Category Archives: Supreme Court

As Path to Overturn Pennsylvania Election Results Closes Completely, Trump Campaign Apparently Abandons Seeking Supreme Court Emergency Relief in Third Circuit Case

December 4, 2020, 8:34 amfraudulent fraud squad, Supreme CourtRick Hasen

Philadelphia Inquirer: If its fate had not been abundantly clear already, President Donald Trump’s dream of having Pennsylvania’s GOP-controlled legislature overturn the state’s election results received what appeared to be its final death blows Thursday with a late-night order… Continue reading

Justice Alito Slow-Walks Rep. Kelly’s Pennsylvania Emergency Petition, Requiring a Response from the State on Dec. 9, After the Safe Harbor Deadline: What Does It All Mean?

December 3, 2020, 8:22 pmelectoral college, Supreme CourtRick Hasen

Although it is not yet reflected on the docket, Justice Alito has reportedly set a deadline of December 9 for the state of PA to respond to Rep. Kelly’s petition seeking to nullify the vote in Pennsylvania (a petition… Continue reading

Rep. Kelly Has Apparently Withdrawn His Emergency Request for a SCOTUS Injunction to Reverse Pennsylvania Results, As He Awaits PA Supreme Court Ruling on Stay

December 2, 2020, 8:30 pmSupreme CourtRick Hasen

From the opposition to the stay request filed in the PA Supreme Court: Once again, Petitioners are asking the courts to take expedited action in response to an emergency of Petitioners’ own making. This Court dismissed the Petition for Review… Continue reading

Unanimous 4th Circuit Panel Applies “Presumption of Good Faith” in Upholding 2018 North Carolina Voter ID Law, Despite Finding That 2013 Voter ID Law Was Passed with Racially Discriminatory Intent

December 2, 2020, 9:22 amSupreme Court, voter idRick Hasen

You can find the 29-page opinion at this link (via WRAL). The opinion leans heavily on the Supreme Court’s use of a presumption of legislative good faith in Abbott, despite an earlier history of racially discriminatory conduct. I recently wrote… Continue reading

“Federal Court Review of State Court Interpretations of State Laws that Regulate Federal Elections: Debunking the ‘Independent State Legislature’ Notion Once and for all, and Keeping Federal Judges to Their Important but Limited Lanes”

December 1, 2020, 9:58 amlegislation and legislatures, Supreme CourtRick Hasen

Vik Amar has posted this draft on SSRN. Here is the abstract: In the weeks leading up to and following Election Day 2020, Republican litigants, taking cues from a minority group of Justices, asked federal courts to undo state election… Continue reading

“A Census Case That Goes to the Heart of American Democracy”

December 1, 2020, 8:16 amcensus litigation, Supreme CourtRick Hasen

Michael Wines for the NYT: On Monday, the Supreme Court heard arguments on a question that goes to the heart of American democracy: Must the government count everyone living in the country, citizens or not, in the census totals that… Continue reading

Pennsylvania and PA Democratic Party File Opposition to Cert. Briefs in Supreme Court Over Extension of Ballot Deadline; Both Argue Case is Now Moot

November 30, 2020, 8:58 pmSupreme CourtRick Hasen

PA Brief. PA Dems’ Brief. This is the case involving the PA Supreme Court’s decision to accept ballots arriving up to three days after election day. PA Republicans claim this violates the right of the state legislature to set… Continue reading

“Supreme Court Skeptical of Trump’s Plan to Not Count Unauthorized Immigrants in Redistricting”

November 30, 2020, 8:51 pmcensus litigation, Supreme CourtRick Hasen

Adam Liptak for the NYT: A skeptical Supreme Court on Monday reacted with frustration and some confusion to President Trump’s plan to exclude unauthorized immigrants from the calculations used to allocate seats in the House.While there was some discussion about… Continue reading

Listen Live to the Oral Argument at Supreme Court in the Census Case

November 30, 2020, 7:57 amcensus litigation, Supreme CourtRick Hasen

In progress here.

“The Supreme Court Must Choose Between Trump and the Constitution in the Census Case”

November 30, 2020, 7:34 amcensus litigation, Supreme CourtRick Hasen

David Gans for Slate.

“Election Case Risks Awkward About-Face for Biden Administration”

November 23, 2020, 8:46 amSupreme Court, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

Bloomberg Law: President-elect Joe Biden’s top lawyer at the Supreme Court may have no choice but to change the government’s position in an election dispute out of Arizona, the sort of pivot that is awkward for lawyers and irritates… Continue reading

My New New York Times Oped Argues We Should Worry Less About Whether Trump Can Steal the Election (He Can’t); Worry More About the Damage Being Done to Voting Rights and the Legitimacy of our Election System and Democracy

November 23, 2020, 6:26 amfraudulent fraud squad, Supreme Court, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

I have written this piece for the NY Times. It begins: Even as the campaign lawsuits brought by President Trump over the 2020 election enter their death throes, many people continue to worry that Mr. Trump will find three… Continue reading

“Supreme Court goes idle on Trump-related disputes and time is running out”

November 13, 2020, 3:17 pmSupreme CourtRick Hasen

Bob Barnes for WaPo: Has the Supreme Court hit the pause button on all things President Trump?The justices for more than three weeks have been holding on to the president’s last-ditch plea to shield his private financial records from… Continue reading

Supreme Court, Without Comment, Won’t Hear Suit By Progressives Seeking to Kill Super PACs

November 9, 2020, 6:39 amcampaign finance, Supreme CourtRick Hasen

This is not a surprise at all and I was always mystified by anyone who thought this Court would agree to hear a campaign finance case to make things more regulatory. The trend is decidedly in the opposite direction.

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