<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class="">In addition to reading science papers, I also like to read legal pleadings. They tend to be rather dry, but judicial humor can sometimes be *amazing* (though, sadly, few are as out there as Samuel B. Kent [1]).<div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">I was having a look on the cases still outstanding, and came across this Nevada case:</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><a href="https://www.democracydocket.com/state/nevada/?by_case_type=active-cases" class="">https://www.democracydocket.com/state/nevada/?by_case_type=active-cases</a></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">At the end of the first paragraph of the opposition to Discovery motion is this gem:</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><a href="https://www.democracydocket.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/45/2020/11/20OC00163-Def-Opp-to-Ex-Parte-1.pdf" class="">https://www.democracydocket.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/45/2020/11/20OC00163-Def-Opp-to-Ex-Parte-1.pdf</a></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">“If Contestants [Republicans] want a license to go fishing this holiday week, they should ask the Department of Wildlife, not this Court.”</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">After a good chuckle, I decided to see what else the defense filed, and the other was a Motion to Dismiss:</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><a href="https://www.democracydocket.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/45/2020/11/201123-Defs-Motiont-to-Dismiss-FILED.pdf" class="">https://www.democracydocket.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/45/2020/11/201123-Defs-Motiont-to-Dismiss-FILED.pdf</a></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">So, while modern courts blend the two concepts, which leads to significant confusion for some people about the law, historically, one could bring a suit for either law or equity. What defenses you can bring *to this day* depends on whether one’s asked for law or equity, even though it may not be so obvious which is which at times if you don’t know the history.</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Requests for injunctions are an equity claim.</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equity_(law)" class="">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equity_(law)</a></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">One of the standard defenses is the doctrine of laches, meaning: did they delay bringing the suit unreasonably so that an equitable remedy is not possible?</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laches_(equity)" class="">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laches_(equity)</a></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">But in motions and rulings, you don’t see laches come up so frequently *as specifically referenced*. Like the recent Pennsylvania judge's smackdown on Trump’s lawyers:</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><a href="https://www.democracydocket.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/45/2020/11/Order-Granting-MTD.pdf" class="">https://www.democracydocket.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/45/2020/11/Order-Granting-MTD.pdf</a></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Back to the Nevada Motion to Dismiss, it alleges a couple of things:</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">1. Privity, another term I don’t see like ever, but basically: these parties are so close to the same that party A losing over there precludes party B from bringing it up over here.</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Privity#US_federal_law" class="">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Privity#US_federal_law</a></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">2. Laches, aka undue delay, starting on p. 13.<br class=""><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">[1] Kent’s masterwork: <a href="https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/FSupp2/147/668/2409194/" class="">https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/FSupp2/147/668/2409194/</a></div><div class="">also amusing: <a href="https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/FSupp2/39/1008/2286216/" class="">https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/FSupp2/39/1008/2286216/</a></div><div class=""><br class=""></div></div></body></html>