Sanders Supporters Get Their Day In Court Against Wasserman Schultz

[Jim Lane]

104. It's easy to predict what the judge WON'T say.

The judge won't say, "I'm granting this 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss because I find as a matter of fact that plaintiffs' allegations of bias are false." That's simply not permitted under the rule. The judge learned that in his first year of law school.

In certain cases, the judge can announce that he's converting the defendants' motion to dismiss into a Rule 32 motion for summary judgment. This case, from what I've read of it, would not be an appropriate one for that unusual step. The judge will either dismiss the case, on the grounds that the defendants' violation of their own rule (i.e., not a violation of any law) isn't legally actionable, or he'll let the case go forward.

The going forward isn't necessarily all the way to a jury. I wouldn't be surprised to see a Rule 32 motion down the road, after there's been some discovery. If defendants win that motion, the case is over, with no jury trial.