My latest @npr.org story: After recently weakening the Voting Rights Act, the Supreme Court avoided for now taking up a legal question that may severely limit enforcement of the law's remaining protections for minority voters www.npr.org/2026/05/18/n...

Turtle Mountain v. Howe (whether Section 2 of the VRA can be privately enforced) is vacated and remanded in light of Callais. www.supremecourt.gov/orders/court...

In these personal remarks on my receiving the Shanker Professorship at CWRU Law, I reflect on this moment in American democracy and its place in the cycle of history -- as well as on hope and possibilities. http://atibaellis.com/2026/05/18/cycles-of-history-frustration-and-hope/

I mean this as a sincere yet skeptical question: what “ideas” are not present in legal education because they are stymied by the existence of a diverse student population?

Purr review?

It just hit me that THIS observation from @Torrey Dolan gets at how the S.Ct is making the same anti-democratic maneuver it did in Giles v. Harris over a century ago — and frustrating democratic striving as a result.

A good read for today from @jessicawolfendale.bsky.social

It is a cruel jurisprudence to point to the democratic process as the means for disempowered people to secure their rights, only to turn around and invite states to destroy electoral viability by destroying the Voting Rights Act.

My Choctaw great-grandfather lived through the allotment era, Oklahoma statehood, served in WWI, was alive when the Indian Citizenship Act was passed, was also alive during ratification of the Voting Rights Act and lived through the Moon Landing.

Important and insightful commentary from my friend Atiba this morning.

My commentary on @cnn.com re redistricting post Callais

An “accessory.” Justice Marshall delivered it raw and real.

This "racism is over" rhetoric from the Court to justify striking down or limiting civil rights statutes is something I've thought about and written on in other contexts, but it's important context to understand what happened in Callais yesterday.

Clearly I'm not the only one seeing the "racism is over" rationale in Callais.

This "racism is over" rhetoric from the Court to justify striking down or limiting civil rights statutes is something I've thought about and written on in other contexts, but it's important context to understand what happened in Callais yesterday.

My latest @npr.org story: The Supreme Court has paved the way for the largest-ever drop in representation by Black members of Congress by weakening Voting Rights Act protections against racial discrimination in redistricting www.npr.org/2026/04/30/n...

Watching history repeat itself is indeed disheartening. The Callais decision is going to frustrate American democracy for decades to come. I gave some initial thought about the decision’s meaning in this coverage for NPR. www.npr.org/2026/04/29/n...

the fact of the matter is those amendments write a principle of anti subordination into the constitution and empower congress to do whatever is necessary and proper to uproot subordination and its effects.

I’m out of words today. I’m mostly filled with sadness. The Voting Rights Act was so aspirational and had so much potential it hadn’t yet reached. In 13 years, bipartisan consensus, democratic aspirations, and a hope of multiracial democracy all destroyed by the Roberts’ court.

ICYMI as we wait again for SCOTUS decisions at 10 a.m. ET: The Supreme Court could usher in the largest-ever drop in representation by Black members of Congress, depending on how it rules in Louisiana v. Callais, a closely watched redistricting case about the Voting Rights Act

In light of Callais, let me pass along @jpygold.bsky.social's reshare of our December conversation, which includes our thoughts on the fragility of multiracial democracy in the US, racialized political violence (from my POV), and the stakes of what decisions like today's represent.

BREAKING: The Supreme Court has weakened Voting Rights Act protections against racial discrimination in redistricting www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25p...

NEW: Sen. @durbin.senate.gov leads nine fellow Senate Democrats in proposing an amendment to the Constitution that would enshrine an explicit, individual right to vote www.durbin.senate.gov/imo/media/do...

You’ve been warned, Ohioans

NEW: With no authority under the Constitution to change election rules, President Trump has signed an executive order that calls for restricting voting by mail. The order is expected to be challenged in court www.whitehouse.gov/presidential...

It might not surprise folks to know that legal scholars that are new to the birthright citizenship debate are also new to federal Indian law and are also horrendously bad at it.

Dear registered voters: When was the last time you checked your registration status? Eligible voters can be removed from lists, especially if they have moved, changed their name or haven't voted in a while. You can find the links for checking your status at npr.org/vote

medium.com/center-on-pr... This should be read by every college/university student! It hits on exactly the core point, that students have a right to a deeper, more meaningful education, without genAI shoved down their throats, AND they have the power to demand it. 💯

As a scholar of how voter fraud rhetoric distorts the working of democracy, I'm neither shocked nor surprised when anti-voter fraud denier activists get caught. Sure, they see themselves as stress testing the voting process but they end up proving the exact opposite of the point they seek to make.

ICYMI: If the Supreme Court weakens Voting Rights Act protections against racial discrimination in redistricting, it could usher in the largest-ever drop in representation by Black members of Congress www.npr.org/2026/01/08/n...

NEW: The Supreme Court is set to discuss on March 27 whether to review an 8th Circuit panel's ruling that found private individuals and groups in seven states have no right to sue to enforce the Voting Rights Act’s Section 208 protections for voters with a disability or limited language proficiency

Yes! And, let me read the entire effin article BEFORE you ask me (1) for a subscription, (2) to like, (3) to comment, and/or (4) to share it with my friends! If it's that good, I'll any or all all of the above WITHOUT your prompting. So JUST. LET. ME. READ. IT.

THIS is the Bad Place!

ICYMI: If the Supreme Court weakens Voting Rights Act protections against racial discrimination in redistricting, it could usher in the largest-ever drop in representation by Black members of Congress

Already registered to vote? You sure? Eligible voters can be removed from lists if they have moved, changed their name or haven't voted in a while. You can find the links for checking your status, plus registration deadlines for the state- and territory-wide primary elections, at npr.org/vote

Ain't that the truth! And let's start with an Amendment XVIII, a comprehensive, anti-voter suppression, affirmative right to vote.

Eligible voters of North Carolina! Voter registration for this year's statewide primary election ends 3 p.m. ET Saturday at early voting sites, where you can register and cast a ballot on the same day. You can find the links you need to register and check your registration status at npr.org/vote

Don't look at the Court's correct ruling on tariffs and what I anticipate to be a correct striking down of the birthright citizenship executive order as evidence of a moderate Supreme Court. The Justice have done, and continue to do, lots of mischief, including accreting more power for themselves.

BREAKING: The Department of Education has ended its directive that attempted to restrict diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts in schools nationwide. This is a victory for academic freedom and education equity.

Cartoon

Every American over the age of ten knows this is an attempt to suppress voting.

Eligible voters of the United States! The @npr.org voter registration guide has been updated to help get you ready for the 2026 primary elections. You can find deadlines and the links you need to register and check your registration status at npr.org/vote

On Lincoln's birthday, it's useful to remember he believed the primary goal of the American experiment was to guarantee "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" and the best way to achieve that goal was through free and fair elections. It's basically the thesis of the Gettysburg Address. 1/2

The speech is so well known, we often don't absorb its meaning. Lincoln speech opens stating clearly that the Revolution was to preserve equality and ends saying rule of, by, and for the people is what preserves it. See for yourself 2/2 constitutioncenter.org/the-constitu...

Playing the grinch at the 250th. washingtonmonthly.com/2026/02/05/p...

Trump’s proposal for an election takeover is rightly being rejected; I gave comment for this story on the issue: www.news5cleveland.com/news/politic...

BREAKING: The Supreme Court has cleared the way for California to use its new congressional map for this year’s midterm election. Voters approved it as a Democratic counterresponse to Texas’ new map, which could help Republicans win five more U.S. House seats www.documentcloud.org/documents/26...