(Written by kencraw)

Bearinsider.com has their regular article on the happenings in court today.

The key take-away is that Judge Miller did not judge from the bench, as I expected, but that she’ll rule in the next day or two.

But what was interesting is that the University made what seems like a minor concession to the other side, extending their two-day no-build promise to a promise to not start the chainsaws and bulldozers “until a ruling was obtained from the Court of Appeals” (quoted from the BearInsider article).

I’m curious about the actual language used in court. If the University promised what the article indicates they did, I think it’s a HUGE mistake. What seems to be assumed in the article is that the court of appeals would RULE quickly. That’s a huge difference from the court of appeals refusing to put an injunction in place while it hears the case, allowing for the construction to go forward while the appeal is being heard, and waiting for the final ruling.

While it’s defintely a good possibility that the court of appeals will reject the appeal rather quickly, I see it as a big risk to assume that.

Perhaps the language was more nuanced and it took into account the possiblity of an appeal without an injunction and my comments are much ado about nothing.

UPDATE as of 3:30 PM: The language was indeed FAR more nuanced than the article indicated. It specifically had the caveats I was concerned about and mentioned only that the University would wait until the appellate court ruled regarding putting a new stay in place. So basically they’re offering to wait until after the appellate court has ruled on an injunction as long as Judge Miller rules the way they want and the plaintiffs (tree-sitters, etc.) file an an appeal within two days including an immediate request for an injunction. If all of that happens, it’ll clear the way for construction to begin in a week or two.

In any case, keep your eyes pealed for a final judgment from Judge Miller in the next day or two and the associated commentary from me here.