Publishers Weekly
06/17/2024
The Supreme Court has been undermining voting rights for 50 years, according to this full-throated critique. Legal scholar Douglas (Vote for US) not only covers major turning points like Shelby v. Holder, the 2013 case in which the court overruled the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, which in 2010 opened the floodgates of corporate money in U.S. elections; he also digs into more minor cases to show how they have been fashioned by conservative justices into the building blocks of what he suggests is the court’s explicit project to curtail voting rights, especially under Chief Justice John Roberts. Such cases include one concerned with who can run on a presidential ballot as an independent, and another focused on when write-in votes can be made. In these cases, Douglas characterizes Roberts as a crafty jurist consciously planting the seeds that will undermine voting rights in future cases by adding “dicta,” or items not central to the decision, and constructing opinions with a feigned narrowness (like in Northwest Austin Municipal Utility District No. 1 v. Holder, a precursor to Shelby) that he later uses to argue for substantive changes in the law. This granular analysis, though somewhat speculative since it relies on reading between the lines, adds up to a shockingly convincing explanation of the court’s motives. Douglas brings the receipts. (May)
From the Publisher
A solid argument for judicial reform—and if not that, bypassing the Supreme Court whenever possible.”
—Kirkus Reviews
“[A] full-throated critique . . . This granular analysis, though somewhat speculative since it relies on reading between the lines, adds up to a shockingly convincing explanation of the Court’s motives. Douglas brings the receipts.”
—Publishers Weekly
“In this incisive, eloquent, and important book, Joshua Douglas has the receipts—and a warning about what the Court might do to us next.”
—Adam Cohen, author of Supreme Inequality
“An important guide for all who want to protect and advance American democracy.”
—E. J. Dionne Jr., author of Why Americans Hate Politics
“The crucial and compelling story of how the most undemocratic branch of the US government has been chipping away at voting rights protections and election law fairness.”
—Jennifer Frost, author of “Let Us Vote!”
“Saving our democracy requires taking the lessons of this book, and its recommendations, very seriously.”
—Erwin Chemerinsky, dean and Jesse H. Choper Distinguished Professor of Law, University of California, Berkeley School of Law
“A readable field guide to Citizens United, Bush v. Gore, and other notorious election cases that is sure to edify and disturb the curious reader.”
—Richard L. Hasen, author of A Real Right to Vote
“Douglas expertly explains and demystifies urgent topics all Americans need to know and understand: how the Supreme Court spent decades chip¬ping away at voting rights, and what our country can do now to repair the damage.”
—Erin Geiger Smith, author of Thank You for Voting
“These cases are necessary for understanding where we are, and Doug¬las has offered clarifying explanations of their continued relevance to our country’s modern struggles.”
—Jessica Huseman, editorial director of Votebeat
“The Court v. The Voters is required reading for anyone concerned about the future of American democracy. Douglas removes legalese, uses compelling and accessible human stories, and connects the dots to show how an activist US Supreme Court is complicit in dismantling democracy by making up new rules that allow politicians to entrench themselves and suppress the voices of voters.”
—Spencer Overton, author of Stealing Democracy: The New Politics of Voter Suppression
“Citizens who want to understand the constitutional rules around voting often feel like people entering a play halfway through—the main players throw around case names and doctrines that are unfamiliar and confusing, and ordinary readers get the message that they are outsiders at their own elections. Joshua Douglas, who has devoted his career to understanding election law—and reforming it so that all Americans can vote—here untangles the plot of the play and explains in clear, nontechnical language how we got to the present mess and how We the People can get out of it.”
—Garrett Epps, author of American Epic: Reading the U.S. Constitution
“Most people who care about our democracy are not scholars or legal experts. That is why this work by Joshua Douglas is so pivotal. He writes in a way that allows anyone to digest the sometimes complex and confusing interplay between the legal and political worlds. This work allows us to easily follow along as Joshua makes a compelling argument that forces us to pay closer attention to the courts and understand its impact on our democracy.”
—Desmond Meade, author of Let My People Vote
“In this thought-provoking and timely book, Joshua Douglas examines how the Supreme Court’s anti-democratic rulings over the past fifty years created a broken electoral system that helped lay the foundation for our current political woes. By profiling the seminal election law cases that demonstrate the Court’s complicity in our decline, this book is a must-read for all who worry about the future of American democracy.”
—Franita Tolson, interim dean, USC Gould School of Law
