Hope You Had a Great 4th of July!
While celebrating our country, here's some things which I'm thankful for.
Last October I outlined the case of Moore v. Harper. In 2021, the North Carolina state legislature passed a gerrymandered redistricting map that favored the party in power to ensure continued party representation at the US Capital with ten of the 14 districts, in spite of an even split between the parties statewide. Citizen groups sued and at first won in the NC Supreme Court, later reversed after elections of a new member. NC Senators brought the suit to the US Supreme Court with the 'independent state legislature theory (ISLT) arguing that the elected state legislature holds all the authority on federal elections within their states, with no executive or judicial oversight.
In a 6 – 3 decision, the US Supreme Court on 27 June held “The Elections Clause does not insulate state legislatures from the ordinary exercise of state judicial review.” Further, "A state legislature may not 'create congressional districts independently of ' requirements imposed 'by the state constitution with respect to the enactment of laws." The ISLT was shot down.
In Allen v. Milligan, June 8, 2023, the Supreme Court also threw out the heavily gerrymandered districts in Alabama as unrepresentative of the state population, violating Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. Both cases had LWV joining in the lawsuits, and were victories for the League and the country.
So Happy 4th!!