Tag: Legislature
The Court Is Likely to Reject the Independent State Legislature Theory
It is often difficult, if not impossible, to tell what the Supreme Court is thinking about a case from the questions the justices ask counsel. But the argument in Moore v. Harper, heard by the Court in early December, was different. By the end, it was clear the Supreme Court has no appetite for the independent state legislature theory—and that offers hope for the future of America’s democracy.
The theory—that state legislatures have the unreviewable power to set
There Is Not an ‘Independent State Legislature’
The Supreme Court will decide before next summer the most important case for American democracy in the almost two and a half centuries since America’s founding.
In Moore v. Harper, the Court will finally resolve whether there is a doctrine of constitutional interpretation known as the “independent state legislature.” If the Court concludes that there is such a doctrine, it would confer on state legislatures plenary, exclusive, and judicially unreviewable power both to redraw congressional districts for federal elections
Virginia Democrats Fight To Keep Control Of The State Legislature As Polls Tighten
RICHMOND, Va. ― The final days of Virginia’s 2021 election have brought waves of anxiety and anguish for Democrats across the commonwealth, as tightening polls suggest the party could lose control of a state that has provided some of its most resounding and important victories over the last four years.
Polling averages between Democrat Terry McAuliffe, who was governor from 2014 to 2018, and Republican Glenn Youngkin, a career private equity executive, show either a deadlocked race or Youngkin with