Category Archives: Supreme Court

“The Independent State Legislature Claim, Textualism, and State Law”

March 1, 2022, 8:55 pmSupreme CourtRick Hasen

Carolyn Shapiro has posted this draft on SSRN. Here is the abstract: During the litigation surrounding the 2020 election, the independent state legislature claim (“ISLC”) , emerged as a potentially crucial factor in the presidential election. The ISLC rests on… Continue reading

“As maps fall, GOP tries to neutralize state supreme courts”

February 26, 2022, 8:00 pmredistricting, Supreme CourtRick Hasen

AP: Repeatedly stymied by local courts in their efforts to draw maps that make it easier for their party to win elections, Republicans are trying to neutralize the ability of state supreme courts to interfere in the politically-charged redistricting… Continue reading

My New One at Slate on North Carolina’s Attempt to Get the Supreme Court to Allow It to Return to Partisan Gerrymandering of Congressional Districts

February 25, 2022, 4:48 pmredistricting, Supreme CourtRick Hasen

I have written this piece for Slate. It begins: In a late Friday afternoon filing as war raged in Ukraine and as President Joe Biden announced Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson as his nominee to replace Justice Stephen Breyer on the… Continue reading

Amar and Amar: “Eradicating Bush-League Arguments Root and Branch: The Article II Independent-State-Legislature Notion and Related Rubbish”

February 25, 2022, 3:42 pmSupreme CourtRick Hasen

Can’t wait to read this article by Vik Amar and Akhil Amar, forthcoming in the Supreme Court Review. Here is the abstract: The Court’s rulings in Bush v. Gore were disgraceful, and efforts two decades later to rehabilitate and recycle… Continue reading

Breaking: North Carolina General Assembly Goes to US Supreme Court to Overturn State Supreme Court Decision Reining in Partisan Gerrymandering of Congressional (and Other Districts) (Link to Filing)

February 25, 2022, 2:37 pmredistricting, Supreme CourtRick Hasen

As I feared, here the new filing. Analysis to come.

What happens to election law after the Anderson-Burdick framework is (probably) overturned?

February 25, 2022, 10:15 amelection administration, Supreme CourtDerek Muller

If I had to predict, I’d guess that the Anderson-Burdick framework for federal review election laws will be overturned in the next decade. What does election law litigation look like after that? Is that a grim thought for election law… Continue reading

Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, Biden’s Expected Nominee for the U.S. Supreme Court, Has Apparently Decided No Significant Election Law Cases

February 25, 2022, 7:06 amSupreme CourtRick Hasen

With news that President Biden is about to nominate Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to fill Justice Breyer’s seat on the Supreme Court at the end of this term, I took a look at Adam Feldman’s very useful database… Continue reading

ELB Podcast Episode 3:6: Deuel Ross: Everything You Wanted to Know About the Alabama Voting Rights Redistricting Case But Were Too Confused to Ask

February 22, 2022, 7:51 amELB Podcast, redistricting, Supreme Court, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

New ELB Podcast: ELB Podcast Episode 3:6: Deuel Ross: Everything You Wanted to Know About the Alabama Voting Rights Redistricting Case But Were Too Confused to AskWhy did the Supreme Court put on hold a federal district court order… Continue reading

Supreme Court Consolidates Two Alabama Redistricting Voting Rights Cases, Squarely Sets Up Meaning of Section 2 of VRA in Question Presented

February 22, 2022, 7:00 amSupreme Court, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

From today’s order list: 21-1086 ) MERRILL, AL SEC. OF STATE, ET AL. V. MILLIGAN, EVAN, ET AL.) 21-1087 ) MERRILL, AL SEC. OF STATE, ET AL. V. CASTER, MARCUS, ET AL.These cases are consolidated, and a total of… Continue reading

Major NYT Magazine Story on Justice Thomas and His Wife Ginni Thomas Highlights Ginni Thomas’s Active Role in January 6-Related Activities

February 22, 2022, 6:49 amchicanery, election subversion risk, Supreme CourtRick Hasen

NYT: The call to action was titled “Election Results and Legal Battles: What Now?” Shared in the days after the 2020 presidential election, it urged the members of an influential if secretive right-wing group to contact legislators in three… Continue reading

Watch Video of My Appearance on CBS News Talking About the Supreme Court’s Order in the Alabama Redistricting Case

February 18, 2022, 12:56 pmredistricting, Supreme Court, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

You can watch here.

“We the People” Podcast from National Constitution Center: “Redistricting in Alabama and the Voting Rights Act”

February 18, 2022, 6:45 amSupreme Court, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

I participated in this podcast interview with NCC’s Jeffrey Rosen and Matthew Clark: Last week, the Supreme Court issued an order in a case about voting district maps in Alabama. After the 2020 census, Alabama drew new maps for 7… Continue reading

“Defenders of #SCOTUS’s shadow docket behavior (including Justice Alito), insist that the Court’s orders aren’t precedential. But here’s the judge hearing VRA challenges to Georgia’s redistricting suggesting that he’s “bound” to follow the unexplained stays in the Alabama cases”

February 17, 2022, 7:26 amSupreme Court, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

Vladeck of course. Defenders of #SCOTUS's shadow docket behavior (including Justice Alito), insist that the Court's orders aren't precedential. But here's the judge hearing VRA challenges to *Georgia's* redistricting suggesting that he's "bound" to follow the unexplained stays… Continue reading

Must-Read Adam Serwer: “The Supreme Court Seems to Think Discrimination Is When You Try to Remedy Discrimination”

February 11, 2022, 11:33 amredistricting, Supreme Court, Uncategorized, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

Adam Serwer for the Atlantic: I have a hard time believing that anyone sincerely thinks that drawing districts that limit the political influence of Black voters in a state where Black people comprise more than a quarter of the… Continue reading

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