"It is one of the most unhinged opinions ever published by an American jurist. Smith's 104-page screed, released a day after the majority opinion, is a rancid gumbo of feverish conspiracy theories and character assassination: He invokes the liberal Jewish philanthropist George Soros no fewer than 17 times, deriding the plaintiff's expert witness as a "Soros operative" who draws millions from "his Soros piggybank.""
"He accuses Soros and his son Alex of having 'their hands all over' the case, darkly warning that the plaintiffs' lawyers were doing the bidding of their 'Soros connections' and the 'Democrat Party.' He impugns the integrity of his own colleagues on the bench, including a Donald Trump appointee who sided against him, charging them with 'disingenuously false' claims to serve 'Soros a victory' on 'a silver platter.'"
"Smith, a 79-year-old who has served for nearly four decades, also reveals private communications between judges about the case, a startling breach of judicial protocol. He denounces the author of the majority opinion-Judge Jeffrey V. Brown, a conservative Trump nominee-for what he deems 'the most outrageous conduct by a judge that I have ever encountered in a case in which I have been involved.'"
A federal appeals court struck down Texas's Republican gerrymander. Judge Jerry Smith repeatedly invoked George Soros, calling a plaintiffs' expert a 'Soros operative' who draws millions from 'his Soros piggybank.' Smith accused Soros and his son Alex of having 'their hands all over' the case and alleged that plaintiffs' lawyers acted for their 'Soros connections' and the 'Democrat Party.' He impugned colleagues' integrity, accused them of making 'disingenuously false' claims to serve 'Soros a victory,' revealed private communications between judges in breach of protocol, denounced Judge Jeffrey V. Brown for 'the most outrageous conduct,' and opened with a preliminary statement airing grievances unrelated to legal analysis.
Read at Slate Magazine
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