independent state legislature doctrine

NC Republicans lose US Supreme Court case on legislatures’ power over federal elections

BY: - June 27, 2023

Updated with comments.  The US Supreme Court rejected North Carolina Republican legislators’ argument that the state courts cannot review laws legislatures pass governing federal elections.  Republican legislators claimed the Elections Clause in the U.S. Constitution makes legislatures the sole state authorities on federal elections law,  including congressional redistricting. Critics said the high court’s endorsement of […]

COMMENTARY

Experts discuss NC’s next big gerrymandering case and its implications for American democracy — Video

BY: - August 8, 2022

For those who may have missed last Thursday’s NC Policy Watch Crucial Conversation, “Moore v. Harper: The latest NC gerrymandering case and its implications for American democracy,” with experts Allison Riggs, Michael Li and Sailor Jones, you can now check out a video of the event by clicking below.

COMMENTARY

Five things to know about the next big North Carolina voting rights case

BY: - August 4, 2022

Moore v. Harper case could free states to alter the fundamentals of federal elections The U.S. Supreme Court is prepared to hear Moore v. Harper later this year, an important case that could upend how elections are conducted across the country. What’s at stake: The case involves a fringe legal theory called the “independent state […]

COMMENTARY

GOP’s latest constitutional theory puts fair elections at risk

BY: - July 6, 2022

Moore v. Harper case could upend decades of established constitutional law and endanger democracy The U.S. Supreme Court, as if rushing to settle old grievances, in recent weeks has thrashed about in a virtual frenzy of “originalism” – never mind the consequences for America’s civic well-being. Our federal Constitution neglects to confer a woman’s explicit […]

BREAKING: U.S. Supreme Court agrees to hear NC GOP challenge to state court oversight of redistricting, elections

BY: - June 30, 2022

The U.S. Supreme Court announced today that it will hear a North Carolina redistricting case that one prominent constitutional scholar described to the New York Times as “an 800-pound gorilla brooding in the background of election law cases working their way up from state courts.” In Moore v. Harper, North Carolina Republicans argue that it […]