Category Archives: Supreme Court
A Recount Could Be Coming in Closely Watched Wisconsin Supreme Court Race
At the time I write this post, the closely watched race for the Wisconsin Supreme Court is a nailbiter:
The loser can request a recount if the race is within 1 percent, and the state pays if it is… Continue reading
“The Elephant in the Room: Intentional Voter Suppression”
Lisa Manheim and Elizabeth Porter have posted this draft on SSRN (forthcoming, Supreme Court Review . Here is the abstract:
Since its inception, the Roberts Court has acquiesced in—and at times even abetted—the attempts of many states to make it… Continue reading
“Siloed Justices and the Law/Politics Divide”
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”
“Will the Supreme Court Follow the Law and Save the Census?”
Esquire Interviews Allison Riggs, One of the Plaintiffs’ Attorneys Who Argued the North Carolina Partisan Gerrymandering Case
Here.
Are Congressional Action, Voter-Established Redistricting Commissions, or State Courts Good Substitutes or Supplement for Federal Court Review of Partisan Gerrymanders?
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”
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”
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”
Steve Mazie for The Economist.
Proportionality and the Oral Arguments — Part II
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”?
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