Please join the ACS Bay Area, Minneapolis-St. Paul, and Chicago Lawyer Chapters for a conversation among leading experts on the independent state legislature theory and the future of our democracy. Moore v. Harper is a challenge to the power of North Carolina's supreme court to strike down a heavily gerrymandered congressional map as inconsistent with the North Carolina constitution. But the case could have far-reaching implications for reigning in the power of legislators to choose their voters (rather than voters choosing their legislators). Once an obscure legal theory that held little sway, now the U.S. Supreme Court is potentially going to enshrine the independent state legislature theory and hamstring the system of checks and balances on the power of state legislatures. The case has implications not only for redistricting, but for all manner of election regulation. In an era of increasing polarization and election disinformation, how can we ensure free and fair elections if the power of state constitutions and state courts to serve as a check on state legislatures is undermined?

Featuring:

Franita Tolson, George T. and Harriet E. Pfleger Chair in Law, USC Gould School of Law; Member, ACS Board of Directors

Kathay Feng, National Redistricting Director, Common Cause

Carolyn Shapiro, Associate Dean for Academic Administration and Strategic Initiatives, Co-Director of the Institute on the Supreme Court of the United States, Professor of Law, ACS Faculty Advisor; Chicago-Kent College of Law

Morderator:

Mary Hanna-Weir, Deputy County Counsel, County of Santa Clara; Chair, Bay Area Lawyer Chapter