How SCOTUS is Slanting the Midterms

How SCOTUS is Slanting the Midterms

From Talking Feds by Harry Litman

May 21, 2026 · 37 min

About this episode

Harry discusses the implications of recent Supreme Court decisions on voting rights with expert Rick Hasen.

Harry talks with Rick Hasen, one of the country’s leading experts in election law and a prophet of Chief Justice John Roberts’s decades-long project to tear down voting rights. Hasen explains why Roberts—after taking a slow and steady approach for so long—is suddenly masterminding an aggressive “two minute offense.” Hasen lays out the damage dealt to American democracy by the decision, the prospects for court reform, and the signals that Roberts knows time is running out for him and the conservative dominance of the Supreme Court. Mentioned in this episode: Professor Hasen’s analysis: https://slate.com/author/richard-l-hasen Professor Hasen’s 2013 New York Times piece: https://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/26/opinion/the-chief-justices-long-game.htmlHarry’s column about the history behind the Callais decision: https://harrylitman.substack.com/p/callais-caps-the-roberts-courts-comprehensive Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

People in this episode

Host: Harry Litman

Guest: Rick Hasen

Topics covered

  • election law
  • voting rights
  • Supreme Court
  • American democracy
  • court reform

Keywords

  • SCOTUS
  • midterms
  • voting rights
  • election law
  • court reform
  • Chief Justice Roberts

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Slate, New York Times

Books & works: Callais decision

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