Voters Organized for the Integrity of City Elections v. Baltimore City Elections Board

There is a medieval legend concerning a Danish king named Canute whose domain included the British Isles and Scandinavia. To his contemporaries, his authority must have seemed *380boundless. Canute was less impressed. To demonstrate that his power was quite finite in the grand scheme of things, Canute invited his courtiers to the seashore where he commanded the incoming tide to halt—an order that was, as Canute intended to demonstrate, without effect.1

An appellate court may sometimes find itself in a situation when, due to time or other circumstances beyond its control, it is asked to issue an…