Category Archives: Supreme Court

“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.

Foley, Morley, Muller and I Agree: No Promising Path for Trump to Reverse Election Results at Supreme Court (Nina Totenberg Story)

November 7, 2020, 11:12 amSupreme CourtRick Hasen

Nina Totenberg at NPR: “Unless something new happens, I don’t see a viable path for Trump to litigate his way out of an Electoral College loss,” says election law expert Richard Hasen, of the University of California, Irvine.Florida State… Continue reading

PA Democrats Tell Supreme Court That Those Late Arriving Ballots Will Have to Be Counted—At Least in State Races

November 7, 2020, 8:07 amSupreme CourtRick Hasen

Important to note that the presidency is not the only thing on the line in the dispute over late arriving mailed ballots in Pennsylvania. From the Democrats’ brief: the ballots contain votes for state races that are not implicated… Continue reading

Breaking: Justice Alito Issues Order Requiring That All Pennsylvania Counties Segregate (and Potentially Separately Count) Ballots Received After Polling Deadline

November 6, 2020, 4:52 pmSupreme CourtRick Hasen

You can find the order directed to county election boards here. The order follows the PA GOP telling Justice Alito that not all counties had indicated that they would follow the guidance as well as tweaks that the PA… Continue reading

“Pennsylvania GOP asks Supreme Court to stop Pennsylvania from counting votes received after November 3”

November 6, 2020, 2:15 pmSupreme CourtRick Hasen

Ariane de Vogue: Lawyers for Pennsylvania Republicans are asking the US Supreme Court to order the state to not take any action on any mail-in ballots received after Election Day, November 3.The Pennsylvania secretary of state has already ordered any… Continue reading

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