The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Dec. 5, 2022
Today’s Links
Articles:
Brennan Center for Justice – Moore v. Harper, Explained
Brennan Center for Justice – Explainer Video on YouTube
Official U.S. Supreme Court Site – Links to Briefs
American Redistricting Project – Timeline and Document Submissions for Moore v. Harper
The Atlantic – Is Democracy Constitutional?
Vox – The deranged Supreme Court case that threatens US democracy, explained
Groups Taking Action:
League of Conservation Voters NC, Common Cause NC, Democracy Docket, Campaign Legal Center
. . . . . and every other Democracy organization in the country!
Today’s Script: (Variations occur with audio due to editing for time)
You’re listening to the American Democracy Minute, keeping YOUR government by and for the people.
On December 7, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in what is shaping up to be a landmark case in election law, Moore vs. Harper. On its face it’s about gerrymandering in North Carolina. But its decision may reshape U.S. elections, giving state legislatures ultimate power over election law.
After the North Carolina legislature gerrymandered Congressional districts locking in 10 of 14 seats to the GOP, the North Carolina Supreme Court threw out the maps as unconstitutional. But the GOP filed suit, using the “independent state legislature theory” to argue that language in the Elections Clause in the U.S. Constitution gives state legislatures ultimate authority over elections – including redistricting, conducting elections and most alarmingly, voting rights.
The theory is based on early arguments by a minority of the framers, and uses an interpretation of the Elections Clause that most constitutional scholars have dismissed as fringe. Until now. Four of the U.S. Supreme Court Justices – Alito, Thomas, Gorsuch and Kavanaugh — recently voiced support for the theory in other cases. The positions of Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Amy Coney Barrett are still unclear.
More on the roots of the Independent State Legislature theory, and its use of a document that the country’s founders even thought was suspect, in our next report. We have links to details on the case and groups taking action at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org.
For the American Democracy Minute, I’m Brian Beihl.