of 2025", and the nominations of Joyce Meyer, of Virginia, to be Under Secretary for Economic Affairs, and Harry Kumar, of New York, to be an Assistant Secretary, both of the Department of Commerce, and Seval Oz, of California, to be an Assistant Secretary of Transportation; to be immediately followed by hearings to examine big tech and silencing Americans

Senate Judiciary, Intellectual Property Subcommittee — Hearings to examine the Patent Eligibility Restoration Act, focusing on restoring clarity, certainty, and predictability to the United States patent system

Senate Aging (Special) — Hearings to examine closing loopholes that kill American patients

The Senate GOP also managed on Tuesday to confirm 107(!) of President Trump's nominees.

White House What's Up

President Donald Trump is set to receive his intelligence briefing late Wednesday morning. In the afternoon, he'll participate in an Antifa round table in the State Dining Room.

Vice President JD Vance is touting the administration's TikTok deal...and teasing more sombrero memes.

Glad to be back on TikTok thanks to President Trump! Follow along over on TikTok for more updates from the White House, and maybe even some sombrero memes pic.twitter.com/ltHvzkNbls
— JD Vance (@JDVance) October 6, 2025

Keeping Up With the Cabinet

Dir. Central Intelligence Agency - John Ratcliffe — Ratcliffe recently declassified documents regarding Joe Biden and Ukraine.

Today, I declassified @CIA intelligence regarding Ukraine after determining it is in the public interest.
Read the report here: https://t.co/W0W1IjYFef
— CIA Director John Ratcliffe (@CIADirector) October 7, 2025

Full Court Press...

The Supreme Court will hear oral argument in two more cases on Wednesday:

Bost v. Illinois Board of Elections — Federal law sets the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November as the federal Election Day. 2 U.S.C. §§ 1 and 7; and 3 U.S.C. § 1. Several states, including Illinois, have enacted state laws that allow ballots to be received and counted after Election Day. Petitioners contend these state laws are preempted under the Elections and Electors Clauses. Petitioners sued to enjoin Illinois' law allowing ballots to be received up to fourteen days after Election Day. The sole question presented here is whether Petitioners, as federal candidates, have pleaded sufficient factual allegations to show Article III standing to challenge state time, place, and manner regulations concerning their federal elections.

United States Postal Service v. Konan — Whether a plaintiff's claim that she and her tenants did not receive mail because Postal Service employees intentionally did not deliver it to a designated address arises out of "the loss" or "miscarriage" of letters or postal matter. 28 U.S.C. 2680(b).

Tuesday was a bit quieter on the notable decision front, though there was this one:

❌ Planned Parenthood of Greater NY v. HHS (challenge to "Program Policy Notice") — Judge Beryl Howell (D.C.) GRANTS Count IV of plaintiffs' motion for summary judgment and DENIES admin's motion to dismiss.

And, of course, the arraignment of former FBI Director James Comey is set for this morning at 10:00 AM Eastern in the Eastern District of Virginia. That...will no doubt be something.

COMING ATTRACTIONS

Still keeping eyes on the 9th Circuit and what it decides to do with the Oregon National Guard case.

And we still wait to see if Hamas will accept the offered peace deal, though the longer this drags on, the less likely that seems.

MORNING MUSING

We've been talking a great deal lately about activist judges and some of their ridiculous rulings. Recently, I wrote on the embarrassing efforts of 42 retired jurists to pen an "open letter" condemning the indictment of James Comey.

That generated a lively discussion, during which I noted that (in my 28+ years of practice), I'd seen lots of good judges and a handful of awful ones. The good ones, unfortunately, often get short shrift, because if they're doing their jobs well, we don't necessarily feel as inspired to write on them.

Tuesday evening, I watched a pair of what I would consider "good judges" discuss a rather thorny topic: "Campus Free Speech After October 7." This was a panel discussion hosted by The Federalist Society at New York University School of Law — one that initially, was canceled/forced to find a different venue due to "security concerns."

After a bit of a backlash over that bad look, NYUSL relented, and the event was held there on Tuesday after all. The featured speakers included conservative legal scholar Ilya Shapiro, FIRE senior fellow and former ACLU President Nadine Strossen, and two judges: Hon. Judge Lisa Branch (U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit) and Hon. Judge Roy Altman (U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida).

I was not familiar with Branch or Altman, but very much appreciated both of their perspectives — and not just because they appear to align more ideologically with my views, but because they shared thoughtful, well-reasoned — and sometimes passionate — commentary on a tough topic.

So, whenever you're feeling frustrated about the state of the judiciary, take heart: There are, indeed, good judges, too.

LIGHTER FARE

Imposs(um)ible to watch this and not LOL.

He jumped like in cartoons 😭 pic.twitter.com/14ywHljfM9
— Iris Seraphina  (@iris_seraphina) October 7, 2025

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