Category Archives: Supreme Court

“Losing Legitimacy? Institutional Legitimacy Under Stress”

September 1, 2022, 3:42 pmSupreme CourtRick Hasen

Jim Gibson has posted this draft on SSRN. Here is the abstract: In its ruling abrogating a federal constitutional right to abortion services, the U.S. Supreme Court set off a firestorm of criticism unrivaled in recent times. Indeed, the Dobbs… Continue reading

Follow-Up Written Answers for Senate Judiciary Committee on Voting Rights after Brnovich and Shelby County

August 30, 2022, 11:38 amlegislation and legislatures, Supreme Court, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

Last July, I testified at a Senate Committee on the Judiciary, Subcommittee on The Constitution, hearing entitled “Restoring the Voting Rights Act after Brnovich and Shelby County.” Two Senators had follow-up questions, and I have now posted the questions and… Continue reading

Petitioners File Their Opening Supreme Court Brief on the Merits in Moore v. Harper, the Independent State Legislature Case

August 30, 2022, 7:38 amlegislation and legislatures, Supreme CourtRick Hasen

You can read the brief here.

Watch Archived Video of Safeguarding Democracy Project Webinar, “Moore v Harper, the Independent State Legislature Theory and Potential Threats to American Democracy,” with Vik Amar, Derek Muller, Rick Pildes, Carolyn Shapiro, and Franita Tolson

August 25, 2022, 4:20 pmelection subversion risk, legislation and legislatures, Supreme CourtRick Hasen

You can watch the event that I moderated, from UCLA Law’s Safeguarding Democracy Project, here:

“The Truly Scary Part of the $1.6 Billion Conservative Donation; It’s not about the legality. It’s about the loop.”

August 23, 2022, 6:00 pmcampaign finance, Supreme Court, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

I have written this piece with Dahlia Lithwick for Slate. It begins: On Monday, the New York Times broke the news that last year conservative mastermind Leonard Leo had obtained control over $1.6 billion through something called the “Marble Freedom… Continue reading

Breaking: Georgia Gives Up Seeking Emergency Relief after Supreme Court Loss, Will Run Elections for Public Service Commissions Using Districts to Remedy Likely Voting Rights Act Violation

August 19, 2022, 2:44 pmSupreme Court, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

Following up on this post, Georgia has raised the white flag, at least for this election. That’s even after the 11th Circuit set a lightning fast briefing schedule to consider a stay on remand from the Supreme Court.

Breaking: Supreme Court Reverses Eleventh Circuit in Georgia Voting Rights Suit Finding Georgia Secretary of State Conceded Purcell Principle Could Not Apply; Remands for Further Proceedings (No Noted Dissents) [Updated 11th Circuit Order on Remand]

August 19, 2022, 8:45 amSupreme Court, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

Georgia’s failure to use districts for electing certain statewide officials was found to violate the Voting Rights Act, and the district court required the use of districts in an upcoming election. The Eleventh Circuit put that ruling on hold, apply… Continue reading

“Independent State Legislatures and Presidential Elections: Addressing Misconceptions About Current Law and Prospects for Reform”

August 16, 2022, 8:39 amelection subversion risk, Supreme CourtRick Hasen

Genevieve Nadeau and Helen White for Just Security: During the recent Senate Rules Committee hearing on Electoral Count Act reform, Senator Angus King (I-ME) asked a question that seems to be on many minds: What is the independent state… Continue reading

Plaintiffs in Georgia Voting Rights Suit File Emergency Application to Vacate Stay with Supreme Court, Seeking District Elections for Public Service Commissioners. Case Raises Major Purcell Issue

August 15, 2022, 7:34 amSupreme Court, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

You can find the petition here, and my earlier coverage here.

11th Circuit, Over Strong Dissent by Judge Rosenbaum over Application of the Purcell Principle, Stays Order Delaying Georgia Public Utility Commission Elections with At-Large Plan Likely to Violate Voting Rights Act [corrected title]

August 12, 2022, 9:55 amSupreme Court, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

You can find the opinion and dissent here. In my view (consistent with the views in my article identifying the “Purcell principle”), Judge Rosenbaum’s integration of Purcell into the broader Nken standard for considering emergency relief is the right… Continue reading

“We have reached the apex of election-fraud debunking”

July 15, 2022, 5:16 amelection subversion risk, Supreme CourtDan Tokaji

Philip Bump in WaPo, on the report issued yesterday by eight prominent conservatives, including Ted Olson, Ben Ginsberg, Michael McConnell, and Judge Luttig: [M]illions of people believe that the election was stolen. So how might they be dissuaded? Perhaps… Continue reading

Cert. Petition Asserts Racial Gerrymandering of PA State Legislative Districts

July 15, 2022, 5:04 amredistricting, Supreme Court, Uncategorized, Voting Rights ActDan Tokaji

Here’s the question presented by the cert petition in Benninghoff v. 2021 Legislative Reapportionment Commission, brought by Pennsylvania’s Republican House Majority Leader: Pennsylvania’s Legislative Reapportionment Commission admittedly made extensive use of race in constructing up to 14 state legislative… Continue reading

Bob Bauer and Jack Goldsmith: The North Carolina Case in Perspective: and Why the Danger of a Subverted Presidential Election Lies Elsewhere

July 13, 2022, 5:43 pmelection subversion risk, Supreme CourtRick Hasen

The following is a guest post from Bob Bauer and Jack Goldsmith: A wave of panic greeted the Supreme Court’s recent announcement that it will review a case involving North Carolina’s gerrymandered congressional map. The ultimate concern is that… Continue reading

CLC on “The Supreme Court’s Role in the Degradation of U.S. Democracy”

July 13, 2022, 8:07 amcampaign finance, redistricting, Supreme Court, Voting Rights ActDan Tokaji

From the first page of the hard-hitting report, available here, that Campaign Legal Center released today: The time has come to talk about what the Supreme Court is doing to American democracy. For more than half a century—roughly during… Continue reading

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