Lori Ringhand

My article, "Pluralism in State Constitutional Law," is now published with the Georgia Law Review! It explores different ways state courts interpret state constitutions and variations in how explicit courts are regarding this interpretive pluralism!

georgialawreview.org/wp-content/u...

The Court used a congruence and proportionality standard to answer that question in the context of the capacious rights protected by the 14th Amendment. But there is little historic or pragmatic reason to impose such rigorous judicial review in the context of the much more focused 15th Amendment.

So a key question in the case is how much deference the Court should give to Congress to decide what is necessary to do that.

The Fifteenth Amendment isn’t just a limit on race discrimination; it is also a grant of power to Congress to enact legislation remedy or prevent preventing it. That’s what the VRA is.

Justice Barrett in #callais asks if congruence and proportionality is the right test of congressional power to enforce the Voting Rights Act. We looked at that question through an originalist lens. It isn’t! papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

Section 2's Limits #ELB Sparked by Nick Stephanopolous’s amicus brief, there’s been discussion on this blog about Section 2’s limits and how that might impact tomorrow’s re-argument in Callais. To help readers understand the...

The first post addresses the limits and importance of Section 2 of the VRA. Those who are not familiar with this area of law may find this real-world example particularly illuminating:

electionlawblog.org?p=152512

In honor of spooky month, share a 4 word horror story that only someone in your profession would understand:

Supreme Court granted cert

Article I, Section 8: “The Congress shall have power to … make Rules for the Government and Regulation of the land and naval Forces."

Bombshell! - Caleb Nelson, one of the most respected originalist scholars in the country, comes out against the unitary executive interpretation of Article II democracyproject.org/posts/must-a...

Yes, Hurley’s is the critical point for those following this.

Bonus 176: Law, Lawlessness, and Doomerism Law is not—and never will be—a perfect constraint on government action. But claims that legal limits have become wholly irrelevant to the current administration are not just wrong; they're dangerous.

For today's bonus "One First," I wrote about the increasingly noisy claim that legal constraints don't really matter in the current moment—why it's utterly belied by what's actually happening on the ground (and by what law can actually *do*); and why, in many respects, it's affirmatively dangerous:

I am a light packer, but I’m 100% on team checked-bag, at least on direct flights. It just makes transiting through the airport so much easier.

“Centuries-old” takes almost exactly the same amount of type-space as “constitutional”.

What a great book. It vividly contextualizes Sumner in his time and place without turning into a trivial listing of everything he did and everyone he met over the course of his complicated life. Just fantastic.

Worth it.

Have you done “firstly” yet?

Redistricting plans in 50 states, graded (correctly) ...but first, we have to kill the proportionality myth.

I'm pleased to introduce a full set of Congressional *and* legislative report cards, courtesy of the Princeton Gerrymandering Project. An enormous amount of work, the culmination of several years of development. Check it out!
samwang.substack.com/p/redistrict...

“You don't start out writing good stuff. You start out writing crap and thinking it's good stuff, and then gradually you get better at it. That's why I say one of the most valuable traits is persistence.”
― Octavia E. Butler

#WritingSky #AcademicSky

In honor of its 60th anniversary today, I was just on C-SPAN this morning to do a quick explainer of the past, present, and future of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. #VRA #VotingRights #democracy

www.c-span.org/program/wash...

Generations of Americans fought tirelessly for the right to vote. Today, we celebrate 60 years since the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and commit to never stop fighting so that every American’s voice is heard.

I disagree. Here is a chart of what the composition of the court would be if 18 year limited terms had been in place since 1993. “M” is for moderate and indicates a partisan split between the presidency and the Senate.

Monthly reminder: Many people have a book in them, but it takes a special kind of freak to leave the Land of Laziness, cross the Plains of Procrastination and Insecurity Mountain, find the Blade of No One Made You Do This, and use it to cut your chest open and yank that book out.

I cannot wait to read this!

I’m so excited to announce that my book was published today! The book retells the life of Charles Sumner, an abolitionist senator who co-framed the Reconstruction Amendments. I wrote this book with my blood, sweat & tears as a student at Yale Law School. (1/x)

Third-party ballot access is often promoted by one major party to create a spoiler for the other major party. 3rd parties fail in the US bc of single member districting. If you want to grow 3rd parties, support multi member districts with proportionate allocation of seats and rank choice voting.

Yes!

Congratulations!!