The Court Eviscerates the Independent State Legislature Theory
Right up until the Supreme Court handed down opinions yesterday morning, the justices seemed likely to flinch from ruling on one of the major remaining issues left on their docket—a case with the power to weaken the already failing health of American democracy. Because of recent developments in North Carolina, the Court could have declared the case moot. Instead, it decided to tackle the case, Moore v. Harper, head-on. And it did so in a way that has many lawyers and democracy advocates breathing a sigh of relief.
The question in involved the “independent state legislature” theory, which suggests that the Constitution reserves special powers for state lawmakers in how they choose to administer federal elections. The contours of the theory are fuzzy and disputed.onlookers on both the and the about what the case might portend.
