Obama says ‘fringe’ theory rejected by Supreme Court threatened to ‘upend our democracy’

Former President Obama said the Supreme Court’s rejection of the “fringe” independent state legislatures theory Tuesday protects the country from a threat to “upend our democracy.”

The court ruled 6-3 against an effort by North Carolina Republican lawmakers to declare that courts did not have the authority to block congressional maps put forward by state legislatures. The lawmakers argued that the U.S. Constitution gave the authority to regulate federal elections in state legislatures exclusively, so courts could not strike down the map that the North Carolina Legislature approved. 

But Chief Justice John Roberts disagreed, writing for the majority that the Constitution’s Elections Clause does not “insulate state legislatures from the ordinary exercise of state judicial review.” 

Obama praised the ruling and warned of the consequences if it had gone the other way in a pair of tweets. 

“Today, the Supreme Court rejected the fringe independent state legislature theory that threatened to upend our democracy and dismantle our system of checks and balances,” he wrote. “This ruling rejects the far-right theory that threatened to undermine our democracy, and makes clear that courts can continue defending voters’ rights—in North Carolina and in every state.”

The Biden administration opposed the effort to declare that courts had no authority to review the maps, arguing it would “wreak havoc” on administering elections across the country. 

Roberts wrote that courts must still review legislatures’ actions within the “ordinary bounds” of judicial review. 

Justice Clarence Thomas dissented from the majority, arguing that the case should have been declared moot. 

Republicans retook control of the North Carolina Supreme Court and reversed the court’s decision throwing out the map, raising the possibility that the court could pass on ruling on the merits of the case. 

Justice Neil Gorsuch joined Thomas’s dissent, and Justice Samuel Alito joined in part.