Breaking: Three Judge Court, Breaking Along Party Lines, Says Louisiana Impermissibly Created a Second Black Congressional District, Orders Hearing on Remedy

redistricting, Supreme Court

Faced with a likely successful lawsuit by minority plaintiffs under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, the Louisiana legislature drew a second black majority congressional district. After the districts were drawn, those who did not like Louisiana having a second black majority district challenged it as an unconstitutional racial gerrymander under the 14th Amendment’s equal protection clause. Such a claim requires proof that race was the predominant factor in drawing district lines and that doing so was not required by a compelling state interest.

The majority opinion, by two Trump appointees, found that race predominated and that Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act did not justify drawing the district. A Bill Clinon appointee dissented, holding that race was not the predominant factor and in any case drawing the second district was required by Section 2 of the VRA.

There will now be a hearing on the remedy. Once that remedy is approved by a court majority, there will be the question whether, under the Purcell Principle, it is too late to see the use of these new districts in the 2024 elections.

Expect this to end up at the Supreme Court on the shadow docket.

Share this:

In election contest, Missouri Supreme Court throws out enacted state constitutional amendment on police funding for faulty ballot summary

Uncategorized

The opinion has some really interesting ballot initiative issues, including the timing of election contests, and pre-election v. post-election challenges, with some dissents largely on procedural issues. From Lucas v. Ashcroft (lightly revised):

Continue reading In election contest, Missouri Supreme Court throws out enacted state constitutional amendment on police funding for faulty ballot summary →
Share this:

“Meta Faces E.U. Investigation Over Election Disinformation”

cheap speech

NYT:

Meta, the American tech giant, is being investigated by European Union regulators for the spread of disinformation on its platforms Facebook and Instagram, poor oversight of deceptive advertisements and potential failure to protect the integrity of elections.

On Tuesday, European Union officials said Meta does not appear to have sufficient safeguards in place to combat misleading advertisements, deepfakes and other deceptive information that is being maliciously spread online to amplify political divisions and influence elections.

The announcement appears intended to pressure Meta to do more ahead of elections across all 27 E.U. countries this summer to elect new members of the European Parliament. The vote, taking place from June 6-9, is being closely watched for signs of foreign interference, particularly from Russia, which has sought to weaken European support for the war in Ukraine.

The Meta investigation shows how European regulators are taking a more aggressive approach to regulate online content than authorities in the United States, where free speech and other legal protections limit the role the government can play in policing online discourse. A new E.U. law, called the Digital Services Act, took effect last year and gives regulators broad authority to rein in Meta and other large online platforms over the content shared through their services.

Share this:

Trump in TIME Interview: “I Think a Lot of People Like” Talk of Dictatorship

election subversion risk

TIME Magazine interview:

Toward the end of our conversation at Mar-a-Lago, I ask Trump to explain another troubling comment he made: that he wants to be dictator for a day. It came during a Fox News town hall with Sean Hannity, who gave Trump an opportunity to allay concerns that he would abuse power in office or seek retribution against political opponents. Trump said he would not be a dictator—“except for day one,” he added. “I want to close the border, and I want to drill, drill, drill.”

Trump says that the remark “was said in fun, in jest, sarcastically.” He compares it to an infamous moment from the 2016 campaign, when he encouraged the Russians to hack and leak Hillary Clinton’s emails. In Trump’s mind, the media sensationalized those remarks too. But the Russians weren’t joking: among many other efforts to influence the core exercise of American democracy that year, they hacked the Democratic National Committee’s servers and disseminated its emails through WikiLeaks.

Whether or not he was kidding about bringing a tyrannical end to our 248-year experiment in democracy, I ask him, Don’t you see why many Americans see such talk of dictatorship as contrary to our most cherished principles? Trump says no. Quite the opposite, he insists. “I think a lot of people like it.”

Share this: