Tag: scotus

Alabama Asks Supreme Court to Let It Throw Out Current Rigged Congressional Map

Alabama on Friday filed an emergency appeal at the Supreme Court asking the high court to allow it to throw out its current rigged congressional map.

Alabama’s request to toss out its racist, gerrymandered congressional map comes after the Supreme Court last month declared Louisiana’s newly-drawn Congressional map an unconstitutional gerrymander.

The case, State of Louisiana v. Phillip Callais (and the related Press Robinson v. Phillip Callais), stems from Louisiana’s woke lawmakers caving to left-wing judges and creating a second “majority-minority” congressional district.

Louisiana delayed its May 16 House primaries last Thursday after the Supreme Court’s blockbuster ruling.

Alabama petitioned the Supreme Court on Friday amid the gerrymander wars.

Conservative Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas ordered a response by Monday evening.

CNN reported:

Alabama filed an emergency appeal at the US Supreme Court on Friday asking the justices to allow the state to revert to a congressional map with one majority-Black district, setting up a potentially thorny question for the high court as the justices have openly sparred over whether partisanship has played a role in its redistricting decisions.

State officials rushed up to the court late Friday asking it to halt a lower court ruling that has blocked it from using a map it enacted in 2023. It did so based on a blockbuster decision last week on Louisiana’s congressional map that severely weakened the scope of the landmark Voting Rights Act of 1965.

The appeal, which is seeking an answer by May 14, came hours after Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey signed legislation allowing for new US House primaries if courts allow the state to use different congressional districts in this year’s elections.

“Alabama’s case mirrors Louisiana’s, and they should end the same way: with this year’s elections run with districts based on lawful policy goals, not race,” the state told the Supreme Court in its emergency appeal.

On Thursday, Tennessee became the ninth state to approve a new congressional map amid the redistricting wars.

Keep reading

Cory Booker Admits Dems Are Coming for Supreme Court if They Win Midterms

Sen. Cory Booker, a New Jersey Democrat, said this week that Democrats are still eyeing major changes to the Supreme Court if they win the Senate in November.

During a Tuesday appearance on “All-In with Chris Hayes” on MSNOW, Booker openly discussed “reforming” the court.

Host Chris Hayes noted that many Democratic voters increasingly believe “something has to be done” about the court’s conservative majority.

He asked Booker whether going after the court had become a priority for Democrats seeking to regain power in November.

“The Supreme Court is another example of an area where most Americans agree,” Booker claimed.

Booker then argued in favor of imposing term limits on Supreme Court justices.

“In addition, most Americans agree that Supreme Court justices shouldn’t sit on those benches until they’re so ailing,” Booker said.

“So, yes, we have to think hard about how we’re going to reform the court and bring it back into alignment,” he added.

He also accused the court of having eviscerated “years and years and years of progress” by ruling last week that states cannot gerrymander districts based on race.

Booker’s threat comes after years of Democrats and liberal activists openly floating proposals to restructure the court.

Keep reading

Top DOJ official predicts Supreme Court will declare AR-15 rifles legal everywhere in America

The Justice Department’s top civil rights lawyer believes the Trump administration’s lawsuit this week against the city of Denver’s gun ban will one day soon lead to a Supreme Court decision legalizing the AR-15 semiautomatic rifle – revered by gun owners and reviled by liberals – in every jurisdiction in America.

“We intend to make sure they do that,” Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon said in an interview set to be aired Wednesday night on the Just the News, No Noise television show.

Dhillon spoke just hours after her office filed a lawsuit against the city of Denver over its ban on “assault rifles,” arguing the ban violates residents’ Second Amendment rights. 

The ban covers AR-15-style rifles, which the complaint argues are owned by “tens of millions” of Americans, 

The complaint also describes the use of the term “assault rifle” in the Denver law’s language as a “rhetorically politically charged” term used by “anti-gun publicists.” 

In addition, the suit cites the 2008 Supreme Court decision in District of Columbia v. Heller, which held that the Second Amendment protects the right of law-abiding citizens to possess weapons that are in common use for lawful purposes.

Keep reading

Supreme Court Denies Civil Rights Group’s Motion to Recall Louisiana Redistricting Judgment

The Supreme Court on Wednesday denied a civil rights group’s motion to recall the Louisiana redistricting judgment.

The Supreme Court last month declared Louisiana’s newly-drawn Congressional map an unconstitutional gerrymander.

The high court issued the ruling 6-3.

Liberal justices Sotomayor, Kagan and Jackson dissented.

The case, State of Louisiana v. Phillip Callais (and the related Press Robinson v. Phillip Callais), stems from Louisiana’s woke lawmakers caving to left-wing judges and creating a second “majority-minority” congressional district.

Louisiana delayed its May 16 House primaries last Thursday after the Supreme Court’s blockbuster ruling.

“Yesterday’s historic Supreme Court victory for Louisiana has an immediate consequence for the State. The Supreme Court previously stayed an injunction against the State’s enforcement of the current Congressional map,” Governor Landry said last month.

“By the Court’s order, however, that stay automatically terminated with yesterday’s decision. Accordingly, the State is currently enjoined from carrying out congressional elections under the current map. We are working together with the Legislature and the Secretary of State’s office to develop a path forward,” he said.

Keep reading

Justice Dept says it will enforce SCOTUS ruling in every state with racially gerrymandered districts

nited States Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon said Thursday that the Justice Department will enforce the Supreme Court’s decision on gerrymandering districts in every state that has such a district.

The Supreme Court struck down two congressional maps in Louisiana Wednesday, ruling the state was unconstitutionally racially gerrymandering when it added a second majority black district. Louisiana redrew the maps in 2024 after a lower court ruled previous maps likely violated the Voting Rights Act because it did not include the second majority black district.

Missouri GOP Sen. Eric Schmitt asked the Justice Department earlier Thursday to enforce the Supreme Court ruling nationwide, noting it had the power to do so. 

“Senator — we are ON IT!” Dhillon replied on X. “The [Justice Department] under [Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche] continues to prioritize equal protection of the laws for ALL Americans, be it in employment, housing, education — and voting.” 

The commitment comes as 45 redistricting disputes remain unresolved in federal and state courts, casting a cloud of legal uncertainty over the fight for control of the U.S. House of Representatives this November. 

Keep reading

Redistricting wars at a glance: Where the states stand after historic Supreme Court ruling

A handful of states began making moves this week to reconsider their congressional maps after the Supreme Court struck down maps in Louisiana, ruling that the maps were an unconstitutional racial gerrymander.

The Supreme Court ruling narrowed the scope of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act on Wednesday to bar race-based districts, prompting Louisiana to reschedule its upcoming House primaries while the lines are redrawn.

Here are the states that moved this week to begin reviewing their maps:

Alabama: Gov. Kay Ivey ordered a special session of the state legislature next week to pave the way for redistricting.

Florida: The state legislature approved new districts that could help the GOP win up to four new House seats in November.

Louisiana: Gov. Jeff Landry postponed the state’s House primaries while the state works on a new congressional map.

South Carolina: Gov. Henry McMaster stopped short of ordering a review Friday but suggested the state might want to review its districts to ensure it is in line with the Supreme Court ruling.

Tennessee: Gov. Bill Lee called for a special session of his state legislature to review their congressional maps. 

Here are states that have also signaled they plan to review maps in the future: 

Georgia: Gov. Brian Kemp said it is too late in the election cycle to redistrict the state for 2026, but the decision requires the state to adopt new maps by 2028.

Mississippi: Gov. Tate Reeves said he is calling for a special session to take place 21 days after the Supreme Court ruling.

Virginia and California have also attempted to redraw their congressional maps, which would favor Democrats, but Virginia’s plan is in limbo because it is stuck in a legal battle with the state Supreme Court. 

The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear challenges to California’s new map. 

Keep reading

Democrat Rep. DelBene OUTRAGED After Supreme Court Blocks Race-Based Gerrymandering, Calls Ruling “Sad” for Democracy

Democrats have spent years presenting themselves as defenders of democratic institutions. That message becomes significantly harder to sustain when party leaders openly criticize constitutional rulings simply because those rulings disrupt their political strategy.

That contradiction was on full display during a recent interview on MSNOW when Rep. Susan DelBene reacted to the Supreme Court’s decision to block Louisiana’s race-based congressional map.

DelBene called the ruling a “sad day for democracy.”

The statement was revealing—not simply because of its rhetoric, but because of what the underlying case actually involved.

The Supreme Court stepped in after concerns that Louisiana’s congressional map relied too heavily on race when drawing district boundaries. The broader constitutional question is straightforward: should states be allowed to sort voters by race when determining political representation?

For many Democrats, the answer appears to be yes—at least when doing so benefits their electoral prospects.

During the interview, DelBene attempted to shift the conversation away from the constitutional concerns surrounding the map itself. Instead, she argued that courts should not be involved in decisions like this and suggested Congress should rewrite voting laws.

That argument ignores the basic function of the judiciary.

Courts exist to determine whether government actions comply with constitutional protections. When legislatures create policies that potentially violate equal protection principles, judicial review is not activism—it is a core constitutional responsibility.

DelBene also accused Republicans of attempting to “rig the system” because they are allegedly losing support nationwide.

That argument became even more contradictory when MSNOW raised the possibility of Democrats aggressively redrawing congressional districts in states like California to offset Republican redistricting efforts in states such as Texas.

DelBene did not reject the idea.

Instead, the conversation reflected a broader problem that has increasingly defined modern redistricting battles: many politicians oppose gerrymandering only when the opposing party benefits from it.

That is not a serious institutional position, but a transactional one.

Keep reading

Supreme Court Hears Landmark Case On Geofence Warrants, Testing Digital Privacy Limits

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday heard oral arguments in Chatrie v. United States, a high-stakes case that could reshape Fourth Amendment protections in the digital age and determine the future of controversial “geofence” search warrants used by law enforcement.

Geofence warrants allow police and federal agents to compel companies like Google to disclose location data for all users present in a designated geographic area during a specific time window. Investigators use the tool to identify potential suspects by sifting through vast troves of smartphone location information, effectively searching first and developing probable cause later.

Civil liberties groups argue the practice is inherently overbroad and violates constitutional safeguards against unreasonable searches. Critics point to instances where innocent bystanders, protest attendees, and unrelated individuals have had their data swept up, sometimes due to warrants that extended far beyond the crime scene, reported Tech Crunch.

The case stems from the 2019 armed robbery of a bank in Virginia. Surveillance footage showed a suspect using a cellphone. Police obtained a geofence warrant from Google, requesting anonymized location data for devices within a small radius of the bank around the time of the crime. Google initially provided data for multiple accounts. Investigators then sought identifying information for a subset of users, including Okello Chatrie, who was later linked to the scene, arrested, and sentenced to more than 11 years in prison after pleading guilty.

Chatrie’s legal team challenged the warrant, contending it lacked sufficient probable cause tying him—or any specific account—to the robbery. Lower courts split on the issue, with one ruling the warrant failed to meet constitutional standards but ultimately allowing the evidence under the “good faith” exception. Chatrie’s appeal argues the warrant unconstitutionally permitted a broad search of hundreds of millions of Google users’ data.

Keep reading

More Devastating News for Democrats

The Supreme Court’s bombshell ruling striking down racial gerrymandering under the Voting Rights Act sent shockwaves through the political landscape this week — and Southern Republican governors wasted no time acting on it. For Democrats, who have spent years leaning on race-based district engineering to protect their congressional seats, the timing couldn’t be worse.

Alabama and Tennessee both called special legislative sessions on Friday to redraw their congressional maps, and the dominoes are already starting to fall across the South.

Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey moved quickly, calling lawmakers into special session and signaling she wants the state ready to hold new primary elections if the courts move fast enough to allow it. Right now, Alabama’s May 19 primaries are set to proceed using a court-ordered map that artificially packs black voters into two districts — a map the Supreme Court’s ruling makes unconstitutional. Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall filed an emergency motion Friday asking the court for a quick answer on whether the state can revert to its previously drawn map, which has just one majority-black district and would almost certainly deliver an additional Republican seat in Congress.

“By calling the Legislature into a special session, I am ensuring Alabama is prepared should the courts act quickly enough to allow Alabama’s previously drawn congressional and state Senate maps to be used during this election cycle,” Ivey said Friday afternoon.

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee followed suit, calling his own special session to review the state’s congressional map. The current map includes a single Democratic-controlled district anchored in Memphis, and Lee’s office has warned that “any change to Tennessee’s congressional map must be enacted as soon as possible,” ahead of the August 6 primary.

It’s not hard to read the tea leaves on where this is headed.

Keep reading

Barack Obama Weighs In On Supreme Court “Gutting” Voting Rights Act by Striking Down Louisiana’s Racially Gerrymandered Map and It Instantly Backfires

Former President Barack Obama lashed out at the United States Supreme Court for crippling the racial gerrymandering schemes practiced by his party, and Americans were quick to put him in his place.

As The Gateway Pundit reported, the Supreme Court issued a 6-3 ruling on Wednesday, correctly declaring Louisiana’s newly-drawn Democrat-friendly Congressional map an unconstitutional racial gerrymander.

The case, State of Louisiana v. Phillip Callais (and the related Press Robinson v. Phillip Callais), stems from Louisiana’s cowardly lawmakers caving to activist left-wing judges and creating a second “majority-minority” congressional district designed to elect a Democrat.

While the decision does not abolish the Voting Rights Act (VRA) or Section 2, ABC News notes that it raises the bar for challenges to election maps that liberal critics claim limit the ability of minority voters to elect candidates of their choosing, even if lawmakers did not intend to discriminate.

Leftist Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan whined in her dissent that the “gutting of Section 2 puts that achievement in peril.”

“If other states follow Louisiana’s lead,” Kagan added, “the minority citizens residing there will no longer have an equal opportunity to elect candidates of their choice.”

Obama agreed with Kagan that the VRA was gutted and slammed the Court for not only “weakening” minority voting power but “abandoning its vital role in ensuring equal participation in our democracy.”

“Today’s Supreme Court decision effectively guts a key pillar of the Voting Rights Act, freeing state legislatures to gerrymander legislative districts to systematically dilute and weaken the voting power of racial minorities – so long as they do it under the guise of ‘partisanship’ rather than explicit ‘racial bias,” Obama wrote.

“And it serves as just one more example of how a majority of the current Court seems intent on abandoning its vital role in ensuring equal participation in our democracy and protecting the rights of minority groups against majority overreach,” he added.

“The good news is that such setbacks can be overcome. But that will only happen if citizens across the country who cherish our democratic ideals continue to mobilize and vote in record numbers – not just in the upcoming midterms or in high-profile races, but in every election and every level.”

Keep reading