The Supreme Court is not coming to the rescue

Desperate Republicans are running roughshod over voting rights — and the Supreme Court won't stop them

President Trump, John Roberts, and Anthony Kennedy.
(Image credit: Illustrated | Alex Wong/Getty Images, jessicahyde/iStock)

The Supreme Court had the opportunity on Monday to address the constitutionality of partisan gerrymandering. Instead, it decided not to decide. In cases involving gerrymandering in Wisconsin and Maryland, it declined to reach a decision on the merits, in the former instance returning the case to the lower courts and in the latter upholding a lower court decision that held Maryland's congressional map unconstitutional. As a result, some egregiously gerrymandered maps will remain in place for the 2018 midterms.

This reflects an unfortunate pattern: Desperate Republicans trying to keep people away from the ballot box to stay in power, and the Supreme Court collaborating in these efforts.

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Scott Lemieux

Scott Lemieux is a professor of political science at the College of Saint Rose in Albany, N.Y., with a focus on the Supreme Court and constitutional law. He is a frequent contributor to the American Prospect and blogs for Lawyers, Guns and Money.