This was the latest conservative onslaught against voting rights. A high-powered effort to dismantle more than a half century of one person, one vote jurisprudence. But the Supreme Court shut it down today in an 8-0 decision. Tierney Sneed has the details.
The big question in my mind is whether this would have been 9-0 or 8-1 decision if Justice Scalia were still alive. We’ve seen a number of decisions go a different direction without Scalia on the Court. But it’s not just his vote. He clearly shaped Court decisions well beyond his own single vote. Thomas and Alito would often follow Scalia’s lead. And my sense is he often helped shaped the terms of the debate in ways that indirectly influenced Court liberals. By any reading of existing law or democratic principles, the case had no merit. But that’s made little difference in numerous recent cases. Heartened but very surprised to see this go down in a shut out.
Here’s the full story.
