After yesterday, the only two Justices who have not issued opinions for the Court from the October sitting, when Gill v. Whitford was argued, are Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Gorsuch. This has given rise to speculation, including on this… Continue reading
This week, the Supreme Court will hear argument in the Maryland partisan-gerrymandering case, Benisek v. Lamone. The case is the first to be framed exclusively as a First Amendment challenge to alleged partisan gerrymandering, and it thus raises new, complex… Continue reading
Trump is Right About This:
President Donald Trump endorsed earmarks at a White House meeting on immigration reform on Tuesday, arguing that it would help build coalitions to pass legislation.
Trump told congressional lawmakers, “I think we should look… Continue reading
This is the third installment of FiveThirtyEight’s well-regarded podcast series called “The Gerrymandering Project.” This episode focuses on racial gerrymandering in North Carolina. Commentary comes from, among many others, Anita Earls, who is now running for a seat… Continue reading
For many decades the most significant organization in Alabama for mobilizing black turnout has been the Alabama Democratic Conference (ADC). The ADC goes back deep into Alabama’s history, even pre-dating the Voting Rights Act. It was founded after the successful… Continue reading
1. The significance for the justiciability issue. Deciding to hear the Maryland case is a significant signal that a majority of the Court is not going to hold partisan gerrymandering claims to be non-justiciable (that is, inappropriate for judicial resolution). … Continue reading
Since the creation in the 1970s of the modern, primary-election dominated process for nominating presidential candidates, there has been little scholarly or public commentary devoted to large-scale re-assessments of that system or consideration of major structural changes to it.
Discrete… Continue reading
A few weeks back, the Washington Post ran 38 short ideas from various commentators on fixing American democracy. I wanted to flag Elaine Kamrack’s contribution, with the title above, which focused on changing the presidential nomination process. It resonates with… Continue reading
As part of the critique I’ve been developing in recent years (e.g., here) over the excessively populist direction of a number of post-1960s political “reforms,” I have turned my attention to raising questions about changes we’ve made to the… Continue reading
“The adoption of the 15th Amendment … constitutes the most important event that has occurred, since the nation came into life.”
Ulysses S. Grant, as quoted in Ron Chernow’s new biography.
I want to single out, in two posts, two amicus briefs in Whitford. I am co-counsel on the first, filed on behalf of a group of academic experts in political geography (see here).
I chose to represent these experts… Continue reading
In a fascinating analysis in The Cook Political Report, Richard E. Cohen explores which areas of the country have essentially become locked-up by either the Democrats or the Republicans, and which areas remain fluid enough to provide the marginal forces… Continue reading
Rick Hills, a colleague, has a provocative essay at prawfsblawg, on the post-2010 racial redistricting cases, including Monday’s decision in the North Carolina case. Here is how he opens his analysis (his words, not mine):
Since at least the… Continue reading
I’ve now had a chance to read Rick Hasen’s assessment of the North Carolina case and I feel obligated to note my fundamental disagreement with the most dramatic parts of his post.
Rick says there are “two bombshells” in footnotes… Continue reading