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Flurry of pre-election legal cases is now 'standardized' strategy, experts say

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Flurry of pre-election legal cases is now 'standardized' strategy, experts say

A flurry of U.S. election-related lawsuits are playing out in courts nationwide with more than 160 cases already on the books, and experts say that’s just par for the course during a modern presidential contest.

At least 165 election-related lawsuits have already been filed, the majority focusing on issues such as who should be eligible to vote, how ballots are cast and counted, and how to ensure election security and protect against alleged voter fraud.

But several legal analysts say they doubt that any of these lawsuits will have a protracted impact on the 2024 election and describe the nature of the claims as fairly standard fare, especially during the more than two decades since George W. Bush fended off Al Gore and a mountain of legal challenges to win the 2020 presidential election.

“I think we’re going to have a lot of litigation, but I would be surprised if we have any jugular hits,” George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley told Fox News Digital.

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A person drops off their vote-by-mail ballot in Portland. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)

The most high-profile lawsuits to date have been filed in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, which are the seven battleground states that carry a combined total of 93 electoral votes and which are widely expected to help decide the election in favor of either Democrat Vice President Harris or Republican former President Trump.

The close race and wave of recent court cases have led some observers to fear that the lawsuits will either disenfranchise would-be voters, keep one or the other candidate’s supporters from participating in the election, or generate doubts over voting results after the race is decided.

But such concerns are likely unfounded, Turley notes.

“In the five presidential elections I’ve covered, I don’t think any pre-election challenge had a huge impact,” he said.

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Turley added that preliminary lawsuits are increasingly used by both parties as a “placeholder” of sorts, both to fuel their own respective narratives about the election and to create a pre-existing record of problems in swing states, which they can then revisit after the election.

And it’s not as if this is a new strategy.

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The Fox News Power Rankings have moved Michigan into the toss-up column, with both parties making a strong play for Rust Belt voters. (Getty Images)

The U.S. saw a “similar ramping up in 2016 and 2020. I think the closest before then was Bush v. Gore,” Turley said. 

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The standard then was to “ramp up [cases] after the election,” he added. “Now it’s become standardized to line up hundreds of attorneys [beforehand], and we’re seeing the same trajectory.”

In the wake of the 2020 election, Trump’s campaign filed 60 lawsuits attempting to challenge the election results in key swing states. And while the number of lawsuits was unusual, experts note that the practice itself is actually quite standard.

In fact, the early wave of court filings is actually better for lawyers and judges, given the tight time frame between the elections, state election certifications and Inauguration Day, according to Andrew McCarthy, a former U.S. assistant attorney general for the Southern District of New York. 

That’s part of the driver behind the early filings in many states, he told Fox News, adding that most of the lawsuits had been filed months earlier and are just now making their way before judges and appellate courts in affected states.

From there, judges prefer to deal with them as quickly as possible, he said.

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Election workers oversee early election voting at a polling station in Marietta, Ga., on Oct. 15, 2024. (Reuters/Jayla Whitfield-Anderson)

“Courts don’t mind getting involved in this area if it’s to be a referee on what the rules ought to be” for an election, McCarthy told Fox News Digital. “But they never want to be in a position of looking like they’re deciding the election.”

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In other words, the more they can rule on ahead of the election to avoid the appearance of bias or political sway, the better, he said.

“If you’re going to do this right and competently in a way that is representative of the way the legal system is supposed to work, you have to litigate these issues before the election,” McCarthy said. “Because the time frame after the election is just too compressed to do anything in the way of a meaningful election investigation, especially if the issue is fraud.”

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Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.

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Los Angeles, Ca

LADWP begins long-term repairs after West Hollywood water main rupture

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LADWP begins long-term repairs after West Hollywood water main rupture

Crews worked overnight on what is expected to be a long-term effort to clean up and repair a broken water main that caused extensive damage in West Hollywood on Thursday.

Yellow tape remained in place Friday morning, blocking streets around Sunset Boulevard and Holloway Drive as crews continued pumping water out of the century-old trunk line.

Asphalt and soil were also being removed so crews could get a better look at the damaged 36-inch trunk line, a major feeder pipe serving the area.

  • Aerial view of flooded streets in West Hollywood.
  • A sinkhole opened up on a sidewalk in West Hollywood following a water main break
  • Aerial view of flooded Metro buses.
  • Aerial view of flooded streets in West Hollywood.
  • Water floods out of an apartment in West Hollywood
  • A broken water main floods a parking garage in West Hollywood
  • Rushing floodwaters pushes parked cars together on a flooded West Hollywood street after a water main break.
  • Rushing floodwaters pushes parked cars together on a flooded West Hollywood street after a water main break.
  • Residents stand with luggage and a dog at the entrance to an apartment parking garage as floodwaters from a water main break rush through a West Hollywood street.
  • Rushing floodwaters pushes parked cars together on a flooded West Hollywood street after a water main break.
  • Rushing floodwaters pushes parked cars together on a flooded West Hollywood street after a water main break.
  • Rushing floodwaters pushes parked cars together on a flooded West Hollywood street after a water main break.
  • A broken water main floods the streets of West Hollywood

“First and foremost is our crews’ safety,” a Los Angeles Department of Water and Power spokesperson said Thursday. “When we excavate, we are going to have to make sure the area is safe before we send crews in to proceed and start the actual repairs on the pipe.”

The water main ruptured around 3 a.m. Thursday, sending thousands of gallons of water rushing through West Hollywood streets, flooding dozens of garages and pushing parked cars into one another.

A Metro bus yard was also flooded, leaving several buses partially submerged.

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The force of the water washed away dirt and gravel supporting the roadway, creating a massive sinkhole on Sunset Boulevard and a smaller one near Palm Avenue, where two people fell in.

“I’m astounded by the massive sinkhole that has just opened up before our eyes,” KTLA’s Annie Rose Ramos reported Thursday from Palm Avenue.

The two men appeared to be uninjured.

As for the larger trunk line that burst beneath Sunset Boulevard, KTLA’s Carlos Herrera reported it was scheduled for replacement in 2031.

LADWP officials now hope to establish a repair timeline after getting a closer look at the damage Friday. For now, the intersection is expected to remain closed for anywhere from several days to several weeks.

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The cause of the rupture remains under investigation.

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Los Angeles, Ca

Arrest made in deadly shooting at 4th of July gathering in Compton; search for 2nd suspect continues

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Arrest made in deadly shooting at 4th of July gathering in Compton; search for 2nd suspect continues

Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna gave an update Thursday on several shootings over the Fourth of July weekend that left three people dead and several others injured.

Police arrested Antoine Jones, a 50-year-old man from the Los Angeles area, who they believe is responsible for the murder of a 19-year-old woman and the attempted murder of two additional surviving female victims who were attending a large community block party in Compton.

On July 4 at approximately 11:40 p.m., deputies from the Compton station responded to an apartment complex on the 700 block of West Laurel Street following reports of multiple people being shot.

Meah Bordenave-Jenkins, a 19-year-old nursing student at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, was killed when gunfire broke out at the party.

Meah Bordenave-Jenkins and Eric Washington are pictured in a Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department bulletin. (LASD)

Deputies located Bordenave-Jenkins and the two other women suffering from gunshot wounds outside of the apartment complex.

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“While today’s announcement represents an important step towards justice for Meah and her family, our work is very far from being over,” said LASD Sheriff Robert Luna.

The LASD is also seeking the public’s help in identifying those responsible for the murder of Eric Washington, 37, a beloved community activist and former government staffer, and the attempted murder of another surviving man injured that same night at the same party.

Washington was reportedly killed while trying to deescalate a conflict at the party, his family said. Deputies found victim Washington suffering from a gunshot wound inside the complex.

Investigators later learned that another man had also been shot at some point during the incident.

Bordenave-Jenkins and Washington both died from their injuries. The remaining victims, two women and a man, sustained non-life-threatening injuries and have been released from the hospital. They have not been identified by police.

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Detectives determined the two shootings happened moments apart at the party but appear to be separate and unrelated.

  • 2 dead, 3 injured at Compton July 4 celebration
  • Compton fatal shooting
  • Compton fatal shooting
  • Compton fatal shooting
  • Compton fatal shooting
  • Compton fatal shooting
  • Compton fatal shooting
  • Compton fatal shooting
  • Compton fatal shooting
  • 2 dead, 3 injured at Compton July 4 celebration
  • 2 dead, 3 injured at Compton July 4 celebration
  • 2 dead, 3 injured at Compton July 4 celebration
  • 2 dead, 3 injured at Compton July 4 celebration
  • 2 dead, 3 injured at Compton July 4 celebration
  • 2 dead, 3 injured at Compton July 4 celebration
  • 2 dead, 3 injured at Compton July 4 celebration

Detectives identified Jones as the suspect responsible for Bordenave-Jenkins’ death and the attempted murder of the two surviving women. Authorities located Jones on July 14 in Los Angeles and took him into custody.

The LASD is still searching for the suspect or suspects responsible for the murder of Washington and the attempted murder of the surviving male victim.

“Although today’s arrest is significant, this investigation remains extremely active,” Luna said.

“There were hundreds of people at this gathering,” Luna said. “Somebody knows, somebody saw or somebody heard what happened.”

The LASD also announced they’re searching for a suspect in a separate shooting at a different Fourth of July gathering that occurred in the early morning of July 5.

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At approximately 12:10 a.m., Compton deputies responded to the 2100 block of North Grandee Avenue, where they located a 30-year-old victim, Thaddeus Clark, and a second victim suffering from gunshot wounds at the gathering.

Clark, a father of three, did not survive his injuries, Luna said.

The LASD is urging anyone with information about Clark’s murder and the attempted murder of the surviving victim to contact the LASD Homicide Bureau.

Although these shooting incidents occurred at gatherings less than an hour apart, investigators found no evidence that the two were connected, Luna said.

Luna also announced three suspects have been arrested in connection with a shooting in East L.A. on July 5. It happened as crowds crossed the intersection near Whittier Boulevard and Leonard Avenue during a World Cup match.

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Four people were hit by gunfire, including two men, one woman and a boy. None of the injuries were life-threatening.

The sheriff said the alleged shooter, a 15-year-old known gang member, was arrested. Two female suspects, ages 21 and 38, have been arrested in the Lancaster and Palmdale areas for their alleged roles in luring the primary victim to the location and assisting the shooting suspect in evading arrest.

They’re all facing four counts of attempted murder.

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Los Angeles, Ca

Water main break floods West Hollywood streets, traps cars

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Water main break floods West Hollywood streets, traps cars

A broken water main sent water gushing from an apartment building and turned nearby streets into rivers in West Hollywood early Thursday morning. The break was reported around 3 a.m. near Holloway Drive and Sunset Boulevard. “It’s a rupture of one of the significant mains that goes through here. West Hollywood, as it turns out, […]

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