48

In a 6-3 decision, SCOTUS rejected the notion that state legislatures have unlimited power to determine the rules for federal elections and draw partisan congressional maps without interference from state courts.

How much effect will this have on existing congressional maps and upcoming elections?

top 18 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[-] JuBe@beehaw.org 17 points 1 year ago

It’s difficult to overstate how disastrous a ruling in this case going the other way could have been, on top of the corrupting influence of large amounts of money already involved in politics and how gerrymandered districts already are.

[-] cupcakezealot@lemmy.blahaj.zone 7 points 1 year ago

Of course the 3 opposed were the ones that were bought off by billionaires the most.

[-] argv_minus_one@beehaw.org 7 points 1 year ago

Shocking news. I fully expected them to sign democracy's death warrant.

[-] mdwhite999@vlemmy.net 5 points 1 year ago
[-] sparky@lemmy.federate.cc 4 points 1 year ago

Thank fucking god. That's all I can say.

[-] not_a_king@beehaw.org 4 points 1 year ago

who were the 3 in the 6 v 3?

[-] Cybrpwca@beehaw.org 10 points 1 year ago

Alito, Gorsuch and Thomas. Gorsuch has occasionally surprised me. Alito and Thomas can always be counted on to be horrible.

[-] noeontheend@beehaw.org 1 points 1 year ago

Thomas, Alito, and Gorsuch.

[-] BioDriver@beehaw.org 3 points 1 year ago

As someone who lives in Texas this gives me hope that the state’s voter suppression tactics will be overturned.

[-] Can_Utility@beehaw.org 3 points 1 year ago

This session has really been sort of surprising when compared with last session. The 6-3 Republican majority last year really kicked the hornet's nest, between the NY gun case and Dobbs. It seemed like now that the Court was firmly in the hands of ideologues they were just going to go YOLO and tick off every item on the right-wing wish list.

I have no way of substantiating this, but I have to wonder if the outrage that has arisen nationwide in the wake of Dobbs, along with all of the coverage of the various justices' ethical lapses, is having a similar effect as FDR's court-packing scheme had on the Court of the 1930s. His plan to add sympathetic justices to the Court to stop the string of right-wing blows against the New Deal failed, but it was a credible enough threat that it caused at least one justice to stop obstructing and allowed FDR's programs to get through unimpeded.

Could it be that the majority is so uncomfortable with the heat it's gotten the past year that they're throwing cold water on their grander ambitions? If so, let's keep up the pressure!

[-] Fauxreigner@beehaw.org 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I don't know about "the majority", but I'm pretty sure Roberts has been twisting arms so that his legacy isn't being the chief justice who presided over the downfall of the court.

[-] Can_Utility@beehaw.org 0 points 1 year ago

Entirely possible, though it seems like he was twisting arms the last session to get his colleagues to slow down, and we all saw how that turned out. Something has shifted, and I'm not really sure what, but while the Court as a whole is decidedly right-wing, it's more chastened than the triumphalist 2021-22 session.

[-] Fauxreigner@beehaw.org 1 points 1 year ago

I have a suspicion that the court would have left Roe at least partially intact if the draft memo hadn't leaked.

[-] trashhalo@beehaw.org 2 points 1 year ago
[-] Piatun@lemmynsfw.com 1 points 1 year ago

Sounds way too good.

[-] Monument 1 points 1 year ago

This is excellent news. Moore V. Harper would have been disastrous for U.S. democracy. Moreso than Citizens United, or the current state of gerrymandering.

[-] someguy3@lemmy.ca 0 points 1 year ago

Paywalled. But is this the state legislature theory thing?

[-] Can_Utility@beehaw.org 1 points 1 year ago

Yes. As mentioned upthread, a loss in this case would probably have spelled the end of democratic elections in this country for a generation or more.

load more comments
view more: next ›
this post was submitted on 27 Jun 2023
48 points (100.0% liked)

Politics

10132 readers
194 users here now

In-depth political discussion from around the world; if it's a political happening, you can post it here.


Guidelines for submissions:

These guidelines will be enforced on a know-it-when-I-see-it basis.


Subcommunities on Beehaw:


This community's icon was made by Aaron Schneider, under the CC-BY-NC-SA 4.0 license.

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS