Scotus poised to further undermine voting rights - Marc Elias

This year June is likely to be the cruelest month...particularly for voting rights.  - GWC

In Louisiana v. Callais, the Court made vote dilution nearly impossible to prove. It ignored Congress’ alterations to the Voting Rights Act and turned it back into an intents test, where the plaintiffs had to make the extremely difficult showing that the legislators intended to discriminate based on race. And yet, in the Alabama case, the plaintiffs managed to do that.

Democracy Docket - Marc Elias

In "The Waste Land," T.S. Eliot describes April as "the cruelest month." With all due respect, the renowned poet was clearly not a lawyer awaiting Supreme Court decisions that may define democracy for a generation.

 

For while April might contain a disquieting blend of death and renewal — "breeding lilacs out of the dead land, mixing memory and desire, stirring dull roots with spring rain" — in recent years, June has been the time when the high court delivers its most devastating blows against individual rights and the rule of law.

 

While November may hold elections, it has been June that is the cruelest month for our democracy.

 

As we enter June this year, the Court has yet to issue opinions in 26 cases. Among them are two that I was personally involved in litigating: National Republican Senatorial Committee v. FEC and Watson v. Republican National Committee.

 

Arguing before the Supreme Court is a highlight of any attorney's career. I have had that honor five times. The first four cases I argued all involved voting rights and redistricting. I won each one of them.

 

I argued the fifth — NRSC v. FEC — in December. It was different in every way.KEEP READING

TPM: Scotus cobbles together a way to deny vote to African Americans

 https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/supreme-court-alabama-midterms-black-voters

By Kate Riga - Talking Points Memo

The Supreme Court showed beyond a doubt Tuesday that it will never again put a stop to Republican states snuffing out the Black vote. 

The six right-wing justices granted Alabama’s request for a stay, which clears the way for the state to hold its 2026 elections under a 2023 map crafted to deliver Republicans six congressional seats and Democrats only one. It does so by making Black Alabamians’ votes count for less than white ones’. 

In Louisiana v. Callais, the Court made vote dilution nearly impossible to prove. It ignored Congress’ alterations to the Voting Rights Act and turned it back into an intents test, where the plaintiffs had to make the extremely difficult showing that the legislators intended to discriminate based on race. And yet, in the Alabama case, the plaintiffs managed to do that. The district court found plentiful evidence that the state intentionally discriminated after the court had previously ordered it to produce a map with two districts composed of a Black majority or near-majority, and Alabama flatly ignored it. The state instead produced another map with only one Black-majority district.

KEEP READING - link above