WASHINGTON–In a significant victory for voting rights, the Supreme Court upheld the long-established authority of state courts to protect against voting barriers that violate state constitutions. In an opinion issued in the case of Moore v. Harper the Court flatly rejected the so-called independent state legislature theory, which, if adopted, would have rendered state courts powerless to decide whether state laws governing federal elections and the setting of congressional district lines violated their own state constitutions.
“In the face of relentless voter suppression schemes adopted by state legislatures to disempower voters in marginalized communities, we have no choice but to fight. Sometimes that fight happens in state courts, where we endeavor to prove that lawmakers violate their own state’s laws. Today our vigilance has been rewarded,” said Damon Hewitt, President and Executive Director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. “This ruling upholds the basic principle of our system of checks and balances, which requires that the courts – not legislatures – decide whether election laws and district maps are constitutional under state law. Most importantly, it ensures that state courts remain open as an avenue of protection for voters – a guarantee that is particularly important to Black voters and other voters of color.”
“While we celebrate this momentous win,” Hewitt added, “we must remain steadfast in our ongoing efforts to protect voting rights, confront discriminatory practices and gerrymandering head-on, and advocate for equitable representation that ensures that the voice of every voter matters. ”
The Lawyers’ Committee, alongside the law firm Cravath, Swaine & Moore, filed an amicus brief on behalf of itself and other prominent civil rights, social justice, labor, and bar association organizations in this case in 2022. The brief argued that embracing the independent state legislature theory would dismantle the longstanding guardrails provided by state constitutions and state courts, which serve to protect the voting rights of marginalized communities. The Supreme Court’s rejection of the independent state legislature theory reaffirms the importance of state courts as a vital check on abuses of power. By upholding the role of state courts in interpreting state laws and constitutions as they pertain to federal elections, the Court has preserved an essential safeguard against discriminatory practices that disproportionately impact marginalized communities.###
About the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law – The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization, formed in 1963 at the request of President John F. Kennedy to mobilize the nation’s leading lawyers as agents for change in the Civil Rights Movement. Today, the Lawyers’ Committee uses legal advocacy to achieve racial justice, fighting inside and outside the courts to ensure that Black people and other people of color have the voice, opportunity, and power to make the promises of our democracy real. For more information, please visit https://link.edgepilot.com/s/ddd75021/9WuQZIaBn0SzEfUhzQxQCA?u=https://lawyerscommittee.org/.
