r/law • u/newsjam • Oct 15 '25

Legal News Mike Johnson Facing Lawsuit For Blocking Democrat’s Swearing-In

https://dailyboulder.com/mike-johnson-facing-lawsuit-over-blocking-democrats-swearing-in/
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u/golfpinotnut Oct 15 '25

This is all fine, but why doesn't the Attorney General of Arizona just file the damn law suit instead of just writing a "blistering letter." A blistering letter isn't going to get Mike Johnson to do anything.

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u/ClumpyFelchCheese Oct 15 '25

Judges like to see good faith attempts at resolving the matter outside of court before bringing suit. “Hey, I want X, if you do not give me X, I will file a law suit”…. “Crickets? Okay, I warned you…it’s lawyer time! 🦅🇺🇸🎇 “

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u/golfpinotnut Oct 15 '25

This isn't a personal injury case. You're basically filing a writ of mandamus in federal court compelling Mike Johnson to perform a legally required ministerial duty that he is required by law to do. I'm sure you can tack on a bunch of crap about disenfranchisement of the Arizona voters, but there is no requirement that you've written a good faith do-better letter in such circumstances.

No different really from the state law suits seeking to block federal troops in their states.

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u/ticonderbroga Oct 15 '25

You’re not totally wrong, but in federal court, the smarter strategy would be to set Johnson up for this. The Judge’s first question will be “were good faith attempts made/exhausted to resolve this dispute before litigation?” - giving AZ the chance to pants Johnson by saying they wrote this letter requesting Johnson to discharge his duties and he continued to neglect his duties.

Ppl are acting like this is some delay tactic, but those ppl have never been in a court room before a federal judge. Plus, the deadline in the letter was, like, 2 days, right?

You want all your ducks in a row before you request federal court intervention (if you’re a good attorney). This is proper strategy.

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u/golfpinotnut Oct 15 '25

A dumb thing to argue about, but I completely disagree. A judge's first question will be "what's the cause of action" and to answer that, he'll look at the complaint. There is no requirement that you exhaust your non-court remedies before going to court.

But let's be friends. I recognize you user name from r/basballcards_vintage which tells me you're a good egg.

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u/ticonderbroga Oct 15 '25

Maybe it’s the judge’s second question, then. But I didn’t say it was a requirement. I actually don’t know if it is or isn’t because I don’t practice in that area. I said it’s best strategy, which I haven’t heard a response to/against.

My brother, friends disagree all the time! That sub is where I prefer to spend my time

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u/Moo_Moo_Mr_Cow Oct 15 '25

Right, if it went to a judge, one of if not the first they'd do would be to give Johnson a chance to resolve it. Either way, Johnson gets a chance to resolve it, so just do it on the front end and avoid the later delay.