Next Supreme Court term could support the terrible independent state legislature theory

The radical independent state legislature theory gives extreme control of elections to states. The Supreme Court (R) has agreed to hear a case about it in the next term. They could make yet another terrible decision.

Just in: In an election case out of North Carolina, SCOTUS agrees to review the "independent state legislature" theory next term. Under that theory, state legislatures have broad power to set rules for federal elections, even if state courts say those rules are unconstitutional.
— SCOTUSblog (@SCOTUSblog) June 30, 2022

Breaking and Analysis: Supreme Court Will Hear Moore v. Harper, the Independent State Legislature Theory Case from North Carolina; This Case Could Severely Curtail the Ability of State Courts to Protect Voting Rights and Stop Partisan Gerrymandering https://t.co/9sIC6NAbNB
— Rick Hasen (@rickhasen) June 30, 2022

A major, major election case to be heard by SCOTUS next term.

This concerns the "independent state legislature theory" which argues state legislatures have the authority over federal elections without checks from state constitutions or state courts.https://t.co/m6YUKgJ5iE
— Nick Corasaniti (@NYTnickc) June 30, 2022

🚨BREAKING: Supreme Court grants cert to review North Carolina redistricting case. This will be a CRITICAL case for democracy next term as the Court will consider the GOP's radical "Independent State Legislature" theory.https://t.co/xJgagh0pVW pic.twitter.com/eqCvacD8Np
— Marc E. Elias (@marceelias) June 30, 2022

BREAKING: The Supreme Court takes up a case about the independent state legislature doctrine for next term, which could give state legislatures far greater power over all manner of election laws. https://t.co/R2jTEKWoeT
— Mark Joseph Stern (@mjs_DC) June 30, 2022

This is EXACTLY WHY the SC is taking this case. WI, PA, GA, NC: Swing states where GOP has gerrymandered guaranteed control of the state leg.

If the situation were reversed and Dems had semi-permanent control of those legislatures, would the court be doing this? Of course not. https://t.co/6FNC9GI33Y
— Paul Waldman (@paulwaldman1) July 1, 2022

🚨SCOTUS will hear 2 critical voting/election cases in Fall.

Merrill v Milligan–GOP wants to undermine Sec 2 of VRA.

Moore v Harper–GOP wants to strip state courts of power to limit legislatures in election cases.

Democracy is literally on the docket.https://t.co/8iFP5fL7em
— Marc E. Elias (@marceelias) July 1, 2022

Covers: Down by the River

“Down by the River” (1969) is a Neil Young song that has been covered by artists like Norah Jones and Buddy Miles.

Covers: Like a Hurricane

“Like a Hurricane” is a great Neil Young song written in 1975 and released in 1977. Jay Farrar and Jason Isbell are among the artists who have covered it.

Bad Supreme Court decision on Native American rights

This Court is going to be looked at as like the Court of Plessy, ushering in some of the darkest days for American democracy and upholding power at every turn. https://t.co/e8aTVREM6P
— Ida Bae Wells (@nhannahjones) June 29, 2022

This #SCOTUS opinion in #CastroHuerta is an act of conquest. Full stop.

The right and power of tribes to rule themselves is being dismissed in favor of state power.

Tribes are…I can’t even write it…part of states.
— Elizabeth Hidalgo Reese (Yunpovi) (@yunpovi) June 29, 2022

The Supreme Court majority calls Native Americans "Indians" while the dissent calls them "Native Americans".

That's all you really need to know.
— Pé🌻 (@4everNeverTrump) June 29, 2022

More bad news for local newspapers

The pandemic has been bad for U.S. local newspapers.

Overall, 2,500 newspapers in the U.S. — a quarter of them — have closed since 2005. The country is set up to lose one-third of its newspapers by 2025. https://t.co/061KNzRUl8 pic.twitter.com/k0XEO9dekh
— The New York Times (@nytimes) June 29, 2022

Perspective | Every week, two more newspapers close — and ‘news deserts’ grow larger https://t.co/EkHfnOvIZ5
— Glenn Kessler (@GlennKesslerWP) June 29, 2022

Red states will use the abortion decision to overturn all kinds of rights

And so it begins. The Alabama AG cites the overturning of Roe v. Wade to argue for a ban on trans health care. Alabama says b/c the Supreme Court said abortion is not 'deeply rooted' in the nation's history, the same can be said about access to gender-affirming care.
— Don Lewis (@DonLew87) June 29, 2022

Taken to its logical extreme, this is an argument that each state has the constitutional right to forbid *literally any* specific treatment for damn near any medical condition.

Because there are *no* modern medical treatments that are "deeply rooted." https://t.co/fdcO8zUAlx
— Mike Dunford (@questauthority) June 29, 2022

Democrats need to do better on filling judicial vacancies

The problem isn't just that Democrats refuse to consider serious court reform. It's that *Democrats aren't filling open seats right now* in federal district courts because, for unfathomable reasons, they are letting red state senators block nominees. It's completely outrageous. https://t.co/VbZ2NLeHiQ
— Mark Joseph Stern (@mjs_DC) June 29, 2022

This is unconscionable. Any vacant circuit or district court seat come the new Senate is a massive failure to govern that cannot be blamed on the filibuster. Democrats have a majority and they better start acting on it. https://t.co/wYvLobxNkc
— Jake Meiseles (@Jmeiseles) June 29, 2022

Joe Biden will keep doing this stuff https://t.co/NlOVJf4KWk
— Elie Mystal (@ElieNYC) June 29, 2022

No Republican president would do this

.@RepJohnYarmuth opposes nomination: "…it’s clear that this is part of some larger deal on judicial nominations between the president & McConnell. I strongly oppose this deal & Meredith being nominated for the position. That last thing we need is another extremist on the bench"
— Joe Sonka 😐 (@joesonka) June 29, 2022

The Democratic response to the decision to overturn Roe v. Wade has been pathetic

There is so much in this column that is outstanding. Democrats had months to prepare for the decision and should have announced a plan the minute the court released it.

Just a few things:

like him, I have been deluged with fundraising requests. Telling us to give money and vote is not enough
I was very offended by Biden’s compliment of Mitch McConnell. Has he forgotten about McConnell’s unwillingness to even have a hearing on Garland? I haven’t. I assume that if Republicans win the Senate majority this year, McConnell will block any Biden Supreme Court nominees and probably others as well.

President Biden and Democratic leaders had months to prepare for the fall of Roe v. Wade. Yet as Republicans celebrated the culmination last week, the initial response from the president and his party struck many Democrats as painfully inadequate. https://t.co/ETtM2KOHyb
— NYT Politics (@nytpolitics) June 29, 2022

If they don't like this, they should have had other ideas ready. https://t.co/ZVV5VB2Elr
— Harris Levy (@HarrisL585) June 28, 2022

Democrats have had almost 2 months since the leak to prepare a response. They should have had an immediate response with specific actions ready to go when the decision was released. This is pitiful. https://t.co/3u5La2qUvF
— Harris Levy (@HarrisL585) June 28, 2022

I’m still not worried that prosecuting Trump will divide the country

More than ever, it’s clear Trump should be prosecuted.

I’m not worried that prosecuting Trump would divide the country
1) the country is already polarized
2) did Republicans care about polarizing the country when they didn’t give Garland a hearing? Did the Supreme Court (R) care when they overturned Roe v. Wade?
— Harris Levy (@HarrisL585) June 28, 2022

PC Magazine on the 20 most influential computers of the last 40 years

We take a look back at the computers that had the greatest impact.
— PCMag (@PCMag) June 3, 2022