Supreme Court

The once-fringe legal theory broadly argued that state courts have little — or no — authority to question state legislatures on election laws for federal ...

The “independent state legislature theory” says the Constitution gives power over elections maps and voting decisions to lawmakers.

The Supreme Court ruled that North Carolina did not overstep in striking down a congressional districting plan as excessively partisan under law.

The appeal took on added significance because of the 2020 election, during which some courts expanded absentee ballot access amid the pandemic.

North Carolina Republicans had asked the court to leave state legislatures virtually unchecked by their state courts when dealing with federal elections. But ...

Six out of nine justices soundly rejected the Independent State Legislature theory, preventing state legislatures from seizing unprecedented control over ...

In a major election-law decision, the Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday that although the Constitution gives state legislatures the power to regulate federal ...

Chief Justice John Roberts wrote for the court that “state courts retain the authority to apply state constitutional restraints when legislatures act under the ...

Moore involved the awkwardly named “independent state legislature doctrine” (ISLD), a theory that the Supreme Court rejected many times over the course of more ...

A U.S. Supreme Court ruling on a North Carolina case decimated the arguments made by Ohio Republican leaders who were hoping to have their own case taken up ...

A weaker version of the independent state legislature theory will loom over the 2024 elections.

Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson said the ruling was a “welcome signal in advance of 2024.”

Trump allies raised the theory as part of an effort to reverse the 2020 election outcome. Geoff Bennett discussed the ruling with Neal Katyal, who argued the ...

The decision is a major victory for voting rights advocates, who feared that a ruling adopting the independent legislature theory would wreak havoc on election ...

The Court's ruling reaffirms the ability of state courts to check state legislatures by intervening in federal election rules, including those involving ...

The case concerned Billy Counterman, a Colorado man who became obsessed with a singer-songwriter, sending her disturbing messages on Facebook.

The Supreme Court said the jury that convicted Counterman for abusive messages to musician Coles Whalen should have found whether he intended genuine ...

Billy Counterman sent hundreds of messages to a singer/songwriter on Facebook. The question for the Supreme Court: Were the messages protected speech?

Colorado had convicted Billy Raymond Counterman after showing hundreds of Facebook messages he sent to singer-songwriter Coles Whalen were objectively ...

The Delaware Supreme Court has ruled unanimously that Attorney General Kathy Jennings' case against agrochemical giant Monsanto can move forward in Superior ...

This is especially important to Native voters who rely on state courts to counteract state legislation that disenfranchises Native communities. In this case, a ...

A majority on the court ruled against the “independent state legislature” theory. Also: Race and class; tax relief; reading; the German far right.

The justices by a 6-3 vote upheld a decision by North Carolina's top court that struck down a congressional districting plan as excessively partisan under state ...

The court found that state courts still must act within “ordinary bounds” when reviewing laws governing federal elections. That gives another set of tools for ...

A ruling that sided with the Republican North Carolina state lawmakers who brought the case could have spurred second-guessing of past state court rulings that ...