EXPLOSIVE move by Supreme Court STUNS ALL

0:00 This is Democracy Watch, Mark.

0:01 We have a brand new ruling by the Supreme Court,

0:03 an explosive ruling that further undermines voting rights.

0:06 This is in the aftermath of the Louisiana decision.

0:10 Yeah, Brian.

0:11 In a shadow docket ruling from the Supreme Court,

0:15 6-3 with the three liberals dissenting, the conservative justices, frankly,

0:20 just went back on what they had done in the in the Alabama case.

0:24 Remember the Milligan case?

0:26 Well, they freed up the state of Alabama to use a map that did not comply

0:33 with their own ruling and which a federal

0:36 court found didn't comply with their own ruling.

0:38 You know, Brian, it's one thing for them to prospectively say

0:43 that the law isn't what we all understood it to be.

0:46 It's It's one thing for them to say that, you know,

0:48 the test we've approved all along turns out not

0:50 to be the test that that's going to be going forward.

0:53 That's shameful.

0:54 But, what we're seeing here is that they

0:55 are now actually applying that to Alabama,

0:58 which is a case that was one and done,

1:00 that the Supreme Court actually issued an opinion

1:02 in, and now they are freeing up the state

1:05 of Alabama to use a map that it drew in 2023 after it lost that case,

1:13 tried to draw a remedial map that didn't remedy the violation,

1:17 got blocked, and now they fast-tracked it to let them use that map.

1:21 I mean, Brian, at some point at some point

1:25 these justices have to ask themselves how much damage

1:28 they are willing to take to their to the institutional

1:31 integrity of this court or what people think.

1:33 When At this point, it's really hard to justify

1:37 or explain these things as anything other than,

1:39 you know, the Republicans win in close voting cases and the Democrats don't.

1:44 Right.

1:45 And And I think further underscoring that exact

1:47 point is this idea of of Purcell.

1:50 And you did a great job explaining all

1:52 of this on on a recent Democracy Docket post,

1:55 and I would highly recommend for everybody who's watching right now,

1:57 if you're not yet subscribed to Democracy Docket,

1:59 that's the news outlet Mark founded to focus on everything voting elections.

2:01 It's what I use on a daily basis now,

2:03 especially as these voting rights cases continue to present themselves.

2:06 I'm going to put a link right here on the screen.

2:08 If you're not yet subscribed, please go ahead and subscribe.

2:11 But you outlined two instances where this Supreme

2:13 Court um uh decided that because of Purcell,

2:18 which is this doctrine that uh prevents states from imposing new maps

2:22 too close to an election because it would cause too much confusion.

2:25 Um even when this Supreme Court ruled that there was

2:28 an unconstitutional map in Alabama back in 2022, uh they said,

2:33 "But that map still has to stand because we're 4 months away from a primary,

2:37 and it would cause too much confusion for the voters.

2:39 And so yes, it's unconstitutional.

2:41 Yes, it's illegal.

2:42 Yes, it is an unconstitutional gerrymander.

2:45 But at least for this cycle,

2:46 that map has to be applied because God forbid we interfere in an election

2:51 that's coming up a few months from now." That happened again in Texas in 2025,

2:56 where the Supreme Court ruled that uh

2:58 this Texas map was uh an unconstitutional gerrymander.

3:02 And so and so um you know, even though that map should have been struck down,

3:07 it was November of 2025, and the primary was happening in March of 2026.

3:12 And so about four or five months away,

3:14 and that was still too close for this Supreme Court.

3:17 And they ruled that the the unconstitutional

3:19 map has to apply because God forbid we

3:22 cause any confusion in an election where a primary is four or five months away.

3:26 Well, now we're in a position where the Supreme Court has decided as it

3:28 relates to Louisiana and Alabama that suddenly

3:32 uh even though votes are being cast, even though an election is imminent.

3:36 We are on the eve of the election right now.

3:38 Or voters are already casting their ballots,

3:40 the Supreme Court has ruled that these maps

3:42 have to be changed even though in Louisiana,

3:44 I think 104,000 votes have already been cast.

3:46 And in Alabama, the election is 2 weeks away.

3:50 So can you talk about this idea of how you're supposed to operate in the space?

3:54 You as an attorney, but but just Americans

3:56 more broadly where the Supreme Court has one set of rules if it means that a map

4:02 might benefit brown or black people or Democrats,

4:05 but an entirely different set of rules if

4:07 that map might benefit white people or Republicans.

4:10 Yeah, Brian, I'm glad you asked this question.

4:12 And for those of you who are watching this video,

4:14 make sure you subscribe to this channel because Brian and I are going

4:17 to do an explainer on the Purcell doctrine in the coming days and weeks.

4:22 Because this doctrine has really taken on a life of its own,

4:25 and it's important that you understand it.

4:28 And like I said, we're going to do a separate episode just on that.

4:30 But Brian, here, let's just take Alabama, okay?

4:33 So, as you say, in 2022, my law firm goes to court.

4:37 We win a case on behalf of black voters in Alabama.

4:41 Uh that takes place on January 27th.

4:44 And the court says, "Okay, can't use the illegal unconstitutional map because it

4:49 only has one black opportunity district." State of Alabama,

4:53 we we're going to oppose a new map for for for 2022, okay?

4:58 They The state of Alabama runs to Supreme Court.

5:00 And the Supreme Court says, "You know what?

5:03 Geez, it's already the first week of February.

5:06 And the elections are coming up in May.

5:09 So, it's way too close to that election to start

5:12 with a new map because it will cause chaos and confusion.

5:16 I mean, the voters won't know which districts they're in.

5:19 The election officials have to administer this.

5:22 Uh the candidates will have to run.

5:24 Uh and and all of that is, you know, is way too too complicated.

5:29 I mean, specifically, the Supreme Court said that quote,

5:31 "Late judicial tinkering with election laws can lead

5:33 to disruption and to unanticipated and unfair consequences for candidates,

5:38 political parties, and voters,

5:39 among others." The net effect of that was that black

5:43 Alabamians voted under illegal and unconstitutional maps in the 2022 election.

5:50 Okay?

5:51 They were deprived their constitutional rights,

5:53 they were deprived their voting rights under federal law.

5:57 And you know, a lot of us were very upset about it at the time.

6:01 But we filed that away that that's the rule that in Alabama,

6:04 you know, by the time you get to early February, it's too late.

6:07 Okay?

6:07 Purcell doctrine says it's too late.

6:10 So now here we are in 2026 and the Supreme Court

6:13 decides a case as you point out in a different state,

6:16 Louisiana, not in Alabama, in Louisiana.

6:19 And the state of Alabama runs to the US Supreme Court and says, oh, okay,

6:25 the maps that you that we are

6:27 operating under with two black opportunity districts,

6:29 we don't want to do that anymore.

6:31 We want to be able to use a different map,

6:34 go back to an earlier map that we had and strip black voters

6:38 of one of the two districts that they can elect their candidates of choice.

6:41 And as you say, we are literally in the midst of an election.

6:45 I mean, candidates, they've they've already been campaigning.

6:49 Parties, they've they've already been spending money.

6:51 Voters, like I mean, the election day is in a couple of weeks.

6:55 Election officials, all the materials have been printed,

6:58 all the districts have lines have been drawn,

7:00 the polling places have been set out.

7:02 I mean, we are literally on the eve of the of election day.

7:06 Not 4 months out, right?

7:08 We're not in February, we're in May.

7:10 And now, you know, the conservatives on the Supreme Court are like, well,

7:13 of course we need to implement this immediately

7:15 because this is because these are otherwise unconstitutional maps.

7:18 Well, what they're really saying is that if black

7:21 voters are being deprived their rights, then they can wait.

7:26 But if white voters, white voters,

7:29 are deprived of what the Supreme Court says are their rights,

7:32 then those that has to be remedied immediately.

7:34 And so whether you look at it through the prism

7:35 of race or you look at it through the prism of party,

7:37 which obviously is very overlapping in this case,

7:39 that is the reality of what this decision says.

7:43 And as a litigator, like it's a challenge.

7:46 I mean, I'll be honest with you.

7:47 It is not an easy situation to know how to navigate the federal courts

7:54 when there is one rule that seems to apply when it's Democrats, when, you know,

8:00 we're probably in this three-fourths telling anything

8:03 that gets changed now for for for November is probably too late if if it's me

8:08 and Democrats who are saying that something's done unconstitutional.

8:11 Whereas I suspect the Republican Party, the my Republican lawyer counterparts,

8:16 they they wind up with a problem with the way

8:18 the election is being conducted in October, not too late.

8:21 I mean, it's just not tenable.

8:23 Now, that said, Brian, I'm not going to give up.

8:25 No one can give up.

8:26 We can't let the courts off the hook.

8:27 We cannot We have to keep litigating because we can win cases even

8:32 in the face of this, but it is it is impossible to reconcile these standards.

8:37 I'm glad that you mentioned that we shouldn't give up because,

8:40 you know, I think from my vantage,

8:42 it's hard to sit here and recognize this asymmetry

8:45 and think that we can just continue operating business as usual

8:50 when the court has one set of rules for Democrats

8:52 and a completely different set of rules for Republicans.

8:55 And so, kind of to that end,

8:58 what should Democrats be doing right now recognizing that that asymmetry exists?

9:02 I know that from the legal perspective,

9:04 from from a lawyer's a lawyer's perspective,

9:07 you got to get in there and continue to fight.

9:09 And I know that, you know, you and I have spoken at length about the fact

9:12 that there have been a number of cases that you've

9:14 won that I think largely the the Democrats have

9:18 written off or the left more broadly had written off,

9:20 and yet you went in there, you fought, and you won.

9:23 And and so, I get that that's our only option right now.

9:26 But but beyond beyond from what you can do litigating in court,

9:31 what should the Democratic Party be doing right now in light of kind

9:34 of this this cavalcade of maps being redrawn

9:38 in Tennessee and South Carolina and Alabama and Louisiana.

9:42 And of course we we already have Texas

9:44 and North Carolina and Missouri and and Florida and Ohio.

9:48 And so what should we be doing right now more broadly to confront this issue?

9:53 Yeah, so I think we have to look at this in the short term and the long term.

9:57 In the immediate term, we just have to fight it everywhere we can.

10:00 I mean, you know, to quote Hakeem Jeffries, you know,

10:03 it has to be maximum war warfare all the time everywhere, right?

10:06 Like like we just have to be willing to push as hard as we can, you know?

10:11 And then that and that means pushing pushing elected

10:14 Democrats in the states in Maryland and elsewhere like,

10:18 you know, to to try to match if there is still time.

10:21 And and in many of the states we are either

10:23 running out of time or we've run out of time.

10:24 So we have to we have to be willing in the short term to to do that.

10:27 We also have to organize, we have to educate our voters,

10:29 we have to we have to get ourselves ready for what's

10:32 going to probably be a rocky uh election not because Democrats

10:36 don't have the votes but because Republicans are trying to make

10:38 it harder for you to vote and easier for them to cheat.

10:41 And so that's part of it.

10:42 But the second part and everybody's got to pay attention

10:44 to this because this is probably the more important thing.

10:47 Is we need to get ready to have power.

10:52 And when Democrats have power, they have to be willing to wield it.

10:55 And not wield it in like a let's go back to the days of Merrick Garland.

10:59 Not wield it in a like I have

11:02 nostalgia for what it was like before Donald Trump.

11:05 So let's try to restore that.

11:06 Let's try to rebuild the Department of Justice into what

11:09 it was or the civil service like not that.

11:12 We have to have a forward-looking agenda.

11:14 And Brian, this is why I was so proud when you asked me to write the forward

11:19 to your new book because Brian has

11:21 a book coming out that actually does just this.

11:24 He talks about what it is that Democrats need to do when they are in charge.

11:30 And so I need everyone right now to pre-order the book.

11:34 It's not yet out.

11:34 I've had the pleasure of reading it.

11:37 And it's going to be really a seminal and important work in this debate.

11:41 And it's going to be a debate because

11:43 there are going to be those voices that say, "Well, don't push too hard.

11:48 We're better than that.

11:49 We just need to go back and restore the dignity and the honor

11:54 of the way in which things went

11:56 on before." And Brian takes that head-on and says, "No, we need to be bigger.

12:00 We need to be bolder." And Brian, that is what I think we need to do.

12:04 I appreciate that, and I'm going to put the link to to pre-order my new book,

12:08 The Day After, right here on the screen.

12:10 I'm also again going to put the link

12:11 to Democracy Docket right here on the screen.

12:13 This is the kind of work that we need to support.

12:15 Mark's voice is the kind we need to elevate.

12:17 We need to put fighters front and center in this fight

12:21 as we continue to move forward because as Mark said,

12:23 there are going to be people who want to kind

12:25 of revert to the to the Merrick Garland mentality of, "Okay,

12:28 now we can go back to politics being

12:30 boring." But politics is not going to be boring.

12:32 And regardless of what we do,

12:34 Republicans are going to push to undermine the Voting

12:38 Rights Act even if it takes them 60 years.

12:40 Just like they pushed to undermine Roe even though it took them 50 years.

12:44 They have these long-term projects.

12:46 They will execute them regardless of how long it

12:48 takes and regardless of whether we're fighting back or not.

12:51 So, we need to to impose maximum warfare.

12:55 And that starts in large part with making

12:56 sure that we have the opportunity to have

12:59 a majority in the House despite Republicans engineering themselves

13:02 majorities in the House and states across the country.

13:04 So, I'm going to put the link to Democracy Docket right here on the screen.

13:07 I'll also put the link to The Day After right here on the screen.

13:10 If you haven't yet clicked on both of those links,

13:12 please take the opportunity to do so.

13:14 I'm Brian Tyler Cohen.

13:15 I'm Mark Elias.

13:16 This is Democracy Watch.

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