(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Reactions to the SCOTUS rejection of the ludicrous ISL theory [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2023-06-28 The surprise Supreme Court ruling on Moore v. Harper is being hailed as a big win for Democracy and hopefully a nail in the coffin of the ridiculous right-wing Independent State Legislature (ISL) theory. A ruling in favor of the ISL theory in the Moore v Harper case would have given state lawmakers unfettered power to set the rules for federal elections in their states and to use extreme gerrymandering to thwart the will of the People. Here are some links to the story and reactions from various luminaries. x "Today, the Court rejected the Tar Heel State Republicans’ argument, ruling in a 6-3 decision that state legislatures aren’t free to draw congressional maps free from judicial review by the state courts or constraints imposed by the state constitution."https://t.co/oJhw2UaVzA — Marc E. Elias (@marceelias) June 27, 2023 Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the 6-3 opinion. The idea that courts may review legislative action was so “long and well established” by the time we decided Marbury in 1803 that Chief Justice Marshall referred to judicial review as “one of the fundamental principles of our society.” We are asked to decide whether the Elections Clause carves out an exception to this basic principle. We hold that it does not. The Elections Clause does not insulate state legislatures from the ordinary exercise of state judicial review. Justices Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch and Samuel Alito dissented, with Thomas writing that the question before the Supreme Court was moot and the case should be dismissed (since the NC Supreme Court changed from Democratic to Republican majority after the case was filed). x My latest👇 "In Moore, the ISL theory did not just fail to gain a majority, it emerged discredited."https://t.co/mTAtzMko3m — Marc E. Elias (@marceelias) June 27, 2023 The foundation of the Big Lie has been legally crumbled. x One of the great cons of the legal MAGA movement was asserting that the 2020 election was illegitimate because state state courts exercised judicial review over state election laws. SCOTUS just threw that argument straight into the legal dumpster: https://t.co/7sm6N12S5u — David French (@DavidAFrench) June 28, 2023 Neal Katyal argued the case in the Supreme Court. His acumen and perseverance in this case is being praised far and wide. x This Article is the first to write about what really happened yesterday in Moore v Harper. All our supposed allies, including the Biden Administration's Justice Dept, tried to get rid of the case, telling the Court they couldn't decide it. We stood alone. We were right. If the… pic.twitter.com/AHmraLd4sf — Neal Katyal (@neal_katyal) June 28, 2023 From www.law.com/... Of the several respondents in the case Moore v. Harper, only one believed the Supreme Court should still decide the matter—a self-styled “pro-democracy” group called Common Cause, represented by experienced Supreme Court lawyer Neal Katyal of Hogan Lovells. The Biden administration, the North Carolina Department of Justice and other voters challenging the alleged gerrymander had instead encouraged the Supreme Court to drop the case as moot and avoid ruling on the independent state legislature theory at all. Common Cause had argued that, although the North Carolina Supreme Court overruled the reasoning of Harper I, it did not alter the earlier judgment prohibiting the state from using the stricken congressional map. The group then stressed the importance of the Supreme Court settling questions over the independent state legislature theory ahead of a potential 2024 election crisis. Indeed, the relatively obscure theory burst into view during litigation over the 2020 presidential election. “The dispute over that theory must be resolved in time to prepare maps, ballots, and election rules well in advance of the 2024 elections,” Katyal wrote for Common Cause. “It is therefore exceptionally important that the Court address the Question Presented as quickly as possible.” Judge Luttig has been a fierce opponent of the ISL theory. x It is also now one of the most important constitutional cases for representative government in America. — @judgeluttig (@judgeluttig) June 28, 2023 Many voices and their sharp minds helped make this happen. x This ruling rejects the far-right theory that threatened to undermine our democracy, and makes clear that courts can continue defending voters' rights—in North Carolina and in every state. Thanks to @RedistrictFdn and @EricHolder for helping make this happen. — Barack Obama (@BarackObama) June 27, 2023 Including Eric Holder - x Today's Supreme Court ruling in Moore v. Harper is MAJOR victory for our democracy, for our movement for #FairMaps, and one that we should all celebrate because democracy wins. We are committed to staying in this fight until we have fair maps in every state, for every American. https://t.co/EGFqliEW1d — Eric Holder (@EricHolder) June 27, 2023 More praise for Neal Katyal. x Sitting in Greece for final morning of vacation & reading about @neal_katyal. It would be easy to say I am not surprised, which I am not, but that is not enough. Neal knows that I consider him one of the great defenders of our Democracy & he has done it again. Thank you Neal. https://t.co/iSHpme8xgn — Fred Guttenberg (@fred_guttenberg) June 28, 2023 Nancy Pelosi calls out the extreme MAGA proponents of the ISL theory. x America’s voters and our Democracy won a decisive victory as the Supreme Court rejected the extreme MAGA-backed independent legislature scheme. This win is a tribute to @EricHolder and advocates in Alabama, North Carolina and across America who fight on behalf of ALL voters! -NP — Nancy Pelosi (@TeamPelosi) June 27, 2023 Audio recording of the case being argued in 2022 - x You can hear the entirety of the oral argument in Moore v. Harper - including all of @neal_katyal's remarks to the Supreme Court - here via @cspan: https://t.co/wy0vE0XllH#LastWord — The Last Word (@TheLastWord) June 28, 2023 Interesting ... x Interesting: conservative judge J. Michael Luttig says Special Counsel Jack Smith would have needed to wait for the SCOTUS decision on the independent state legislature theory today before deciding whether to proceed with charges against Trump and/or his allies related to Jan. 6 pic.twitter.com/4Iw5zFHLPX — Abby D. Phillip (@abbydphillip) June 28, 2023 Democracy won yesterday. Now let’s keep the momentum up because we know the extreme MAGA republicans won’t give up, their driving goal is to win by hook and by crook, and the majority on this Supreme Court bench is by no means a friend of Democracy. [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/6/28/2178113/-Reactions-to-the-SCOTUS-rejection-of-the-ludicrous-ISL-theory Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/