Category Archives: Supreme Court

“Politics as Markets” after 25 Years: Lowering Expectations about the Role of the Courts in U.S. Democracy

September 18, 2023, 7:50 amPoliticsMarkets25, Supreme CourtRick Hasen

It’s hard to overstate the importance to the legal academy of Sam Issacharoff and Rick Pildes’s article from 1998, Politics as Markets. Their shift of the focus of election law from rights and interests to the structure and function… Continue reading

“Moore and Partisan Gerrymandering”

September 18, 2023, 7:38 amredistricting, Supreme CourtRick Hasen

Manoj Mate has posted this draft on SSRN. Here is the abstract: This article examines the impact of the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Moore v. Harper on state partisan gerrymandering. Moore rejected the independent state legislature theory in affirming… Continue reading

“Jan. 6 defendants bring cases to Supreme Court. Here’s what it could mean for Donald Trump”

September 17, 2023, 7:25 pmSupreme CourtRick Hasen

John Fritze for USA Today: Three men involved in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol are asking the Supreme Court to wipe out part of their indictment − and the possibility of an extra 20 years in prison… Continue reading

Justice Thomas Asks for Response from Voting Rights Plaintiffs by Sept. 19 in Alabama’s Emergency Motion to Avoid Creating Second Black Opportunity District for Congress

September 13, 2023, 7:07 amredistricting, Supreme Court, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

Docket.

“How the Supreme Court Should Respond to Alabama’s Defiance”

September 12, 2023, 10:22 amredistricting, Supreme Court, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

Kate Shaw for the NYT: Alabama’s appeal confronts the Supreme Court with a profound test. The case may appear to involve a set of technical questions about one state’s legislative map. But it is more fundamentally about whether the Supreme… Continue reading

“Alabama Asks Supreme Court to Revisit Dispute Over Congressional Map”

September 12, 2023, 7:44 amredistricting, Supreme Court, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

NYT: Alabama filed an emergency application in the Supreme Court on Monday evening, asking the justices to keep in place for now a congressional map that a lower court had found failed to comply with orders to establish a second… Continue reading

“What Ginni Thomas and Leonard Leo wrought: How a justice’s wife and a key activist started a movement”

September 10, 2023, 2:42 pmcampaign finance, chicanery, Supreme CourtRick Hasen

Very deep dive by Politico’s Heidi Pryzybyla: At the time, the Citizens United ruling was widely expected, as the court had already signaled its intentions. When it came, it upended nearly 100 years of campaign spending restrictions. The conservative legal movement seized… Continue reading

“Exclusive: How the Supreme Court’s conservatives rebuffed Alabama”

September 8, 2023, 11:05 amSupreme Court, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

Must-read Joan Biskupic report for CNN: When the Supreme Court considered the challenge to an Alabama congressional map that shortchanged the state’s Black voters, liberal justices expected the conservative majority to side with Alabama – if not gut the 1965… Continue reading

“Alabama will appeal rejection of congressional map to U.S. Supreme Court”

September 6, 2023, 7:05 amredistricting, Supreme CourtRick Hasen

Al.com reports.

Breaking: Unanimous 3-Judge Federal Court Holds Alabama Defied Supreme Court in Allen v. Milligan, Must Draw Another Minority Opportunity Congressional District

September 5, 2023, 7:33 amSupreme Court, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

You can find the unanimous, 217-page opinion at this link. The Court castigated Alabama both for its failure to obey the Supreme Court’s order and for its delay: We have reached these conclusions only after conducting an exhaustive analysis of… Continue reading

“Kennedy’s Supreme Court legacy is being erased, in part by past clerks”

September 4, 2023, 9:07 amredistricting, Supreme CourtRick Hasen

Deep dive by Bob Barnes for WaPo: Other changes attributable to Kennedy’s departure have drawn less attention. For years, Kennedy was alone among the conservative justices in believing extreme partisan gerrymandering —drawing legislative districts to favor the political party in… Continue reading

Announcing the Fall Webinar Series for UCLA Law’s Safeguarding Democracy Project (Each event free but registration required)

August 23, 2023, 8:24 amelection subversion risk, Supreme Court, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

Very excited to announce this lineup for the Safeguarding Democracy Project’s Fall 2023 webinar series (each event free but registration required): September 5, 12pm-1pm – The Trump Indictments, the 2024 Elections, and Public Peace Webinar Ruth Ben-Ghiat (NYU) Benjamin … Continue reading

“The Moore the Merrier: How Moore v. Harper’s Complete Repudiation of the Independent State Legislature (ISL) Theory is Happy News for the Court, the Country and Commentators”

August 21, 2023, 8:05 pmlegislation and legislatures, Supreme CourtRick Hasen

New Vik Amar piece, forthcoming in the Cato Supreme Court Review. Here is the abstract: This Essay thoroughly analyzes the 2023 U.S. Supreme Court Moore v. Harper decision, examines how the ruling reflects (laudable) doctrinal movement by the various Justices,… Continue reading