MAGA Judges On: Voting Rights

Even before the MAGA justices joined the Supreme Court, the Roberts Court has long been hostile towards voting rights. In 2013, the Court in Shelby County v. Holder gutted the Voting Rights Act of 1965, making it easier for states to engage in voter suppression. Unfortunately with the addition of the MAGA justices, the anti-voting rights bloc of the Supreme Court has only been further entrenched. In 2021’s Brnovich v. Democratic National Committee, the Court further decimated the Voting Rights Act opening the floodgates for even more voter suppression in this country. 

Judges who have made radical statements and issued harmful decisions, like those featured below, cannot be trusted to rule with the best interests of the public in mind. The public agrees–over 70 percent of Americans across the political spectrum believe judges and justices have too much power over our laws and regulations. This power allows rogue judges to enact policies through the courts that would never pass through other legislative means. 

This is not how our democracy is meant to function–we need more fair-minded judges on the courts who will rule to protect our rights and freedoms, not eliminate them. 

Justice Brett Kavanaugh – Supreme Court

• While serving on the D.C. Circuit, he authored an opinion upholding South Carolina’s voter ID law. Since joining the Court, he joined the majority opinions in both Brnovich and Rucho v. Common Cause.

Justice Neil Gorsuch – Supreme Court

• Gorsuch has long been open to the idea of the Independent State Legislature Theory, including joining a Thomas dissent which called it “an exceptionally important and recurring question of constitutional law.” Under this theory, state legislatures could interfere in state and federal elections, no matter if they violated a state’s law or even its constitution. This was too extreme even for Chief Justice Roberts and Justices Barrett and Kavanaugh, who joined the 6-3 majority ruling against this extreme theory in Moore v. Harper. 

Judge Andrew Oldham – Fifth Circuit 

• As Deputy Solicitor General in Texas, Oldham defended the use of photo ID laws in an amicus brief submitted in Shelby County.

Judge Eric Murphy  – Sixth Circuit

• While serving as the State Solicitor of Ohio, he defended Ohio’s voter purge law before the Court in Husted v. A. Philip Randolph Institute.

Judge Andrew Brasher – Eleventh Circuit

• As Alabama’s Solicitor General, Brasher worked on numerous cases to restrict voting rights, including an amicus in Shelby County.

These statements show a clear bias against voting rights, which is one of our most fundamental rights as Americans. Sadly, these attacks on voting rights will likely only continue until the Voting Rights Act is a mere shell of its initial form.

American law is being distorted due to blatant activists like these on the bench. The public deserves a fair-minded judiciary that is in step with its values, not one that seeks to force a far-right ideology on the entire country.