Justice Elena Kagan, Speaking at Catholic University Law School, Says Supreme Court's Recent Election Rulings Have Hurt Democracy
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan criticized the court's recent election-related rulings in remarks at the Catholic University law school in Washington, D.C., on October 20, arguing that the justices have failed to account for how their decisions affect the functioning of American democracy. The Washington Examiner reported the remarks on October 21, less than two weeks before the November 3 midterm elections, when voters will decide control of the House and Senate.
Kagan pointed to two decisions from the court's most recent term in which she had dissented: Louisiana v. Callais, decided in June, a challenge to Louisiana's congressional map raising the scope of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and when states can be required to draw districts giving minority voters a meaningful opportunity to elect their preferred candidates; and National Republican Senatorial Committee v. Federal Election Commission, which concerned federal restrictions on coordination between political parties and candidates. Kagan said the court has kind of blinded itself to the very deleterious effects of their rulings on how the political system works, and has created a democracy that does not work as well as it should. Allowing states to draw districts that effectively eliminate many voters' ability to elect their preferred candidates is, she said, very destructive of our democracy.
Kagan also said the court's approach to election law risks deepening divisions in an already polarized country, calling election law just about the most important thing that the court does and voting rights foundational. She spoke with Catholic University law professor J. Joel Alicea, a former law clerk to Justice Samuel Alito, who has generally sided with the court's conservative majority in the cases Kagan criticized.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：美国最高法院历史学会（Elena Kagan 官方肖像）
