Supreme Court grants DANGEROUS emergency motion

0:00 This is Democracy Watch.

0:01 Mark, we are in the immediate aftermath of this Supreme

0:04 Court decision gutting section two of the Voting Rights Act,

0:06 but something that you and I have spoken about at length is okay,

0:10 are states going to be allowed to move on this so

0:12 quickly because we are coming up right up to an election.

0:15 And so, normally in this instance,

0:17 uh there wouldn't be allowed any changes this goes

0:19 to an election because it would be too confusing, too chaotic.

0:22 The Supreme Court has actually weighed in now on this question.

0:25 Can you explain what they said?

0:27 Yeah, look, the decision in Cal was a terrible decision,

0:31 probably the worst Supreme Court decision in in recent times.

0:34 But what they did next was even more outrageous,

0:37 which is that the state of Louisiana went to the Supreme Court and said, "Hey,

0:43 would you mind up speeding up the paperwork

0:46 that would actually let us destroy the existing

0:49 districts we have?" What people don't realize is

0:51 that when the Supreme Court issues a decision,

0:53 it doesn't automatically take effect.

0:55 it takes 32 days for it to take effect because the Supreme Court

0:59 process gives the losing party the ability

1:02 to seek clarification or seek uh rehearing.

1:05 And so there's this period in which even though the opinions come out,

1:08 it doesn't have effect.

1:09 So the state of Louisiana because it wanted to trample

1:11 over the rights of black uh uh voters asked the Supreme

1:15 Court in an emergency motion to shorten that period or do

1:19 away with that period to allow it to move forward.

1:21 Well, here's the thing, Brian.

1:23 By the time they did that, 42,000 people had already voted in Louisiana.

1:27 So, we're not talking about like, you know, PCEL,

1:29 which is usually like there's going to be chaos

1:31 or confusion because we're changing the rules close to an election.

1:34 Here, Louisiana was asking to change the rules during an election.

1:37 42,000 people already voted.

1:39 And the Supreme Court, the conservative majority said, "Yeah, no problem.

1:43 Yeah, we'll let you do that." And what's so gling about this, Brian,

1:46 is that as you and I have discussed, my law firm and I,

1:49 we've won cases to create additional minority opportunity districts,

1:54 months before the primaries are set to happen,

1:56 like four months, five months before the primary is set to happen.

1:58 And those have been blocked by the Supreme

2:01 Court because of Purcell saying it's too close.

2:03 And here's the thing, when it's black voters, the Supreme Court is saying, well,

2:08 those black voters can live under illegal

2:11 and unconstitutional maps for another two years.

2:13 But this case, because it involved white voters, yeah,

2:15 well, they can't wait at all.

2:16 And in fact, we have to throw out votes

2:18 of people who have already uh cast those ballots.

2:20 I mean, this double standard is is present in so many different instances.

2:24 Even when the the Republicans uh initially

2:27 blocked Merrick Garland's uh nomination in the Senate,

2:31 that that was with eight months to go.

2:33 But then when I believe Amy Coney

2:34 Barrett was being nominated at the Supreme Court,

2:37 votes had already been cast and and all of a sudden

2:40 uh they they rushed through that Supreme Court nomination.

2:43 So So again, like this disparity is on full

2:45 display when the Republicans want to push something forward.

2:48 It's you know it even if votes are already being cast,

2:51 it's it's never too late to just get it done at the last minute,

2:54 but you need a massive amount of time, months and months and months because god

2:58 forbid you cause any confusion before an election.

3:01 Like screw that.

3:02 They're they're happy to cause uh cause confusion during an election.

3:07 Yeah.

3:07 I mean, I'm gonna give credit to Leah Litman,

3:09 who you know is the on the strict scrutiny podcast.

3:12 She's she made the same analogy you did.

3:14 She said this is the that John Roberts has adopted the Mitch McConnell rule.

3:18 Uh referring exactly to what you were saying about how, you know,

3:21 when there was a Supreme Court vacancy

3:23 and Barack Obama was going to nominate someone,

3:25 there was one rule of what was too

3:26 late and then different when it was Donald Trump.

3:28 But, you know, Brian, we don't even have to go back that far.

3:31 You know, remember Texas?

3:33 In Texas, they redistricted and my law firm went to court and we won.

3:37 And that was on November 21st, November 21st, 2025, we got an injunction.

3:43 The Supreme Court uh 10 days later,

3:46 in the beginning of December, said it was too late.

3:48 You know when the you know, you know what it was too late for?

3:50 The primary in Texas was in March.

3:53 Okay?

3:54 Literally something we won in November of the off year was

3:58 too late for a primary that would take place in March.

4:01 I mean like where exactly in the calendar are we supposed to win

4:05 our cases that it is that it is not too early if November,

4:10 a year out from the election, it's already too late.

4:13 Mark, when when you when you think about this, if if you're looking

4:16 at this either from the perspective

4:18 of the person who's litigating these cases or just,

4:21 you know, from somebody uh in a position of I'm

4:24 I'm an attorney and trying to operate in this space,

4:28 how how is that kind of double standard allowed?

4:31 Like, you know, I I look, I know that we're we're in a world where have you no

4:36 shame counts for nothing because often

4:38 times these Republican judges have no shame,

4:40 but how do you operate when there's clearly this double

4:43 standard that exists in front of these judges who

4:46 are perfectly content to allow PCEL to kick in when

4:50 it's when it would benefit Democrats to move quickly,

4:53 but Purcell is just a non-existent concept

4:56 when Republicans uh when it would benefit Republicans.

4:59 Yeah.

5:00 And that's why I said this was such a breaking point moment I think

5:03 for democracy this particular stay motion like

5:06 not even or the expedited um mandate right no I mean it's it's a it's it feels

5:11 like a small detail but but it it it actually

5:13 I mean you and I had spoken about the fact

5:15 that we are so close to an election that votes

5:16 are already being cast and this is the perfect instance

5:19 because we have apples to apples comparisons where this where

5:22 courts have stepped in and said no this is

5:24 this is you know way too close to an election.

5:26 You just mentioned your own case in Texas where they

5:29 said five months before an election was way too close.

5:32 Now we have votes being cast in Louisiana and all

5:34 of a sudden uh the Supreme Court sees no problem with it.

5:38 Yeah.

5:38 And so look, we need to be cognizant of it.

5:41 Like we can't we can't hide from it.

5:43 It is the reality.

5:44 And when we regain power, when Democrats, you know,

5:47 are in control of both houses of Congress and the White House,

5:51 you know, we're going to need court reform.

5:52 And you know, Brian, this is one of the reasons why, you know,

5:56 I wanted to write the forward to your upcoming book,

5:58 which I did, and I'm very proud of that.

6:00 I'm very proud of the book you wrote.

6:01 And I hope everyone right now has already pre-ordered it.

6:04 If you haven't, please do it right now because

6:06 Brian's entire book is about how when Democrats retake power,

6:11 and at some point they will,

6:13 how they need to approach things in a different way,

6:17 that it can't just be business as usual.

6:19 We can't go back to old norms.

6:20 So, I'm going to ask Brian to put a link uh

6:23 to to pre-order the book on the screen and also in the description.

6:27 I'm going to give everyone grace.

6:28 If you can get it from an independent bookstore,

6:30 get it from an independent bookstore.

6:31 But if you can't, you have Mark Elias's permission to go to Amazon

6:34 and order from Amazon because it is more important that you get this book,

6:38 then you have an excuse not to get it because you don't

6:40 know how to get an independent bookstore to deliver you a book.

6:43 I appreciate that.

6:43 I'm going to put the link to pre-order that book the day

6:45 after right here on the screen and also in the post description.

6:48 And I also want to take this opportunity to let

6:50 you know that if you're not yet subscribed to Democracy Docket,

6:52 which is the news outlet Mark founded to focus on everything voting election,

6:56 now is the time to subscribe to that outlet.

6:58 Um, not only will it help elevate Mark's voice in this media

7:01 ecosystem where it's obviously uh among the most important voices that we have,

7:06 uh, especially with him being the biggest fighter that we have,

7:08 but also to show some support for the litigation that he's doing.

7:11 He has almost 100 cases in court right now.

7:14 Um, so this is a small step that we can all take

7:16 to show some support for the work that he and his team are doing.

7:18 I'm going to put the link to democracy docket right here

7:20 on the screen and also in the post description of this video.

7:23 Mark, is there a world where somebody can bring the fact

7:26 that this double standard exists to the attention of these these Supreme

7:30 Court justices and and kind of give put the ball

7:34 in their court so that they have to answer for it?

7:36 Or is this just a fact of life where, you know,

7:38 the elephant in the room is that anytime you have these conservative justices,

7:43 they're always going to be differential to Republicans

7:47 and and we just don't get to even ask about it.

7:49 They don't ever have to explain themselves.

7:51 It's just a fact of life that there's one set of rules

7:54 for the left and one set of rules for the right.

7:57 Yeah.

7:57 So, it was put in their lap.

7:59 It was pointed out to them in this Louisiana motion.

8:03 I mean, Brian, I have to say I was not

8:05 shocked by them gutting section two of the Voting Rights Act.

8:08 I I expected that.

8:12 Yeah.

8:11 I did not think that for the sake

8:14 of allowing Louisiana to disenfranchise black voters for one election,

8:21 you know, in probably one seat that they would be

8:23 so willing to just ignore and that's what they did.

8:28 Just like ignore all of these precedent.

8:30 I mean, I could go on and on.

8:32 Texas, Alabama, previously Louisiana.

8:35 Like, I could go on and on about case after case.

8:38 You know, in the 2020 election,

8:39 they they stopped a court order to make mail-in voting easier in Wisconsin,

8:44 a case I had won uh there.

8:46 Like I could go on and on about all the places where

8:48 the Supreme Court has said it is too close, it is too late.

8:52 Yeah.

8:52 Uh to the election that I just didn't think and shame on me, you know,

8:56 I didn't think that they would be willing to say in the middle

9:02 of an election where voting's already started

9:04 that that it was somehow different in this instance.

9:08 So given the fact that you know they have

9:10 a fully bought in 6 to3 conservative court that is

9:13 going to be an instrument that Republicans use in order

9:16 to push all of these map redraws through in Louisiana,

9:20 in Alabama, in Tennessee, in South Carolina.

9:23 What is what is your plan more broadly?

9:26 Like I I want to take a 30,000 foot view here

9:28 because obviously you're going to litigate in these in these cases.

9:32 We just saw the NAACP uh file a lawsuit in in Tennessee where um Republicans

9:38 immediately redrrew their maps to to draw out

9:41 the only black opportunity district in that state.

9:44 Um so there's going to be these lawsuits and you and I will discuss,

9:47 you know, the the ins and outs of all these lawsuits.

9:49 But from a 30,000 ft view, recognizing that you've got a Republican party

9:53 for whom voter suppression is their northstar,

9:56 you have um you have a Supreme Court

9:59 now that is willing to ignore its own precedent,

10:02 make up their own, you know, um their own theory of the case,

10:06 you know, even if it's out of whole cloth.

10:09 What is the long-term plan to uh restore

10:12 a sense of fairness and actually fight back here?

10:15 Yeah.

10:15 So, I think it's three things.

10:17 The first, like you said, we cannot give up on the courts.

10:19 We have to keep litigating.

10:20 We we have to make our own luck understanding

10:22 that when it things get to the Supreme Court,

10:25 you know, it's going to be a lot harder.

10:26 The good news is very few cases actually go to the Supreme Court and so there's

10:30 a lot of good that can be done

10:30 in state courts and at lower trial lower federal courts.

10:34 The second thing is Brian is we need to speak out.

10:37 It's part of the reason why you had the foresight, you know,

10:40 how many years ago to to to approach me and say,

10:42 "Let's do a series together." And you know

10:45 this I think we've done an enormous good.

10:46 I think that the two of us have educated, you know,

10:50 millions and tens of millions of people about what is happening in court,

10:53 both the good and the bad.

10:55 You know, we don't pull punches.

10:56 We we tell it like it is.

10:58 And I think that the more people are informed,

11:00 the more people who watch this series and subscribe to this channel,

11:03 the more people who subscribe to Democracy Docket,

11:05 the more attention and awareness there is of these things.

11:08 And that is critical like public awareness is a critical component to this.

11:12 And then the final thing, and this is why I mentioned your book,

11:16 is we will gain power again.

11:19 Like regardless of whatever the courts do,

11:22 whatever Donald Trump is up to, like at at some point,

11:25 Democrats will regain power and let's hope that they retake both

11:28 thousand Senate in 2026 and then they have a trifecta in 2028.

11:32 And the question to me is not what do we

11:36 do to complain and feel bad for ourselves in the meantime,

11:40 but when we take power, do we have a plan?

11:44 And more importantly, are we thinking boldly enough?

11:47 And that is where I think your book is an essential

11:51 piece of this conversation because I suspect when we get there,

11:56 as much as everyone thinks right now the debate

11:59 is going to be between the centrist parts

12:01 of the Democratic party or the progressive parts

12:03 of the Democratic party or this issue or that issue,

12:06 I think the fundamental tension is going

12:10 to be what it was during the Biden administration.

12:12 Let's just be honest,

12:13 like I was not the White House's cup of tea on a lot of things.

12:16 And the reason was because they did a commission on Supreme

12:20 Court reform and came to the conclusion no reform was necessary.

12:24 They looked at the need for, you know,

12:26 voting rights litigation and thought that fewer cases should be filed.

12:30 And so I'm not blaming any of them as bad people.

12:33 I'm just saying I think that the reason why

12:36 I keep talking about your book and why I

12:38 think this series is so important is because that is

12:42 going to be the fight when Democrats retake powers.

12:44 Are we going to be imaginative enough?

12:47 Are we going to be committed enough to do new things?

12:50 Or are we going to be like, "Okay, how do we restore, you know,

12:54 what the Department of Justice was?" And, you know,

12:56 everyone salutes the Supreme Court, right?

12:59 You know, the way it was, you know, when Joe Biden was in office.

13:03 Yeah.

13:03 And I I I completely agree.

13:05 I think that this notion that we have to go back

13:07 to like the old institutions as they were, we tried that.

13:11 That was the hallmark of the Biden administration.

13:14 And now this is this is going to be you know a new day where we actually

13:17 have to fight to to build them up in a way that actually works uh in this era.

13:21 Yeah.

13:21 And if I could just interject here one thing which is

13:23 on this point it's a little different but it's on this point.

13:26 You know Brian you do an amazing job in you are

13:33 making sure that people are informed about what's really going on.

13:36 Like you're giving them accurate information.

13:37 you are also platforming new voices in the um

13:42 in the in the left of center ecosystem and you are also simultaneously trying

13:48 to bring out the best voices in the Democratic party and frankly

13:53 there are very few people who are doing all three of those things.

13:56 Like a lot of people who are trying to bring new voices

13:59 in are frankly spend a lot of their time tearing down the Democratic party.

14:03 you know, like we all need to understand what we need

14:05 to be doing is realizing Donald Trump is the is the problem.

14:08 It's not, you know, fighting among other Democrats is not

14:11 is not the highest and best use of people's time.

14:13 And and you get that at the same time that you are also giving those new voices

14:18 and giving another generation of people the opportunity

14:22 to step up and and build their own platforms.

14:25 And you don't view it as subtracting from yours.

14:28 You view it as additive to the system.

14:30 And I just wanted to say that because right now I

14:33 think a lot of the people watching this episode are thinking, okay,

14:37 so if we get to this place that Mark and Brian are talking about,

14:41 does this mean that what they are preaching is party inner party warfare?

14:45 And and far from it, like you have been you have led by example.

14:49 You led by example during the Biden era about how

14:51 you both push forward and also are supportive of, you know,

14:56 keeping an eye on what Donald Trump is up to.

14:58 and and I think that that that that this episode

15:01 shouldn't end without without uh acknowledging that.

15:03 I appreciate that.

15:04 Um again, I I just want to add for folks who are looking to support

15:07 the invaluable work that Mark and his team are doing on a daily basis.

15:10 Speaking of people who we should be elevating in this ecosystem,

15:13 if you're not yet subscribed to Democracy Docket,

15:15 please click the link right here on the screen or also in the post description.

15:18 Make sure that you subscribe.

15:19 Show some support for the work that Mark and his team are doing.

15:22 And if you'd like to pre-order my book the day after,

15:24 I'll put that link on the screen as well.

15:26 I'm Brian Teller Cohen.

15:27 I'm Mark Elias.

15:28 This is Democracy Watch.