The Supreme Court Considers the Independent State Legislature Theory

We the People

National Constitution Center

News, News Commentary, History

4.6 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 16 December 2022

⏱️ 55 minutes

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Summary

On December 7, 2022, the Supreme Court heard oral argument in Moore v. Harper, a case out of North Carolina about the power of state courts to review election regulations set by state legislatures. At the heart of the case is the “independent state legislature” theory, an interpretation of the Constitution that would give state legislatures essentially the sole power to regulate federal elections and would restrict the involvement from state courts in reviewing those decisions. Joining us to recap the oral arguments in Moore v. Harper is Vikram Amar, dean of Illinois College of Law; and Jason Torchinsky, partner at Holtzman Vogel. Jeffrey Rosen, president and CEO of the National Constitution Center, moderates. Check out What is the “Independent State Legislature Doctrine”? – Part 1 and Part 2 from March 2022 and July 2022, respectively. Questions or comments about the show? Email us at podcast@constitutioncenter.org. Continue today’s conversation on Facebook and Twitter using @ConstitutionCtr. Sign up to receive Constitution Weekly, our email roundup of constitutional news and debate, at bit.ly/constitutionweekly. You can find transcripts for each episode on the podcast pages in our Media Library.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello, I'm Jeffrey Rosen, president and CEO of the National Constitution Center, and welcome
0:09.2	to We The People, a weekly show of constitutional debate.
0:12.8	The National Constitution Center is a nonpartisan nonprofit chartered by Congress
0:17.4	to increase awareness and understanding of the Constitution among the American people.
0:23.0	On December 7th, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Moore versus Harper, a case out of
0:30.3	North Carolina about the power of state courts to review election regulations set by state legislatures.
0:36.5	At the heart of the case is the so-called independent state legislature theory.
0:40.9	Over the summer we had two great guests to walk us through the theory and today we're welcoming them back to recap the arguments and discuss what the future of the independent state legislature doctrine may be.
0:52.0	Vikram Ammar is Dean of the Illinois College of Law
0:55.8	and co-author of the case book
0:57.2	Constitutional Law, Cases and Materials.
1:00.0	With Akil Amar and Steve Calabracy,
1:02.0	he co-authored an amicus brief in Moore versus Harper
1:05.6	on behalf of the respondents.
1:07.2	Vic, welcome back to We The People.
1:09.1	Thank you for having me, Jeff.
1:10.8	And Jason Torchinsky is a partner at Holtzman Vogel, specializing campaign finance, election
1:15.3	law, lobbying disclosure, and issue advocacy groups.
1:18.5	He filed an amicus brief in Moore v. Harper on the side of the petitioners on behalf of the Republican
1:23.4	National Committee. Jason it is wonderful to welcome you back to the show.
1:26.7	Great thanks for having me back again.
1:28.7	Vic during the oral arguments the advocates laid out different versions of the independent state legislature
	...

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