The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for June 29, 2023

Today’s Script

(Variations occur with audio due to editing for time) 

Today’s Links now below the script

 You’re listening to the American Democracy Minute, keeping YOUR government by and for the people.

We now have a decision in Moore v. Harper, the “Independent State Legislature” theory case which had pro-voter advocates concerned for the future of voting rights.  June 28th, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that state courts DO have a say in election law, and that power doesn’t reside exclusively in state legislatures.

Democracy advocates breathed a sigh of relief.  The North Carolina legislature contested a 2021 decision by the state’s supreme court to throw out gerrymandered voting maps, claiming the fringe constitutional theory gave the legislature ultimate power over election law.  A newly elected state supreme court overturned the 2021 court’s decision, so some thought Moore v. Harper might get dismissed. 

Instead, Chief Justice Roberts and Justices Kavanaugh and Coney Barrett sided with the court’s liberals to take on the fringe theory.  They ruled the U.S. Constitution does grant state legislatures oversight of elections, but that state courts retain power under the Elections Clause to interpret state constitutionality of those laws. Roberts’ opinion included a role for federal courts to QUOTE, “ensure that state court interpretations of that law do not evade federal law.” 

While it protects a tool advocates use to defend fair maps and voting rights, the decision does NOT stop rogue legislatures from partisan gerrymandering, a Pandora’s box the court opened in 2019.

We have early analysis at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org.  I’m Brian Beihl.

###

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:

U.S. Supreme Court – Decision in Moore v. Harper “Independent State Legislature Theory” Case

Democracy Docket – Breaking Down the Supreme Court’s Opinion Rejecting a Fringe, Undemocratic Theory

SCOTUS Blog –  Supreme Court rules against North Carolina Republicans over election law theory

Common Cause – Post-Decision Press statement

Politico – Supreme Court crushes plan to scramble partisan map-making

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

Groups Taking Action:

Common Cause NC,  NC League of Conservation Voters , Campaign Legal Center, Brennan Center for Justice

Please follow us on Facebook and Twitter and SHARE!  

Find all of our reports at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org

Get ADM Radio Report email!  Sign up here!

#Democracy  #DemocracyNews #MoorevHarper #VotingRights #FairMaps

The post U.S. Supreme Court Tamps Down the Fringe “Independent State Legislature” Theory in an Important Decision for Democracy appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for April 25, 2023

In Landmark Ruling, Alaska Supreme Court Rules that Gerrymandering is Unconstitutional
***Today’s Links now located below the script***

You’re listening to the American Democracy Minute, keeping YOUR government by and for the people.

The Alaska Supreme Court ruled Friday, April 21st that partisan gerrymandering is unconstitutional, invalidating the 2022 maps drawn from a redistricting commission which had strayed from its constitutional intent to be nonpartisan. 

Alaska voters approved the 1998 constitutional amendment ballot measure creating a redistricting board by a 52% to 48% margin.  The new board was to be staffed by two members appointed by the governor, and one each by the House speaker, Senate president, and chief justice of the state Supreme Court.

After two previous cases striking down gerrymandered state house & senate voting districts and forcing court-ordered interim maps for the 2022 midterms, for this case, the state justices delved into the history and the intentions of the original law.  In the 144-page ruling, they concluded,  “We expressly recognize that partisan gerrymandering is unconstitutional under the Alaska Constitution.”  

The Anchorage Daily News quotes Scott Kendall, attorney and chief of staff to former Gov. Bill Walker, as saying, “This is an incredibly important case.  For the first time the Alaska Supreme Court has interpreted the equal protection doctrine to prohibit gerrymandering for partisan purposes. This decision will put vital sideboards on the redistricting process to prevent political abuse of the process in the future.”

The redistricting board was given 90 days to explain why the fairer court-ordered maps should not be used in 2032.

We have links to articles, the court’s decision, and groups taking action  at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org.  For the American Democracy Minute, I’m Brian Beihl.

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:
Anchorage Daily News – Alaska Supreme Court, in landmark ruling, says partisan gerrymandering violates state constitution
Alaska Redistricting Board – 2022 May Interim Proclamation Regional and by-District Maps

SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF ALASKA – Decision in the matter of the 2021 Redistricting Cases
BallotPedia – Redistricting in Alaska
BallotPedia – Alaska Reapportionment Board, Measure 3 (1998)

Groups Taking Action:

Alaska Center, Native American Rights Fund, League of Women Voters AK, Alaska PIRG

Please follow us on Facebook and Twitter and SHARE!  

Find all of our reports at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org

#Democracy  #DemocracyNews

The post In Landmark Ruling, Alaska Supreme Court Rules that Gerrymandering is Unconstitutional appeared first on American Democracy Minute.