Aziz Huq Writes About Moore v Harper
American Democracy Is Under Threat—Again
For the second time in just over a month, American democracy is at the barrel of a gun. And for the second time, we may get lucky and dodge the bullet. The question we need to ask now is why the gun’s still hanging around, threatening to be fired again.
The first time, it was a worry about efforts to deny, perhaps violently, the midterms’ outcomes after a drumbeat of threats against election officials. This time around it’s an effort to use the Supreme Court to inject uncertainty, instability, and perhaps worse chicanery into federal elections.
At the oral hearing in the case of Moore v. Harper on Wednesday, it seemed that a majority of the Court is likely unwilling to embrace this effort. But the very fact it’s being heard—and that three supposedly originalist Justices—Alito, Thomas, and Gorsuch—are apparently raring to embrace a claim that advances the Republican cause while flouting their core judicial philosophy—should give us serious pause: A bullet dodged today doesn’t mean the gun was holstered.
Read more at Time