Guy-Uriel Charles and Luis Fuentes-Rohwer have a new piece forthcoming in the Harvard Law Review, on partisan gerrymandering and justiciability: This paper examines the Court’s decision in Gil v. Whitford. It advances two claims. First, it provides a comprehensive account … Continue reading
Category Archives: Supreme Court
The water cooler conversation around the DC Circuit these days must be fascinating. The Democratic Coalition says it's filing an ethics complaint against #SCOTUS nominee Brett Kavanaugh re: his answers about whether he received stolen docs: https://t.co/wLKZvu5vc5 These are typically … Continue reading
AP: The U.S. Supreme Court won’t intervene in a dispute over Michigan‘s ban on straight-party voting. The court turned down an appeal Friday, which means the ban will go into effect in the November election. Voters can’t use a single mark … Continue reading
Eliza Newlin Carney for TAP. … Continue reading
Think Progress: Kavanaugh, for his part, tried to downplay the significance of Shelby County. “There is still, of course, Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act,” the nominee explained. That provision “allows litigation brought by plaintiffs to challenge voter restrictions that … Continue reading
Stephen Weissman for Slate. … Continue reading
You can find the leaked document here (via the NYT). He also correctly predicted that the case would come down the votes of CJ Rehnquist and Justice O’Connor (both in the end switched sides from their earrlier positions on this … Continue reading
In an earlier post, and in pieces in Politico and Slate, I explained how Judge Kavanaugh’s opinion for a three-judge court in Bluman v. FEC opens a huge gaping hole in campaign finance law allowing for foreign governments, entities, and individuals … Continue reading
Justin here, with my own take on Kavanaugh and the election process, also cross-posted over at the Take Care blog: In the 2016 elections, we were hacked. I don’t mean the breach of the DNC systems, serious as that was. … Continue reading
I have written this piece for Slate. It begins: By the time President Donald Trump runs for reelection in 2020, he might be able to accept unlimited campaign contributions to support his bid, thanks to his nomination of Judge Brett … Continue reading
Adam Liptak curtain-raiser for the NYT. … Continue reading
Daniel I. Weiner and Joanna Zdanys blog. … Continue reading
Got to give a lot of credit to these groups for making this conclusion, given the national stakes of fixing the partisan gerrymander in North Carolina’s congressional districts: The Court asked the parties to “file briefs addressing whether [it] should … Continue reading
WaPo: North Carolina Republicans plan to ask the Supreme Court to “step in” and preserve the state’s congressional map ahead of November’s midterm election, after a lower court ruled that the current map was unconstitutional. “What the court suggests is … Continue reading
The Charlotte Observer reports. More from WaPo. My earlier coverage, including what’s likely to happen at the Supreme Court, is here. … Continue reading
In a case with potentially national implications both short term and long, a three judge district court in North Carolina has held that the congressional redistricting plan—put in place after North Carolina’s districts last time were found to be a … Continue reading
AP: Civil rights advocates are objecting to a proposal to close about 75 percent of polling locations in a predominantly black south Georgia county. The Randolph County elections board is scheduled to meet Thursday to discuss a proposal that would … Continue reading
From an emailed press release: This week, the Supreme Court of the United States issued an order requiring the City of Austin to respond to the request filed in July by Don Zimmerman, former District 6 Councilmember, seeking High Court … Continue reading
Richard Raile for Fed Soc writes. … Continue reading
Looking forward to talking about the Kavanaugh nomination down in San Diego. RVSP link. … Continue reading
Here‘s Bob Egelko’s review “Originalism on Trial,” in the LA Review of Books, reviewing my book, The Justice of Contradictions: Antonin Scalia and the Politics of Disruption. … Continue reading
Manu Raju and Joan Biskupic report for CNN. A few of my earlier Slate pieces: The Only Thing That Might Stop Trump From Replacing Kennedy With a Scalia Clone How Justice Kennedy’s Successor Will Wreak Havoc on Voting Rights and … Continue reading
Listen here. (Link to buy the book, The Justice of Contradictions: Antonin Scalia and the Politics of Disruption.) … Continue reading
Guy Charles and Luis Fuentes-Rohwer for the HLR Blog. … Continue reading
Daniel Weiner blogs. … Continue reading
Peter Overby reports for NPR. … Continue reading
WaPo: Liberal activists, who were dramatically outspent in their last fight to fend off President Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, are embracing a tactic that has been a mainstay of the conservative political playbook: tapping a war chest financed by unidentified … Continue reading
Michael Morley at The Conversation. … Continue reading
Adam Liptak for the NYT: Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh has a favorite sentence. It explains why he is likely to reaffirm and build on the Citizens United decision if he is confirmed to the Supreme Court. The sentence appeared in a 1976 … Continue reading
I sat down with Dahlia Lithwick for Slate’s Amicus Podcast. Listen: In the first of a series of deep dives into great legal reads this summer, Dahlia Lithwick talks with Rick Hasen, author of The Justice of Contradictions: Antonin Scalia and the … Continue reading
Every Voice: A Russian company indicted earlier this year as part of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into foreign interference in our elections is using a decision written by none other than Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh to … Continue reading
NYT, CouldWouldaShoulda Dept: “Now, as the Senate faces another court vacancy — one that could tilt the court’s ideological balance and cement a conservative majority — the Democrats have few tools to fight the nomination. A different outcome last year … Continue reading
Charles Davis on SCOTUSBlog: Kavanaugh’s opinion showed hostility towards the Supreme Court’s views in McConnell. It questioned the theory that these [soft money] limits could be justified simply by the close connection between political parties and candidates or officeholders, and more … Continue reading
NYT op-ed: “The threat of voter disenfranchisement will get worse if Judge Kavanaugh is confirmed to the court. His opinion in the South Carolina [voter ID preclearance] case and his record in civil rights matters suggests that he will join … Continue reading
From Politico, here are some excerpts on how his confirmation would affect election law and democracy: Geof Stone: “Across the entire spectrum of critical constitutional issues – ranging from abortion to gay rights to affirmative action to gerrymandering to campaign … Continue reading
Fact sheet available here. Their conclusion: “Judge Kavanaugh’s record raises serious concerns that he would expand the power of big money in politics, weaken voter protections, and insulate the president from the rule of law. Senators must press Kavanaugh and … Continue reading
Ken White writes that Judge Kavanaugh’s opinions “are consistent with the Supreme Court’s strong protection of free speech rights this century,” and that he has “voted to strike down campaign financing laws and regulations under the First Amendment.” Jonathan Adler agrees: “Justice … Continue reading
[Bumped to top] NYT calls Judge Kavanaugh a “Conservative Stalwart,” noting his involvement in an “extraordinary number of political controversies” since early in his legal career, including Ken Starr’s investigation of President Clinton and the 2000 Florida recount litigation. It … Continue reading
President Trump is scheduled to announce his nominee in prime time tonight, with Amy Coney Barrett, Brett Kavanaugh, Raymond Kethledge, and Thomas Hardiman the four reported finalists. Coverage and analysis from 538, NYT, Politico, RCP, WSJ, WaPo. … Continue reading
[Bumping to the top.] Can’t wait for this, coming on the day of the expected announcement of President Trump’s nominee to replace Justice Kennedy: Livestream > This exciting and entertaining program reviews the Supreme Court’s key cases decided in the … Continue reading
Ezra Klein at Vox: [T]he Supreme Court’s conservative bloc doesn’t just reflect the outcomes of America’s undemocratic electoral rules; it is writing and, in some cases, rewriting them, to favor the Republican Party — making it easier to suppress votes, … Continue reading
Deep, insightful post from Ned at SCOTUSBlog: Justice Anthony Kennedy’s jurisprudence on voting rights must be understood in the context of his overall constitutional philosophy. While certainly appreciative of the role that democratic elections play as part of the republican … Continue reading
Tweet thread. … Continue reading
Here at Twitter. … Continue reading
Here’s an interview I did on NPR’s Morning Edition. … Continue reading
NYT: Judicial Crisis Network, an organization that promotes conservative judicial nominees, announced last week that it would spend more than $1 million to support Mr. Trump’s nominee. So far, the group has spent as much as $140,000 on a series of nearly … Continue reading
The National Law Journal has an interesting article on Jim Bopp sending a letter to President Trump and VP Pence arguing against Judge Brett Kavanaugh for SCOTUS on grounds that he’s not deregulatory enough when it comes to campaign finance … Continue reading
Here’s the order. There’s not much left to do after the Supreme Court killed most of the plaintiffs’ case in Abbott v. Perez. My take at Slate: Suppression of Minority Voting Rights Is About to Get Way Worse. … Continue reading
I have written this piece for Slate. It begins: Justice Anthony Kennedy, who announced his retirement from the Supreme Court last week, was certainly the “swing justice” in key cases on major issues from abortion to gay rights. But when … Continue reading