Category Archives: Supreme Court

“Siloed Justices and the Law/Politics Divide”

April 2, 2019, 7:18 ampolitical polarization, Supreme CourtRick Hasen

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 … Continue reading

“Gerrymandering as Viewpoint Discrimination: A ‘Functional Equivalence’ Test”

April 2, 2019, 7:06 amredistricting, Supreme CourtRick Hasen

Ned Foley blogs.

“Will the Supreme Court Follow the Law and Save the Census?”

April 1, 2019, 8:06 amcensus litigation, Supreme CourtRick Hasen

David Gans blogs.

Esquire Interviews Allison Riggs, One of the Plaintiffs’ Attorneys Who Argued the North Carolina Partisan Gerrymandering Case

March 31, 2019, 9:00 pmredistricting, Supreme CourtRick Hasen

Here.

Are Congressional Action, Voter-Established Redistricting Commissions, or State Courts Good Substitutes or Supplement for Federal Court Review of Partisan Gerrymanders?

March 30, 2019, 9:29 amredistricting, Supreme Court, UncategorizedRick Hasen

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

“Equality, More or Less: How the Supreme Court Might Fix Gerrymandering”

March 29, 2019, 9:06 amredistricting, Supreme CourtRick Hasen

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… Continue reading

“Neil Gorsuch’s Bad-Faith Ploy to Save Partisan Gerrymandering and Doom American Democracy”

March 28, 2019, 1:02 pmcitizen commissions, redistricting, Supreme CourtRick Hasen

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:… Continue reading

“Election doping: The Supreme Court does not like gerrymandering; That does not mean the nine justices will stop it”

March 28, 2019, 10:27 amredistricting, Supreme CourtRick Hasen

Steve Mazie for The Economist.

Proportionality and the Oral Arguments — Part II

March 27, 2019, 9:10 ampolitical parties, redistricting, Supreme Court, The Voting WarsJustin Levitt

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

Is Justice Kavanaugh in Play in the Partisan Gerrymandering Cases? Or is that Too “Big” of a “Lift”?

March 26, 2019, 11:00 amredistricting, Supreme CourtRick Hasen

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… Continue reading

Read the Transcripts in the Partisan Gerrymandering Cases

March 26, 2019, 10:11 amredistricting, Supreme CourtRick Hasen

Rucho (North Carolina case) Benisek (Maryland case)

“55 Years Later, Lawyer Will Again Argue Over Redistricting Before Supreme Court”

March 26, 2019, 7:01 amelection law biz, Supreme CourtRick Hasen

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