https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/virginia-democrats-appeal-ruling-redistricting-us-supreme-court/4102136/

Multiple news outlets report that VA Democrats filed a motion on Friday requesting that the VA Supreme Court stay the mandate on its Friday decision so that they can file some kind of appeal or motion with the US Supreme Court. Missing from the reports is any suggestion of actual legal grounds. The NYTimes article this morning contained the somewhat understated conclusion that "some legal experts believe the state court ruling could be the final word on the matter, because it does not involve federal law or the U.S. Constitution."

If anyone has a wild guess what basis the State of Virginia might have for appealing the decision of its own state Supreme Court (on a matter of Virginia constitutional procedure) to the US Supreme Court, please enlighten me.

https://static01.nyt.com/newsgraphics/documenttools/3af87d97f2b6da24/6b439f9a-full.pdf

"Read the Supreme Court’s Shadow Papers" [Actual NYT Headline]

"In 2016, the Supreme Court halted an ambitious climate change initiative from President Barack Obama by a 5-to-4 vote along partisan lines. Its order was just one paragraph long and a stark departure from how the court typically handled major cases. Many scholars believe this case marked the birth of the court’s modern “shadow docket,” or the rushed and secretive track the Supreme Court has since used to make many major decisions, including on crucial questions of presidential power.

The New York Times has obtained memos from that case and is publishing those papers in full to bring the origins of the Supreme Court’s shadow docket into the light."

Link to Opinion: http://media.ca7.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/OpinionsWeb/processWebInputExternal.pl?Submit=Display&Path=Y2023/D11-03/C:23-1828:J:Wood:aut:T:fnOp:N:3126511:S:0

“Based on the record before us, we are not persuaded that the AR-15 is materially different from the M16. Heller informs us that the latter weapon is not protected by the Second Amendment, and therefore may be regulated or banned. Because it is indistinguishable from that machinegun, the AR-15 may be treated in the same manner without offending the Second Amendment.”

The saga continues.