[EL] Supreme Court reinstated ban on curbside voting in Alabama: 20A67, Merrill v. People First

[Mark Scarberry]

The order and dissent:

https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/20pdf/20a67_3e04.pdf

Mark S. Scarberry
Professor of Law
Pepperdine University
Rick J. Caruso School of Law
________________________________
From: Law-election <law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu> on behalf of Marty Lederman <Martin.Lederman at law.georgetown.edu>
Sent: Wednesday, October 21, 2020 6:02:32 PM
To: Vladeck, Stephen I <SVladeck at law.utexas.edu>
Cc: Rick Hasen <hasenr at gmail.com>; Election Law Listserv <law-election at uci.edu>
Subject: Re: [EL] Supreme Court reinstated ban on curbside voting in Alabama: 20A67, Merrill v. People First

In this case, I, for one, am thankful for the absence of an explanation, because whatever it is, it would set very troubling precedent.

If they stayed this, surely the result will be the same in Wisconsin (any day now) and North Carolina, where the effect on voting is more modest and where there are state statutes to which the majority will defer.  I only hope we get those cases over with very soon, not next week, so that voters and election workers are fully aware of the operative rules of the road and there's less chance of a decree close to or after 11/03 that certain submitted ballots not be counted.

On Wed, Oct 21, 2020 at 8:54 PM Vladeck, Stephen I <SVladeck at law.utexas.edu<mailto:SVladeck at law.utexas.edu>> wrote:

I’d just add the utter irresponsibility of providing not even a single sentence of explanation as to why the district court order, which even the Eleventh Circuit refused to stay, meets the criteria for a stay from the Court…



From: Law-election <law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu<mailto:law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu>> On Behalf Of Pamela S Karlan
Sent: Wednesday, October 21, 2020 8:48 PM
To: Rick Hasen <hasenr at gmail.com<mailto:hasenr at gmail.com>>
Cc: Election Law Listserv <law-election at uci.edu<mailto:law-election at uci.edu>>
Subject: [EL] Supreme Court reinstated ban on curbside voting in Alabama: 20A67, Merrill v. People First



5-3, with the expected lineup.  A dissent from Justice Sotomayor that ends with a truly heartbreaking quotation:  “ Plaintiff Howard Porter, Jr., a Black man in his seventies with asthma and Parkinson’s Disease, told the District Court: “ ‘[S]o many of my [ancestors] even died to vote. And while I don’t mind dying to vote, I think we’re past that – we’re past that time.’ ” Id., at *11.”



The total indifference of the Court to citizens’ ability to vote — while the Court does its business remotely — is stunning.

Pamela S. Karlan

Kenneth and Harle Montgomery Professor of Public Interest Law

Co-Director, Stanford Supreme Court Litigation Clinic

Stanford Law School

559  Nathan Abbott Way

Stanford, CA 94305

karlan at stanford.edu<mailto:karlan at stanford.edu>

650.725.4851

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Marty Lederman
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