The decision was 6-3, with Roberts writing for the majority.
You know who the two were, and the third was Gorsuch.
It’s hard to overstate the importance of this outcome. “This is the single most important case on American democracy, and for American democracy, in the nation’s history,” Judge Luttig said last fall. Today, the Court rejects Trump’s radical theory. A win. https://t.co/fh71CETHDs
— Joe Scarborough (@JoeNBC) June 27, 2023
Supreme Court rejects theory that would have meant radical changes to election rules
The Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected the theory that state legislatures have almost unlimited power to decide the rules for federal elections and draw partisan congressional maps without interference from state courts.
The Constitution’s Elections Clause “does not insulate state legislatures from the ordinary exercise of state judicial review,” Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. wrote in a 6 to 3 decision.
Under the theory advanced by North Carolina’s Republican legislative leaders, but rejected by the court, state lawmakers throughout the country would have had exclusive authority to structure federal elections, subject only to intervention by Congress.
The “independent state legislature theory” holds that the U.S. Constitution gives that power to lawmakers even if it results in extreme partisan voting maps for congressional seats and violates voter protections enshrined in state constitutions.
But Roberts wrote that was wrong, within limits.“Although we conclude that the Elections Clause does not exempt state legislatures from the ordinary constraints imposed by state law, state courts do not have free rein,” he wrote. State courts “may not transgress the ordinary bounds of judicial review such that they arrogate to themselves the power vested in state legislatures to regulate federal elections.”
Roberts’s opinion was joined by Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, Brett M. Kavanaugh, Amy Coney Barrett and Ketanji Brown Jackson.
With my entire chest, you will never convince me that if the 2022 Elections hadn’t gone the way that they did that this case wouldn’t have gone the other way.
This was the entire plan to STEAL THE 2024 ELECTION FOR THE REPUBLICAN PARTY.
But, I digress.
We await further rulings.
These are my views on the victory today in Moore v. Harper. pic.twitter.com/Autajwd3Ho
— Neal Katyal (@neal_katyal) June 27, 2023
An amazing victory for voters and voting rights. Congrats to @DemRedistrict, @EricHolder, @neal_katyal, @arnoldporter team, and the entire @EliasLawGroup team lead by the incomparable @Abha_Khanna_.
Democracy was on the docket and it won.🥳https://t.co/iJ4OindEKe
— Marc E. Elias (@marceelias) June 27, 2023
Today, the Supreme Court rejected a fringe, far-right assault on a sacred pillar of American Democracy: the right to vote.
With its ruling in Moore v. Harper, the Court refused the MAGA Republicans’ radical theory and reaffirmed our Founders’ vision of checks and balances.
— Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) June 27, 2023
Today, the Supreme Court rejected the fringe independent state legislature theory that threatened to upend our democracy and dismantle our system of checks and balances.
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) June 27, 2023
Democracy Docket (@DemocracyDocket) tweeted at 7:30 AM on Tue, Jun 20, 2023:
The U.S. Supreme Court is hearing a case next term over South Carolina’s racially gerrymandered congressional map. Testimony during trial in this case reveals the intentional weakening of Black communities’ voting power.
https://t.co/VOhiQkhTAX
(https://twitter.com/DemocracyDocket/status/1671133351053254658?t=oexS44hPqk8S_kZ7xmUrvg&s=03)
Terry Lee Watkins Jr. 王瑞民💜💙 (@TerryWatkinsJr1) tweeted at 9:57 PM on Mon, Jun 19, 2023:
Candace Owens is Clarence Thomas’s horcrux.
She orates perfectly what his soul desires and can only communicate through rulings.
(https://twitter.com/TerryWatkinsJr1/status/1670989250731585536?t=EwrVGIqSxxw8fuOaLap4Qg&s=03)
The Recount (@therecount) tweeted at 10:42 AM on Fri, Jun 23, 2023:
8-1: SCOTUS rules in favor of the Biden administration’s immigration guidelines, finding that the federal government has the authority to prioritize which noncitizens to deport. https://t.co/JuadqzXNrD
(https://twitter.com/therecount/status/1672268971091927043?t=39DMxucAqVGUH7EzMDTHUQ&s=03)
Marc E. Elias (@marceelias) tweeted at 11:54 AM on Tue, Jun 27, 2023:
🚨BREAKING: Pennsylvania Court REJECTS Republican effort to strike down Act 77, a 2019 law that established no-excuse mail-in voting. Another court win for @DSCC and @DCCC and humiliating defeat for the GOP. https://t.co/25fEzUywLX
(https://twitter.com/marceelias/status/1673736687753494530?t=BaW3KqeHKO_9NDSQvQwEjQ&s=03)
justin jouvenal (@jjouvenal) tweeted at 4:11 PM on Mon, Jun 26, 2023:
A new federal lawsuit takes aim at Va.’s law that has automatically stripped thousands of felons of the right to vote: https://t.co/xPMCHdjobz
(https://twitter.com/jjouvenal/status/1673438940777308164?t=vR9MXg1sTROYhGZT1vR8ng&s=03)
Nancy Pelosi (@TeamPelosi) tweeted at 0:20 PM on Tue, Jun 27, 2023:
America’s voters and our Democracy won a decisive victory as the Supreme Court rejected the extreme MAGA-backed independent legislature scheme.
This win is a tribute to @EricHolder and advocates in Alabama, North Carolina and across America who fight on behalf of ALL voters! -NP
(https://twitter.com/TeamPelosi/status/1673743121136652288?t=_2K1RZRa3J2_ETDJjVjVtA&s=03)
MeidasTouch (@MeidasTouch) tweeted at 9:22 AM on Tue, Jun 27, 2023:
BREAKING: In a huge win for democracy, the U.S. Supreme Court has REJECTED the Trump-backed ‘independent state legislature’ theory in Moore v. Harper and ruled AGAINST Republican lawmakers in a dispute over North Carolina’s congressional map.
“The Elections Clause does not vest…
(https://twitter.com/MeidasTouch/status/1673698367690649603?t=cBWkQ-PkGA1noUaqyhoBbQ&s=03)
Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) tweeted at 0:31 PM on Tue, Jun 27, 2023:
A decade after the Supreme Court’s devastating decision to gut the Voting Rights Act, the fallout is clear. It has become more difficult for people of color to vote. https://t.co/mbQUZOnrdT
(https://twitter.com/HillaryClinton/status/1673745920071024667?t=bPTvCfmsPRptxIVU641WGw&s=03)
Mark Joseph Stern (@mjs_DC) tweeted at 9:27 AM on Tue, Jun 27, 2023:
The Wisconsin Supreme Court’s incoming liberal majority watching SCOTUS affirm state courts’ authority to strike down congressional gerrymanders https://t.co/DfsJNeLnBc
(https://twitter.com/mjs_DC/status/1673699695083003906?t=31KwSaIDb6u8fmkaWSB-dw&s=03)
Brian Allen (@allenanalysis) tweeted at 9:42 AM on Tue, Jun 27, 2023:
Supreme Court rules against Republicans in North Carolina elections dispute
In a recent ruling, the Supreme Court sided against Republicans in a North Carolina elections dispute. The justices dismissed arguments related to the “independent state legislature theory,” which sought… https://t.co/VZD7xhFQWH
(https://twitter.com/allenanalysis/status/1673703285608284161?t=JQgJclVdP5eCJG9iriW2Sg&s=03)
Democracy Docket (@DemocracyDocket) tweeted at 9:40 AM on Tue, Jun 27, 2023:
BREAKING: In a victory for voters, the U.S. Supreme Court rejects the radical independent state legislature theory in Moore v. Harper. State courts will continue to have the power to strike down unfair maps & voting laws for violating state constitutions. https://t.co/KugBMl3SaJ https://t.co/k8ivTvyHlG
(https://twitter.com/DemocracyDocket/status/1673702849052565504?t=lo_SJrfNSv3Ge29qajTQsg&s=03)
Domo (@DapperDomo) tweeted at 0:22 PM on Tue, Jun 27, 2023:
Hey y’all. I’m sure some of y’all aren’t paying attention to what’s been going on at the Supreme Court but white people really really do not want us to vote.
(https://twitter.com/DapperDomo/status/1673743544366821376?t=BclaN_ForLBcViMbq1WH2g&s=03)
UH HUH
UH HUH
Skeptical Brotha 💛🐝🌈 (@skepticalbrotha) tweeted at 10:53 AM on Tue, Jun 27, 2023:
Congress has the power to clamp down and put an end to the SCOTUS billionaire-funded trips, so they’re ruling like they got some sense. Sen. Whitehouse rattling their cages on ethics issues has been heard loud and clear.
(https://twitter.com/skepticalbrotha/status/1673721175510327298?t=5rgkVQA12X0BEZWxWmtmPg&s=03)