The Supreme Court's Most Conservative Justices Got Humiliated on Wednesday

[marmar]

The Supreme Court’s Most Conservative Justices Got Humiliated on Wednesday
Great lawyering—and, surprisingly, Amy Coney Barrett—debunked a legal theory designed to subvert democracy.

BY MARK JOSEPH STERN
DEC 07, 20226:34 PM


(Slate) After three hours of oral arguments at the Supreme Court on Wednesday, only one thing is certain: If the justices want to blow up federal elections, they will have nothing to hide behind—not history, not logic, and certainly not the Constitution. The three lawyers defending democracy methodically dismantled the “independent state legislature” theory from every conceivable angle, debunking each myth, misreading, and misrepresentation deployed to prop it up. They bested the conservative justices who tried to corner them, identifying faulty reasoning and bogus history with devastating precision.

Those of us who’ve been ringing the alarm over this dangerous theory—and who’ve been disgusted by the campaign to drag it from the far-right fringe all the way to the Supreme Court—can take solace that these capable lawyers exposed it as an utter fraud. This idea was at the center of Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election, so it was a relief to hear five justices sound deeply skeptical that it has any basis in the Constitution. It is far too early to celebrate the demise of the independent state legislature theory, since four justices have already endorsed it. But the skepticism it faced at arguments suggests that democracy has a fighting chance of survival.

If Wednesday’s case, Moore v. Harper, is new to you, prepare to be startled by how ridiculous it is. The petitioners are Republican leaders of the North Carolina legislature. They are angry that the North Carolina Supreme Court struck down the congressional map that they drew after the 2020 census—which was, objectively, an extreme partisan gerrymander. The court found that the map violated various provisions of the North Carolina constitution, including a guarantee that “all elections shall be free.” There was nothing unusual about this decision: It is a bedrock principle of federalism that state courts have final authority over the meaning of state constitutions. Other courts, including the Supreme Courts of Florida and Pennsylvania, issued similar decisions invalidating congressional districts, and SCOTUS did not get involved.

But North Carolina Republicans decided to use this case to achieve a broader GOP ambition: the revival of a long-discredited doctrine known as the independent state legislature theory, or ISLT. This theory rests on the Constitution’s elections clause, which says the “times, places, and manner” of federal elections “shall be prescribed in each state by the legislature thereof.” It posits that this clause frees the state legislature from restraints imposed by the state constitution when regulating federal elections. Specifically, it would prevent state courts from enforcing those restraints when the legislature passes a law that violates them. The usual checks and balances of state lawmaking do not apply, the ISLT claims, because the U.S. Constitution gives power over the “manner” of these elections to the state legislature exclusively. ..............(more)

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2022/12/supreme-court-elections-legislature-trump-north-carolina.html

[momta]

1. Great column.

Thanks for posting it.

[brush]

2. Such BS. Racists will be racists, and shame on the SCOTUS 3.

[Pepsidog]

3. Important topic. Well done summary. Almost as bad as 14th amend race neutral BS.

[Wounded Bear]

4. Somehow I doubt they feel humiliation or shame...nt

[TheBlackAdder]

6. Yep. The Conservative Justices are arsonists and will burn everything down & reshape in their vision

[msfiddlestix]

5. Very interesting article, ultimately it appears, the ball will be in Barrett's court

good read, essentially explains the case quite clearly, background, legal concepts, theories, history and arguments as well as summarization of the hearing itself.

[housecat]

7. Thanks for the clearly written details

[ampm]

8. Army of one wow

Yes, but the power is in their hands. How many times, have we got to watch them tear into us one case after another?

[czarjak]

9. But, Jesus?

Obstructionists rueing oppression? Ha!

[republianmushroom]

10. I like it

[Martin68]

11. Will it work? I hope so. Those Justices wield a great deal of power with very little in the way of

limitations.

[mahina]

12. Most extreme

They lost the word conservative along time ago. I realize that OP doesn’t have a choice. But between us

[UTUSN]

13. K&R

[Martin Eden]

14. "four justices have already endorsed it"

If a fifth "conservative" justice joins the dark side, then Trump (or should I say Mitch McConnell) will have succeeded in destroying American democracy despite failing in the J6 coup attempt.

I can't help but go back to all the efforts to smear and undermine Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election, and all the people who didn't support the Orange Abomination but voted 3rd party or stayed home.

The consequences will be harming our republic and the American people for many years to come.