Travis Crum

The Brewing Fight Over the 2030 Census’s Citizenship Question #ELB Last week, Missouri filed a complaint alleging that undocumented immigrants and temporary visa holders (such as those here on student or work visas) should not be counted during the 2030 Census and ap...

Remember how the first Trump administration tried to "enforce the VRA" by adding a citizenship question to the 2020 Census? Well it appears we're gonna have that fight again, and this time a recent lawsuit brought by Missouri is the opening volley.

electionlawblog.org?p=154179

"Missouri Attorney General Hanaway Files Suit Against U.S. Department of Commerce, Census Bureau To Cease Counting Illegal Aliens, Requests Census Recount" #ELB You can find Missouri’s AG’s press release here. The complaint is here. This is yet another attempt to exclude undocumented immigrants from the decennial apportionment. The first Trump administration ...

Missouri has filed a lawsuit seeking to exclude undocumented immigrants from the 2030 Census and apportionment. Remarkably, Missouri is also seeking a "redo" of the 2020 enumeration "if necessary." No idea how that would even be possible at this stage.

electionlawblog.org?p=154059

I'd love to workshop chapters of this book in the coming years. And suggestions on title (and subtitle) are appreciated.

Thanks to all my mentors who pushed me to go into legal academia as a First Gen college student. This book would not be possible without your encouragement.

My book will also cover post-1950s doctrinal developments in areas such as Congress’s enforcement authority, redistricting, and Section 2’s discriminatory results standard. Some of this history has yet to be written as we await the Court's decision in Callais.

The last book on the Fifteenth Amendment’s drafting and ratification was published in 1965. My book covers that history from a legal perspective–as opposed to a historian’s. And my book will go beyond 1870, providing a brief history of Reconstruction’s demise and Jim Crow.

I'm thrilled to announce that I’ve signed a contract with Cambridge University Press to write a book on the Fifteenth Amendment. The target publication date is late 2028. The tentative title is "The Fifteenth Amendment: An Unabridged History of the Fight against Racial Discrimination in Voting."

Turtle Mountain Cert Petition Remains Pending: What Does this mean for Callais? #ELB As readers of this blog know, the Eighth Circuit recently ruled that there is no implied cause of action under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act and that Section 1983 cannot provide a jurisdictional ...

SCOTUS is sitting on a cert petition in a major Section 2 case about implied causes of action. There's likely a dissent from denial of cert or its being held for Callais. This has very worrisome implications for the VRA's constitutionality.

electionlawblog.org?p=153412

"‘Constitutional hardball’: National gerrymander battle turns the heat up in Missouri" #ELB Politico: Republicans and Democrats are quietly pouring millions of dollars into a fight trying to block Missouri’s new gerrymandered congressional map, as each party scrambles for any advantage they ...

“‘Constitutional hardball’: National gerrymander battle turns the heat up in Missouri” electionlawblog.org?p=153339

Mid-Decade Redistricting and the Purcell Principle #ELB Yesterday, a three-judge district court preliminarily enjoined Texas’s mid-decade congressional redistricting map. This case will be promptly appealed to the Supreme Court, and it will be the first of...

The first mid-decade redistricting case is headed to the Supreme Court's shadow docket. Here's why the so-called Purcell Principle--which counsels against enjoining redistricting maps close to an election--should not apply here:

electionlawblog.org?p=153101

papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

Hot off the presses! I helped organize a symposium on the 150th anniversary of Minor v. Happersett, where the Supreme Court held that women were not enfranchised by the 14th Amendment. The case originated in St. Louis, so it was rewarding to shine a light on this overlooked piece of local history.

If Section 2 compliance isn't a compelling state interest, how would it survive Boerne? Alabama has a jurisdictional statement in Milligan, and they'd argue it isn't congruent/proportional. I don't see much daylight here.

That said, I could see an argument that it could still survive Katzenbach.

Redistricting foes blast Hanaway for trying to stop referendum on Missouri map Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway is arguing that the referendum is usurping the legislature’s power to redraw congressional districts.

And here's the underlying STLPR article:

www.stlpr.org/government-p...

"Redistricting foes blast Hanaway for trying to stop referendum on Missouri map" #ELB Missouri seeks to revive the independent state legislature theory, this time its by insisting that there’s a clear-statement rule. I may have more to say about this case in the near future. In the mea...

Missouri is seeking to revive the independent state legislature theory by insisting there's a clear statement rule. The rejected legal theory that plagued the 2020 election makes a return in the mid-decade redistricting wars.

electionlawblog.org?p=152593

Callais Re-Argument Recap #ELB Earlier today, I attended the oral argument in Callais. My global takeaway is a bit more sanguine than Rick’s. When the case was set for re-argument, the new QP flagged Section 2’s constitutionality: ...

Here's my take on today's big voting rights argument in Louisiana v. Callais. The Justices re-hashed arguments that had been considered three Terms ago in Milligan, and they appeared more interested in tweaking the VRA than in overturning it.

electionlawblog.org?p=152557

Originalism and Expiration Dates #ELB Tomorrow, the Supreme Court will hold a rare re-argument in Louisiana v. Callais on whether Section 2 of the VRA is unconstitutional as applied to redistricting. I’ve filed an amicus brief arguing tha...

The second post argues that the Court's attempt to impose sunset dates on congressional statutes is deeply ahistorical and indefensible on originalist grounds:

electionlawblog.org?p=152514

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 advance of tomorrow's re-argument in the major voting rights case of Louisiana v. Callais, I've got two posts on the Election Law Blog. I'll be attending the argument and will provide an eyewitness account on ELB as well.

Can't wait to read this!

The 2025 Election Law Conference at Florida State University #ELB This weekend, FSU will host the 2025 Election Law Conference. Jacob Eisler is the organizer, and I am serving as an informal advisor. This conference is a sequel to last year’s Election Law Conference...

Really excited to be attending the 2025 Election Law Conference at Florida State University this weekend. We've got a great line-up of speakers!

electionlawblog.org?p=151984

Thanks to @epps.bsky.social and the folks at Wilkinson Stekloff LLP for their help on the brief.

Amicus Brief on the Fifteenth Amendment in Louisiana v. Callais #ELB Another ELB contributor has entered the Callais fray. Today, I filed an amicus brief in support of the Robinson appellants in this fall’s blockbuster voting rights case, Louisiana v. Callais. You can ...

And here's a post at the Election Law Blog that unpacks the brief:

electionlawblog.org?p=151919

You can find the amicus brief here:

www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/24...

I filed an amicus brief in Callais, this fall's blockbuster voting rights case. I make three arguments. First, the Fifteenth Amendment is the constitutional provision that bans racial discrimination in voting. Second, Shaw should be overturned. Finally, Section 2 of the VRA is constitutional.

To quote the Onion: History sighs, repeats itself.

Alabama Dodges Bail-in #ELB Yesterday, the three-judge district court in the Alabama congressional redistricting litigation declined to bail-in the State to the VRA’s preclearance regime. You can find the district court’s decisi...

Preclearance under the Voting Rights Act was designed to stop the game of whack-a-mole that was Southern States defying federal court orders. Alabama did just that in 2023. Unfortunately, Alabama dodged the hammer once again.

electionlawblog.org?p=151462

Happening today!

The Prospect of Bailing-in Alabama #ELB Tomorrow, the three-judge district court in the Alabama congressional redistricting litigation will hold a hearing on whether to bail-in Alabama to the VRA’s preclearance regime. If bailed-in, Alabama...

Tomorrow, there's a big hearing on whether to bail-in Alabama under the Voting Rights Act, meaning that it would have to get federal approval to enact any new congressional redistricting plans through the 2030 Census. Here's my thoughts on the Election Law Blog:

electionlawblog.org?p=151207

Waiting for Callais #ELB Earlier today, Rick Pildes flagged the Court’s inexplicable month-long delay in issuing a re-argument order in Louisiana v. Callais, last Term’s—and now next Term’s—major Shaw case. I agree with Pilde...

What's taking the Supreme Court so long to issue a re-argument order in last Term's big voting rights case?

electionlawblog.org?p=151175

New paper! Along with my co-authors, Prof. Susan Appleton and Hannah Keidan, I have posted a short symposium foreword, "The Curiously Minor Role of Minor v. Happersett," on SSRN. Anyone interested in legal history, election law, or women's rights should check it out:

papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....