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Raffi Melkonian

@rmfifthcircuit.bsky.social

33K followers 590 following 5.4K posts

Appellate lawyer at Wright, Close & Barger in Houston, with a Fifth Circuit and TX appellate practice. So-called Dean, #appellatetwitter. Host of The Appellate Wanderer podcast

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Raffi Melkonian @rmfifthcircuit.bsky.social · Jan 7

Whatever you’re imagining, it’s going to be 4x dumber that that.

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Raffi Melkonian @rmfifthcircuit.bsky.social · 20m

Oh noooo

Raffi Melkonian @rmfifthcircuit.bsky.social · 46m

That was stinky football.

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Raffi Melkonian @rmfifthcircuit.bsky.social · 1h

Bo nix currently has 0 passing yards in the second half

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Raffi Melkonian @rmfifthcircuit.bsky.social · 1h

The Jets offense might be better of just punting. Do 3
Kneel downs and a punt

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Raffi Melkonian @rmfifthcircuit.bsky.social · 1h

This Broncos Jets game is such a terrible game. So bad.

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Reposted by Raffi Melkonian

Bill Kristol @billkristolbulwark.bsky.social · 4h

Pope Leo quotes Hannah Arendt:

“The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the convinced Communist, but people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction and the distinction between true and false no longer exist."

www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news...

Pope Leo calls for news agencies to stand as bulwark against "post-truths," lies and manipulation

Pope Leo XIV has encouraged international news agencies to stand firm as a bulwark against the "ancient art of lying" and manipulation.

www.cbsnews.com

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Reposted by Raffi Melkonian

D. Todd Smith @dtoddsmith.bsky.social · 16h

Right up there with being “admitted to practice in all Texas state courts.”

Raffi Melkonian @rmfifthcircuit.bsky.social · 1d

Went on a firm's website and one of the things they tout on their front page is.... this? I am... puzzled by that claim.

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Raffi Melkonian @rmfifthcircuit.bsky.social · 1d

Undergrad: "Man, 10 page essay. what am I going to write in here"

Lawyer: "What do you mean just 13,000 words?"

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Raffi Melkonian @rmfifthcircuit.bsky.social · 1d

That's totally right.

Raffi Melkonian @rmfifthcircuit.bsky.social · 1d

Yes!

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Raffi Melkonian @rmfifthcircuit.bsky.social · 1d

The basic unit of celebration is such a nice phrase

The New York Times @nytimes.com · 1d

"For me, a chocolate cake is the basic unit of celebration," Nigella Lawson writes. Try her five-star chocolate Guinness cake recipe: nyti.ms/4355for

A slice of chocolate cake with white frosting with the headline: Five-Star Chocolate Guinness Cake

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Reposted by Raffi Melkonian

Sean Marotta @smmarotta.bsky.social · 1d

"Somewhat more troubling is appellant's listing, in large capital letters, that he was a member of the Bar of the Supreme Court of the United States. The emphasis of this relatively uninformative fact is at least bad taste."

In re R.M.J., 455 U.S. 191, 205 (1982) (citation omitted).

Raffi Melkonian @rmfifthcircuit.bsky.social · 1d

Went on a firm's website and one of the things they tout on their front page is.... this? I am... puzzled by that claim.

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Raffi Melkonian @rmfifthcircuit.bsky.social · 1d

It's just filling out a form y'all. That's it.

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Raffi Melkonian @rmfifthcircuit.bsky.social · 1d

Went on a firm's website and one of the things they tout on their front page is.... this? I am... puzzled by that claim.

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Raffi Melkonian @rmfifthcircuit.bsky.social · 2d

*tea

Raffi Melkonian @rmfifthcircuit.bsky.social · 2d

OK, but in no circumstance attempt to eat them without a mug of team. No one knows what might happen.

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Raffi Melkonian @rmfifthcircuit.bsky.social · 2d

I'm a regular hobnobs man.

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Reposted by Raffi Melkonian

Matthew Stiegler @matthewstiegler.bsky.social · 3d

Half of being a good appellate lawyer is just being stubborn enough to delete the pretty good stuff until you finally get it right.

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Raffi Melkonian @rmfifthcircuit.bsky.social · 2d

If it was just that - a statute that says under state law when you sue for libel there is fee shifting - no.

Raffi Melkonian @rmfifthcircuit.bsky.social · 2d

I remember reading the cases holding state anti slapps could apply in federal court in around 2015 and going “huh? What are you talking about? These are obviously procedural law” and nothing I’ve read since then has changed my mind.

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Raffi Melkonian @rmfifthcircuit.bsky.social · 2d

Yeah it’s basically “if it wasn’t appealable, the government would be sad”

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Raffi Melkonian @rmfifthcircuit.bsky.social · 2d

Also, you what absolutely should not be an appealable collateral order? An order denying qualified immunity.

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Raffi Melkonian @rmfifthcircuit.bsky.social · 2d

Important case with big consequences.

I will say I’ve long thought these can’t apply in federal court for basically the reasons Bumatay expresses. But the forum shopping concern is very real.

Mike Masnick @mmasnick.bsky.social · 2d

9th Circuit just made anti-SLAPP laws (like the good ones in California and Nevada) a lot less effective. This is going to lead to a ton of suppressed speech. Stupid and dangerous. Especially now.

We need a federal anti-SLAPP law now. And we won't get one.

cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/op...

cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov

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Raffi Melkonian @rmfifthcircuit.bsky.social · 2d

And, for fun, a normal jury is actually called a "petit jury." So Grand Jury, Petit Jury.

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Raffi Melkonian @rmfifthcircuit.bsky.social · 2d

"No, this one really is Rooker Feldman!"

No, it's not Rooker Feldman.

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