Re:Dominion Voting Systems Sues Rudy Giuliani
by bdowling on Monday January 25, 2021 @11:34PM
(#25912577)
The standard that a court uses when considering a motion to dismiss (e.g., Rule 12(b)(6)) is to first assume all of the facts alleged in the complaint are true. The judge then decides the motion as a matter of law. That is the exact opposite of weighing the evidence, which doesn't happen until trial.
Edit: I think we're in agreement that "on the merits" here is being conflated with a trial that considers the probative value of evidence. They are not the same thing.
I'm fully aware of how lawyers use the term, but that's immaterial to the import being given to the term in this discussion. To the extent that whether a case was decided “on the merits” is being used as a proxy for the argument that the probative value of the evidence actually in the Trump campaign’s hands in claims of election fraud has not been evaluated, it is only valid if you consider any decision (even of “procedural” rather than “on the merits” in traditional legal categorization) where, in fact, that evidence was weighed by a standard at least as favorable as it would be at trial and nevertheless found wanting.