Alan Dershowitz, one of the nation’s most prominent constitutional law scholars, says the Supreme Court is poised to dramatically reshape election law in ways that could affect congressional power for decades. (RELATED: Dershowitz Claims Epstein Documents Are Being Suppressed To Protect Powerful Figures)
In an interview with Newsmax, Dershowitz said the Court appears ready to move away from using race as a central factor in drawing congressional and legislative districts. The shift is tied to a pending case testing whether the Voting Rights Act of 1965 still allows states to create districts that favor minority voters, or whether redistricting must instead prioritize race-neutral standards. (RELATED: Louisiana V. Callais: The Case That Could Finally Desegregate American Politics)
The Daily Caller reports:
The Supreme Court heard arguments Wednesday on whether the Voting Rights Act can still compel states to draw districts favorable to minority voters. Appearing on “The Record with Greta Van Susteren,” Dershowitz said the Court appears ready to apply the same reasoning it used in the affirmative action rulings to voting districts, curbing efforts to design congressional maps that favor specific racial groups.
“This is not like college admissions, where you can move to a meritocracy, and we know what a meritocracy means. But you can’t have a meritocracy when it comes to creating a district. Creation of the district either will help black people or will hurt or will help white voters or will hurt them. There’s no neutral principle,” Dershowitz told host Greta Van Susteren. “And I suspect the Supreme Court is moving away from focusing on race in the electoral context, as well as in the college-admission context. So if I had to make a prediction, I would predict that the district will not do well in front of the Supreme Court.”
Dershowitz referenced Justice Felix Frankfurter’s 1940s warning that the Court should avoid the “political thicket” of gerrymandering.
“Back in the 1940s, Justice Frankfurter purposely and very, very correctly talked about the Supreme Court staying out of the thicket, the political thicket, of racial gerrymandering and other forms of gerrymandering, because there’s no neutral answer to this,” he said, reaching back into history to make his point. Dershowitz added that the case would likely come down to the wire.
The Court has a long history of grappling with racial gerrymandering and majority-minority districts under the Voting Rights Act. In recent years, decisions such as Shaw v. Reno, Miller v. Johnson, and Shelby County v. Holder have narrowed the role of race in redistricting. With a conservative majority, the Court now appears more open to further limiting race-based districting, either under the Act or under constitutional equal protection grounds.
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