For whatever my opinion is worth (guess what I'm not: an attorney), that final bit of absurdity was added on purpose so that the Supreme Court pretty much has to take this case.
It's a thing you see sometimes. A lower court can't really make the ruling it wants to make for a variety of reasons. But what it can do is poison the ruling in a way that forces an appellate court to make a decision.
It's a thing you see sometimes. A lower court can't really make the ruling it wants to make for a variety of reasons. But what it can do is poison the ruling in a way that forces an appellate court to make a decision.