ACS Chicago: Civil Disagreements: Independent State Legislature Theory

The U.S. Supreme Court is poised to decide the monumental voting rights case Moore v. Harper. The case concerns a legal doctrine known as the independent state legislature, which asserts that state legislatures have exclusive power--not subject to federal or state courts--to govern all aspects of elections, electors, and voting registration and procedures. The theory is rooted in the Elections and Electors Clauses of the U.S. Constitution. It first appeared in legal arguments during the 2000 Presidential Election, when votes in Florida were in dispute. In the current case, it's about Congressional redistricting following the 2020 Census. 

Join us for a lively discussion about the independent state legislature theory and its discontents, debated by Harvard Law School Professor Nick Stephanopolous and University of California Berkeley Law Professor John Yoo. The conversation moderator will be Reform for Illinois board member David Melton.

This is the third in a series of moderated debates on current, critical, and often, contentious, civic questions sponsored by the American Bar Association's Division for Public Education, the American Constitution Society (Chicago chapter), the Federalist Society (Chicago chapter), and Reform for Illinois.

Programs begin with a question, followed by a parliamentary-style (opening statements, rebuttals) debate in response to the question. Programs conclude with a moderated discussion among debaters and Q&A from the audience.

Register here.