The Roberts Court, The Shadow Docket, and the Unraveling of Voting Rights Remedies
Director of the Human Rights, Civil Rights, and Citizenship Program at the Constitutional Accountability Center (CAC)
Read the Issue Brief“In a string of unsigned, unexplained orders this summer, the Supreme Court has demonstrated that it will not protect the right to vote during an election year, despite the obvious truth that there is no time when the right to vote is more dear than when it is about to be exercised,” explains a new ACS Issue Brief by David Gans, Director of the Human Rights, Civil Rights, and Citizenship Program at the Constitutional Accountability Center.
In this Issue Brief, Gans highlights the need to reconsider the Purcell principle, a judicial doctrine created by the Roberts Court to close the courthouse doors on voters seeking to vindicate their constitutional rights as an election approaches. Gans examines the pre-Purcell jurisprudential landscape, the ways in which the Purcell principle’s application is irreconcilable with equity’s flexible nature, and outlines a fundamental flaw in the Court’s invention and application of the Purcell principle. Gans concludes, “the Roberts Court is sending the message that it will not be on the side of protecting the right to vote and safeguarding our democracy. Purcell erodes our democracy and should be reconsidered.”