The Political Process

Abstract

Just as politics can be messy, so are these cases. In the two major cases, there are a total of twelve opinions–six in each case–and essentially no majority opinions, except for one portion of the opinion in League of United Latin American Citizens v. Perry. If Chief Justice Roberts is really serious about encouraging the Court to demonstrate more unity in its holdings and to speak "softly and unanimously," he did not succeed in these cases. In my remarks today, I will discuss first the campaign finance cases and then conclude with the redistricting case, focusing mostly on the partisan redistricting aspect of that case, but also providing brief observations on the voting rights aspects.