The Supreme Court’s Conservatives Sure Are Pushing Some Crazy Legal Theories Lately
54 years, 11 months ago

The Supreme Court’s Conservatives Sure Are Pushing Some Crazy Legal Theories Lately

Slate  

series is made possible by the support of Slate Plus members and readers like you. A Pennsylvania statute disqualifies ballots that come in after election night; the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, however, found that this rule violates the state constitution in light of the pandemic, combined with the Postal Service slowdown. In fact, the Supreme Court has long held that legislatures don’t hold sole authority to run elections; state courts can enforce election rules, and the legislature can delegate their powers—to a board of elections, for instance. As the court put it in 1984, “it is difficult to think of a greater intrusion on state sovereignty than when a federal court instructs state officials on how to conform their conduct to state law.” On Wednesday, the Supreme Court turned away Republicans’ request to shorten the deadline. And by accusing the board of creating an “unnecessary conflict” with state law, Gorsuch defied the state court’s conclusion that the board’s actions were reasonable: They did not conflict with the election code, but simply enforced it.

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History of this topic

Will the Supreme Court Revive the Dangerous Fringe Election Theory It Just Rejected?
3 months ago

Will the Supreme Court Revive the Dangerous Fringe Election Theory It Just Rejected?

Slate  

From troubling election denialism to rampant misinformation about voter fraud, there are already multiple respects in which this year’s presidential election feels like 2020 déjà vu. Moore noted that because the elections clause’s specification of state legislatures is “a deliberate choice that Court must respect,” SCOTUS has an obligation to ensure that state courts do not evade the U.S. Constitution. …

'Astonishing and unprecedented': Conservative slams SCOTUS decision on Trump ballot
9 months, 2 weeks ago

'Astonishing and unprecedented': Conservative slams SCOTUS decision on Trump ballot

Raw Story  

The Supreme Court's decision to restore former President Donald Trump to the ballot in Colorado and shut down any state decisions on Fourteenth Amendment disqualification was wrong, argued retired federal Judge Michael Luttig on CNN Monday. Luttig, widely regarded as one of the founding intellectuals behind the modern-day conservative legal movement, has long been one of the strongest proponents of …

Federal appeals court deals a blow to Voting Rights Act, ruling that private plaintiffs can’t sue
1 year, 1 month ago

Federal appeals court deals a blow to Voting Rights Act, ruling that private plaintiffs can’t sue

Associated Press  

WASHINGTON — A divided federal appeals court on Monday ruled that private individuals and groups such as the NAACP do not have the ability to sue under a key section of the federal Voting Rights Act, a decision that contradicts decades of precedent and could further erode protections under the landmark 1965 law. The 2-1 decision by a panel of …

The Supreme Court signals support for a Republican-leaning congressional district in South Carolina
1 year, 2 months ago

The Supreme Court signals support for a Republican-leaning congressional district in South Carolina

Associated Press  

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Wednesday seemed likely to preserve the Republican hold on a South Carolina congressional district against a claim that it treats Black voters unfairly. The court’s six conservative justices signaled skepticism with a lower court ruling that ordered South Carolina to redraw a coastal district that is held by Republican Rep. Nancy Mace. Kavanaugh and …

Legal fights over voting districts could play role in control of Congress for 2024
1 year, 3 months ago

Legal fights over voting districts could play role in control of Congress for 2024

Associated Press  

Democrats got a potential boost for the 2024 congressional elections as courts in Alabama and Florida ruled recently that Republican-led legislatures had unfairly diluted the voting power of Black residents. Another trial alleging racial violations in voting districts got underway Tuesday in Georgia, where Democrats also hope to make gains, while voting rights advocates in Ohio decided to drop a …

Justice Kavanaugh seeks to dispel the notion that the Supreme Court is partisan
1 year, 5 months ago

Justice Kavanaugh seeks to dispel the notion that the Supreme Court is partisan

Associated Press  

BLOOMINGTON, Minn. — Justice Brett Kavanaugh pointed to the mixed U.S. Supreme Court decisions this term as he sought Thursday to dispel notions that it is partisan, even after conservatives brought about the end of affirmative action in college admissions and struck down President Joe Biden’s student loan debt relief program. Although Kavanaugh sided with the conservative majorities in the …

Supreme Court rejects novel legislative theory but leaves a door open for 2024 election challenges
1 year, 5 months ago

Supreme Court rejects novel legislative theory but leaves a door open for 2024 election challenges

Associated Press  

The U.S. Supreme Court shot down a controversial legal theory that could have changed the way elections are run across the country but left the door open to more limited challenges that could increase its role in deciding voting disputes during the 2024 presidential election. The court’s 6-3 ruling Tuesday drove a stake through the most extreme version of the …

Supreme Court rejects novel legislative theory, but leaves door open for 2024 election challenges
1 year, 5 months ago

Supreme Court rejects novel legislative theory, but leaves door open for 2024 election challenges

The Independent  

Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Get our free Inside Washington email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. The court found that state courts still must act within “ordinary bounds” when reviewing …

The Supreme Court just shut off Trump allies' strategy to overturn presidential elections
1 year, 5 months ago

The Supreme Court just shut off Trump allies' strategy to overturn presidential elections

Raw Story  

The Supreme Court's 6-3 ruling in Moore v. Harper, rejecting a fringe legal theory that that could have given state legislatures a blanket right to ignore state courts on election and redistricting issues and pass unrestricted rigged legislative maps, was met with a collective sigh of relief by voting rights advocates across the country. "The Supreme Court said clearly that …

Supreme Court rejects fringe theory that could give GOP state lawmakers unchecked election authority
1 year, 5 months ago

Supreme Court rejects fringe theory that could give GOP state lawmakers unchecked election authority

The Independent  

Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Get our free Inside Washington email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. White House deputy press secretary Olivia Dalton told reporters on 27 June that the …

Landmark Supreme Court decision refuses to back challenge that could have gutted voting rights
1 year, 5 months ago

Landmark Supreme Court decision refuses to back challenge that could have gutted voting rights

Raw Story  

The Supreme Court issued its hotly-anticipated decision in Moore v. Harper on Tuesday — delivering a decisive victory for state-level voting rights and redistricting protections and dealing a death blow to the right-wing legal theory known as "independent state legislature." In a 6-3 ruling written by Chief Justice John Roberts, the Court held that state legislatures do not have absolute …

Supreme Court rejects GOP in North Carolina case that could have reshaped elections beyond the state
1 year, 5 months ago

Supreme Court rejects GOP in North Carolina case that could have reshaped elections beyond the state

Associated Press  

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that state courts can curtail the actions of their legislatures when it comes to federal redistricting and elections, rejecting arguments by North Carolina Republicans that could have dramatically altered races for Congress and president in that state and beyond. The practical effect of Tuesday’s decision is minimal in North Carolina, where the state …

Supreme Court weighs ‘most important case’ on democracy
2 years ago

Supreme Court weighs ‘most important case’ on democracy

Associated Press  

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court is about to confront a new elections case, a Republican-led challenge asking the justices for a novel ruling that could significantly increase the power of state lawmakers over elections for Congress and the presidency. The Republican leaders of North Carolina’s legislature told the Supreme Court that the Constitution’s “carefully drawn lines place the regulation of …

Op-Ed: The Supreme Court is poised to cut the heart out of majority rule
2 years, 5 months ago

Op-Ed: The Supreme Court is poised to cut the heart out of majority rule

LA Times  

An officer rests on the security fence outside the Supreme Court on June 24. On Thursday, the court announced that it will hear Moore vs. Harper, a North Carolina case involving gerrymandered congressional district maps drawn by the state’s Republican-controlled Legislature. In Moore, Republican state legislators petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court, advancing a debunked right-wing doctrine innocuously labeled the “independent …

Supreme Court to hear case on state authority over elections
2 years, 5 months ago

Supreme Court to hear case on state authority over elections

Associated Press  

The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday agreed to hear a case that could dramatically change the way elections for Congress and the presidency are conducted by handing more power to state legislatures and blocking state courts from reviewing challenges to the procedures and results. Taken to its extreme, it would be a radical reworking of our system of running elections.” …

US Supreme Court ends constitutional right to abortion, states can ban it now
2 years, 6 months ago

US Supreme Court ends constitutional right to abortion, states can ban it now

Hindustan Times  

The Supreme Court has ended constitutional protections for abortion that had been in place nearly 50 years in a decision by its conservative majority to overturn Roe v. Wade. The Biden administration and other defenders of abortion rights have warned that a decision overturning Roe also would threaten other high court decisions in favor of gay rights and even potentially, …

Justices seem poised to hear elections case pressed by GOP
2 years, 6 months ago

Justices seem poised to hear elections case pressed by GOP

Associated Press  

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court seems poised to take on a new elections case being pressed by Republicans that could increase the power of state lawmakers over races for Congress and the presidency, as well as redistricting, and cut state courts out of the equation. Already, four conservative Supreme Court justices have noted their interest in deciding whether state courts, …

Conservative high court upholds state voting restrictions
3 years, 5 months ago

Conservative high court upholds state voting restrictions

Associated Press  

WASHINGTON — Flexing its new strength, the Supreme Court’s conservative majority on Thursday cut back on a landmark voting rights law in a decision likely to help Republican states fight challenges to voting restrictions they’ve put in place following last year’s elections. It was the high court’s second major decision in eight years that civil rights groups and liberal dissenting …

Doanld Trump’s road to the Supreme Court won’t be as quick as he wants
4 years, 1 month ago

Doanld Trump’s road to the Supreme Court won’t be as quick as he wants

Live Mint  

Donald Trump said he will go to the U.S. Supreme Court because he wants “all voting to stop,” as he tries to hold on to early election leads in key battleground states. “We want the law to be used in a proper manner.” Biden’s campaign said it had legal teams ready to counter any lawsuits brought by the Republican Party. …

Trump promises court fight over Pennsylvania absentee votes
4 years, 1 month ago

Trump promises court fight over Pennsylvania absentee votes

Associated Press  

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump and his reelection campaign are signaling they will pursue an aggressive legal strategy to try to prevent Pennsylvania from counting mailed ballots that are received in the three days after the election. Over the weekend, he continued to rail against absentee ballots, frustrated by a Supreme Court ruling that didn’t deliver a clear GOP win, …

The Supreme Court’s Ultraconservatives Are Preparing a Radical Assault on American Democracy
54 years, 11 months ago

The Supreme Court’s Ultraconservatives Are Preparing a Radical Assault on American Democracy

Slate  

series is made possible by the support of Slate Plus members and readers like you. By a 4–4 vote, with Roberts joining the remaining liberals, the court refused to block a decision by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court that compelled the state to count mail-in ballots received by Nov. 6. A Pennsylvania statute requires mail-in ballots to be returned by 8 …

Federal Judges Claim It’s Unconstitutional for States to Protect Voting Rights
4 years, 2 months ago

Federal Judges Claim It’s Unconstitutional for States to Protect Voting Rights

Slate  

series is made possible by the support of Slate Plus members and readers like you. Specifically, the dissenters claimed that the board violated the U.S. Constitution’s elections and electors clauses, which allow “the legislature” of each state to determine the “manner” of federal elections. The first is that the U.S. Supreme Court has consistently read the word legislature to encompass …

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