Category Archives: legislation and legislatures

“State Law and Federal Elections After Moore v. Harper”

December 30, 2024, 4:11 pmlegislation and legislatures, Supreme CourtRick Hasen

Carolyn Shapiro has written this article for the NYU Law Review. Here is the abstract: In Moore v. Harper, the Supreme Court rejected the extreme proposition that state legislatures operate free from state constitutional constraints and judicial review when they… Continue reading

“The 118th Congress passed the fewest laws in decades”

December 30, 2024, 3:54 pmlegislation and legislatures, political polarizationRick Hasen

Axios: If measured by the number of bills signed into law, the 118th Congress was by far the most unproductive since at least the 1980s, according to data from public affairs firm Quorum. Why it matters: That is not the… Continue reading

“A Razor-Thin House Majority Creates Headaches for Republicans”

December 27, 2024, 8:03 amlegislation and legislaturesRick Hasen

WSJ: They won, but barely. Republicans held on to control of the House of Representatives in November by one of the thinnest margins in the country’s history—even smaller than in the current Congress—a result that will have them walking a… Continue reading

“Trump says members of Jan. 6 committee should be jailed”

December 8, 2024, 9:53 pmauthoritarian threats in US, legislation and legislatures, Speech or Debate ClauseJanuary 6, The Big LieJustin Levitt

In his first post-election TV interview, on NBC. In case you’re wondering, this is not, nor should it ever be confused with, normal. At least, not in a democracy.

“Election Day has long passed. In some states, legislatures are working to undermine the results.”

December 8, 2024, 9:50 pmdirect democracy, legislation and legislatures, political partiesJustin Levitt

The AP notes a variety of ways in which legislatures may push back.

“Republicans in North Carolina pass sweeping changes to consolidate power”

November 20, 2024, 3:09 pmelection administration, legislation and legislatures, provisional ballotsNorth CarolinaTabatha Abu El-Haj

Washington Post. North Carolina Republicans are back at it! The North Carolina legislature (controlled by Republicans) is seeking “last-minute inclusions” in a hurricane relief bill that “will strip the incoming Democratic governor and attorney general of significant authority before… Continue reading

“Republicans Ran a Dysfunctional House. Voters Shrugged and Re-elected Them.”

November 14, 2024, 7:43 amlegislation and legislaturesRick Hasen

NYT: A historically long and divisive fight to choose one speaker. A near default on the federal debt, followed by a mutiny on the House floor and multiple government shutdown scares. The ouster of the speaker, followed by weeks of… Continue reading

“Dems say they will certify a Trump victory — even though some see him as ineligible for office”

October 31, 2024, 2:45 pmlegislation and legislaturesRick Hasen

Politico: Democrats in Congress for years have labeled Donald Trump an “insurrectionist,” impeached him for stoking violence on Jan. 6, 2021, and suggested he is constitutionally prohibited from returning to the White House. But even as those lawmakers continue to… Continue reading

Republicans Plan to Go to U.S. Supreme Court Raising Independent State Legislature Theory to Seek to Block Pennsylvania Supreme Court Ruling Requiring Counting of Certain Provisional Ballots

October 25, 2024, 11:47 amabsentee ballots, legislation and legislatures, Supreme CourtRick Hasen

Are we about to see the Supreme Court weigh back into the application of the independent state legislature theory? Back on Wednesday, I wrote about a divided ruling of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court that required the counting of provisional ballots… Continue reading

“Wisconsin Supreme Court grapples with governor’s 400-year veto, calling it ‘crazy'”

October 10, 2024, 7:00 amlegislation and legislaturesRick Hasen

AP: Justices on the Wisconsin Supreme Court said Wednesday that Gov. Tony Evers’ creative use of his expansive veto power in an attempt to lock in a school funding increase for 400 years appeared to be “extreme” and “crazy” but… Continue reading

“‘One pistol clip can change the balance of power’: Congress is wholly unprepared for a mass casualty event”

September 24, 2024, 6:58 amlegislation and legislaturesRick Hasen

Politico: Over the past 15 years, members of Congress have survived two near-deadly shootings, a train crash with dozens of them on board, and a Capitol riot that had hundreds of lawmakers fearing for their lives. Despite those incidents, the… Continue reading

“Will the Supreme Court Revive the Dangerous Fringe Election Theory It Just Rejected?”

September 20, 2024, 7:22 amlegislation and legislatures, Supreme CourtRick Hasen

Anna Jessurun in Slate: As several scholars predicted, ISLT proponents have now seized on the language in Moore to argue that state supreme court decisions that invalidate state election laws on state constitutional grounds violate the elections clause. This spring, the … Continue reading

“Sweeping Section Three under the Rug: A Comment on Trump v. Anderson”

September 12, 2024, 8:32 amelection subversion risk, legislation and legislatures, Supreme CourtRick Hasen

William Baude and Michael Stokes Paulsen have posted this draft on SSRN (forthcoming Harvard Law Review). Here is the abstract: In Trump v. Anderson, the Supreme Court was confronted with the explosive question of whether former President Donald Trump was constitutionally… Continue reading

“Moore v. Harper, Evasion, and the Ordinary Bounds of Judicial Review”

September 5, 2024, 9:04 amlegislation and legislatures, Supreme CourtRick Hasen

David Gans, Brianne Gorod, and Anna Jessurun have posted this draft on SSRN (forthcoming, Boston College Law Review). Here is the abstract: In Moore v. Harper, the Supreme Court confronted head on for the first time the so-called independent state… Continue reading