““The Titanic was launched with less hubris and more preparation.” Justin Levitt, in his forthcoming Columbia Law Review article, Citizenship and the Census, as quoted in Adam Liptak’s NYT Sidebar preview of the upcoming oral argument in the census citizenship … Continue reading
Category Archives: Supreme Court
Balkinization: Here are the collected posts for our Balkinization symposium on Neal Devins and Lawrence Baum’s new book, The Company They Keep: How Partisan Divisions Came to the Supreme Court (Oxford University Press, 2019). 1. Jack Balkin, Introduction to Balkinization Symposium on Neal … Continue reading
“It was like ‘Jeopardy,’” said Dale Ho, director of voting rights at the American Civil Liberties Union, one of the lawyers who will argue the case in the Supreme Court. “They had the answer. They needed the question.” USA Today, on the … Continue reading
ACS: On April 23rd, the Supreme Court will hear oral argument in Department of Commerce v. New York, a case that raises questions of administrative and constitutional law, and that has the potential to affect the accuracy of the 2020 Census, … Continue reading
Bloomberg Law: The Supreme Court’s newest justices, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh, highlighted independent redistricting commissions as a solution to state legislatures maximizing seats for the party in power while drawing voting districts.But legal experts say these commissions can’t solve … Continue reading
Paul Horwitz: Usefully, Hasen emphasizes “the role of the ‘Celebrity Justice,’ a phenomenon which Devins and Baum acknowledge near the end of the book. Scalia, and later Ruth Bader Ginsburg, became rock star Justices, drawing adoring crowds who celebrate these … Continue reading
Posts being collected here. … Continue reading
Mike Parsons blogs. … Continue reading
At the time I write this post, the closely watched race for the Wisconsin Supreme Court is a nailbiter: The loser can request a recount if the race is within 1 percent, and the state pays if it is at … Continue reading
Lisa Manheim and Elizabeth Porter have posted this draft on SSRN (forthcoming, Supreme Court Review . Here is the abstract: Since its inception, the Roberts Court has acquiesced in—and at times even abetted—the attempts of many states to make it … Continue reading
I have written this post for a Balkinization symposium on a terrific new book by Devins & Baum, The Company They Keep: How Partisan Divisions Came to the Supreme Court (Oxford University Press, 2019). My post begins: In an eye-opening 2013 … Continue reading
Ned Foley blogs. … Continue reading
David Gans blogs. … Continue reading
Here. … Continue reading
At the recent oral argument in the partisan gerrymandering cases, both Justices Gorsuch and Kavanaugh raised the question whether partisan gerrymandering is a problem that could solve itself without federal court intervention. One possibility is through congressional action establishing state … Continue reading
Michael Latner: The lower equality standard reflected in current Constitutional interpretations is well understood among both election law experts and political scientists. Justice Breyer has noted the tension between single-seat districts and proportional representation. The most prominent metric of partisan advantage in … Continue reading
Mark Joseph Stern for Slate: As Talking Points Memo’s Tierney Sneed has observed, Gorsuch’s question effectively weaponizes redistricting reform as an argument againstfederal court intervention. His solution—let the people solve the problem—is absurd for at least two reasons: The court may … Continue reading
Steve Mazie for The Economist. … Continue reading
Yesterday, Nick offered some thoughts on the arguments in the Rucho and Benisek partisan gerrymandering cases, and several Justices’ fixation on whether all of this litigation is just a Trojan horse for achieving proportional representation. Nick’s post highlights the fact … Continue reading
In my write-up of what’s at stake in the partisan gerrymandering cases over at Slate, I focused on whether Chief Justice Roberts is in play. I dismissed whether Justice Kavanaugh is in play with a single sentence: “And while we … Continue reading
Rucho (North Carolina case) Benisek (Maryland case) … Continue reading
What a story from NPR: Emmet Jopling Bondurant II knew about the civil rights movement when he was a student at the University of Georgia in the 1950s, but he didn’t join it.“I was trying to get through college,” the … Continue reading
David Gans Buzzfeed oped. … Continue reading
Michael Wines in the NYT. … Continue reading
Roy Cooper and Larry Hogan WaPo oped. … Continue reading
Ralph Hise and David Lewis in The Atlantic: “I propose that we draw the maps to give a partisan advantage to 10 Republicans and three Democrats, because I do not believe it’s possible to draw a map with 11 Republicans … Continue reading
If the Supreme Court agreed, this would mean the the Enumerations Clause issue, which was not reached in the NY case but was decided in the CA case, would be decided in the NY case only. That would mean no … Continue reading
AP: The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear an appeal of the felony convictions of three top staffers on Ron Paul’s 2012 presidential campaign.Campaign chairman Jesse Benton, campaign manager John Tate and deputy campaign manager Dimitri Kesari were convicted … Continue reading
NYT reports on today’s Bethune-Hill II oral argument. … Continue reading
You can find the transcript here. … Continue reading
Adam Liptak NYT Sidebar column. … Continue reading
WaPo: The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments Monday in a redistricting case that could help determine the balance of power in Virginia’s legislature for years to come.A panel of lower-court judges ruled last year that 11 Virginia House of Delegates districts … Continue reading
From the hearing list: … Continue reading
Hansi Lo Wang: NEW: The Supreme Court has expanded the #CitizenshipQuestion case at #SCOTUS to consider whether including the question is unconstitutional, in addition to whether adding it violated administrative law?https://t.co/EA9sXoIlR1 pic.twitter.com/fKXv9CoUnj— Hansi Lo Wang (@hansilowang) March 15, 2019 As … Continue reading
Very readable Amy Howe preview at SCOTUSBlog of Bethune Hill II. … Continue reading
Here’s the Government’s brief in the SCOTUS case over the inclusion of a citizenship question in the decennial enumeration. I expected the arguments about speculative standing, about the deferential APA review, and about the degree of discretion ostensibly committed to … Continue reading
The AP has more on the latest at the Census Bureau. I think this is an effort to gather the administrative data that Census employees said would be more effective at assessing statistical citizenship rates, with fewer downsides for public … Continue reading
Big (and voluminous) news from California: in a 126-page opinion, Judge Seeborg has enjoined the inclusion of a question regarding citizenship on the 2020 census. The decision follows on Judge Furman’s opinion out of New York, but is more expansive: … Continue reading
Adam Liptak: According to data gathered by Stephen L. Wasby, an emeritus professor of political science at the University at Albany, Justice Thomas has written more than 250 concurring or dissenting opinions seriously questioning precedents, calling for their reconsideration or suggesting … Continue reading
New book is “First” by Evan Thomas and here’s the excerpt, courtesy of Mike Sacks: Some behind the scenes detail of Bush v Gore: -O’Connor backfired her bestie Breyer’s bid for Kennedy’s vote -Scalia went along with what he thought … Continue reading
Montana Public Radio: Montana’s 2015 campaign finance law survived its biggest test Tuesday. The U.S. Supreme Court, without comment, declined to take up a case challenging the state’s Disclose Act. The high court leaves in place a lower court’s ruling that Montana’s so-called ‘Disclose … Continue reading
Matt Ford for TNR. … Continue reading
Todd Ruger for Roll Call. … Continue reading
You can find the unusual cert. grant before judgment order here. Here is what I wrote when the government asked for this petition to be granted: “As for the merits, the plaintiffs should win given the strength of Judge Furman’s opinion. But … Continue reading
DateAuthorPost Title02.11.19Justin LevittSymposium: Clarity of the record should bring clarity of purpose02.08.19Tyler GreenSymposium: 1 First Street, NE, Punxsutawney, PA02.07.19Guy-Uriel E. Charles and Luis E. Fuentes-RohwerSymposium: Precedent dictates a win for the plaintiffs in this term’s partisan-gerrymandering cases02.07.19Kaylan PhillipsSymposium: Much ado … Continue reading
Mike Parsons has posted this draft on SSRN. Here is the abstract: Partisan gerrymandering claims occupy a unique purgatory in constitutional law, floating between justiciable and nonjusticiable. This term, the Supreme Court will finally decide. The issue said to divide … Continue reading
On the third anniversary of Scalia's death, here's a piece I wrote for @Slate last year that is even truer today: Scalia’s legacy is stronger than ever: https://t.co/qCLYLPv7bt via @slate— Rick Hasen (@rickhasen) February 13, 2019 The @Slate piece on … Continue reading
You can find the initial entries here (I will update when there are more entries–I declined to participate in the symposium because like Justice Kennedy I remain uncertain about how these cases should be handled): Special Feature: Symposium before the … Continue reading
Detroit News: Michigan Republicans are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to hit pause on a federal lawsuit alleging GOP gerrymandering, a move that could disrupt a settlement agreement announced Friday by Democratic Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson. Benson’s deal with … Continue reading
And the Virginia racial gerrymandering case is on March 18. Michael Li: Just out: NC and MD partisan gerrymandering cases set for oral argument at SCOTUS on 3/26. #fairmaps #ncpol pic.twitter.com/BlkPcR4ima— Michael Li (@mcpli) January 25, 2019 … Continue reading