Democracy on Trial: Moore v. Harper and the Independent State Legislature Theory

Join Election Law Professor David Schultz and the American Constitution Society for a discussion and Q&A on the pending Supreme Court case Moore v. Harper.

With oral argument set for next month, Moore v. Harper brings the once-fringe independent state legislature theory front and center. Independent state legislature theory implicates two constitutional provisions – pushing a narrow reading of the word “legislature” that would allocate exclusive and near absolute power to state legislatures to regulate federal elections.

ABOUT OUR SPEAKER:
David Schultz is a Distinguished University Professor in the Departments of Political Science, Environmental Studies, and Legal Studies at Hamline University. He is also a professor of Law at the University of Minnesota and at the University of St. Thomas. A three-time Fulbright scholar who has taught extensively in Europe and Asia, and the winner of the Leslie A. Whittington national award for excellence in public affairs teaching, David is the author of more than 45 books and 200+ articles on various aspects of American politics, election law, and the media and politics, and he is regularly interviewed and quoted in the local, national, and international media on these subjects including the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, the Economist, and National Public Radio. His most recent books are Constitutional Precedent in US Supreme Court Reasoning (2022), Handbook of Election Law (2022), and Presidential Swing States (2022). Prior to teaching, Professor Schultz served as a city director of planning, zoning, and code enforcement, and as a housing and economic planner for a community action agency. David is on the ACS Minnesota Advisory Board and is the former executive director of Common Cause Minnesota and a former vice president for the Minnesota and South Texas chapters of the American Civil Liberties Union. He is licensed to practice law in Minnesota and before the US Supreme Court.