Democracy 21 Joins With Campaign Legal Center And Others In Filing Amicus Brief In Supreme Court Case Moore v. Harper
Democracy 21 joined with a diverse group of democracy reform, public policy, advocacy, and faith-based organizations in filing an amicus brief in the case Moore v. Harper, which will be heard by the Supreme Court on December 7.
The amicus brief was led by the Campaign Legal Center. Other organizations on the brief, in addition to Democracy 21, are: End Citizens United//Let America Vote Action Fund, National Council of Jewish Women, Inc., OneVirginia2021, RepresentUs, Republican Women for Progress, Unitarian Universalists for Social Justice, and Voters Not Politicians.
In Moore v. Harper, a gerrymandered North Carolina congressional map that was rejected by the state’s Supreme Court is being defended by North Carolina legislators who claim the state court’s decision violates the so-called “independent state legislature theory.”
According to the amicus brief:
“Petitioners assert that the Elections Clause prevents state courts from invalidating state regulation of federal congressional elections that violates state constitutional protections. As Respondents have argued, Petitioners’ assertion should be rejected because it is inconsistent with the Constitution and this Court’s precedents. But in addition, […] Petitioners’ reading of the Elections Clause should be rejected because it would be disastrously harmful. It would eliminate or render ineffective some of the last available checks on partisan gerrymandering of congressional districts and betray the very purpose and promise of the U.S. Constitution itself: to provide for representative government.”
Key arguments made in the brief:
- Partisan gerrymandering is antidemocratic and violates fundamental rights;
- The petitioner’s interpretation of the Elections Clause would leave gerrymandering of congressional maps effectively unchecked, eliminate remedies under state constitutions, threaten Independent Redistricting Commissions, and thereby injure American representative democracy; and
- Unchecked partisan gerrymandering would exacerbate polarization, extremism, and dysfunction.
