The American Democracy Minute for Radio Report & Podcast for Dec. 8, 2022
Today’s Links
Articles & Resources:
Democracy Docket – Live Updates from Oral Arguments
CNN – Takeaways from Moore v. Harper, the historic Supreme Court arguments on election rules
U.S. Supreme Cout – Audio from Moore v. Harper Oral Arguments
Groups Taking Action:
Common Cause, Center for American Progress, ACLU
Today’s Script: (Variations may occur with audio due to editing for time)
You’re listening to the American Democracy Minute, keeping YOUR government by and for the people.
Oral arguments were held Dec. 7 for Moore vs. Harper, a U.S. Supreme Court case which could have a seismic impact on voting rights and how your state’s elections are run.
In general, the justices asked skeptical questions about the North Carolina legislature’s case, and tried to define what U.S. constitutional latitude that states have in creating & reviewing election law.
The court was asked by the Legislature’s lawyer to set standards based on the the Smiley, Bush v. Gore and other decisions as to what power a legislature has beyond the administering “place, time & manner” of federal elections.
Justice Jackson wondered why, if STATE constitutions dictated what power legislatures and the courts have, and dictate the framework for creating and reviewing any law, why would the power & review rules be different for election law.
Justice Kavanaugh asked how much weight should the court should give the fact that states have been delegated the operation of federal elections since the founding, and that state courts have interpreted the law for that time.
The attorney for Harper argued that states have used checks & balances for running federal elections for 233 years, and if the Legislature’s argument prevailed, state election law would no longer have judicial review – even if laws contrary to the state constitution were passed, which isn’t what the founders intended.
Links to the key points and an audio recording are at American Democracy Minute.org. I’m Brian Beihl.