Justin Levitt
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View article: Nonsensus: Pretext and the Decennial Enumeration
Nonsensus: Pretext and the Decennial Enumeration Open
It is impossible to overstate the importance of the Census. The obligation to conduct a decennial enumeration of the population appears in the sixth sentence of the Constitution, as the very first duty given to the new federal government: …
View article: Citizenship and the Census
Citizenship and the Census Open
On March 26, 2018, Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross determined that the federal government would use the 2020 decennial Census to ask every person in the country about their citizenship status. The decision was enormously controversial. T…
View article: Intent Is Enough: Invidious Partisanship in Redistricting
Intent Is Enough: Invidious Partisanship in Redistricting Open
When the Supreme Court last seriously grappled with partisan gerrymandering, all nine Justices concluded that an excessive injection of politics in the redistricting process violates the Constitution, but failed to agree on what is excessi…
View article: Amicus Brief of Civil Rights Organizations (NAACP LDF, et al.) in Whitford v. Gill
Amicus Brief of Civil Rights Organizations (NAACP LDF, et al.) in Whitford v. Gill Open
Courts have long noted that “elected officials engaged in the single-minded pursuit of incumbency can run roughshod over the rights of protected minorities.” The same is true with respect to the pursuit of partisan advantage. Both Democrat…
View article: The Impact of GOTV Depends Upon Campaign Context: A Field Experiment in the 2014 California Primary
The Impact of GOTV Depends Upon Campaign Context: A Field Experiment in the 2014 California Primary Open
Millions of California voters regularly turn out in November but abstain from primary elections.A randomized Get Out the Vote experiment conducted in the state’s 2014 primary contestshows that this dormant electorate can be mobilized if ca…
View article: Race, Redistricting, and the Manufactured Conundrum
Race, Redistricting, and the Manufactured Conundrum Open
Race and redistricting each lie at the core of recurring contests over American political identity. It is therefore perhaps no surprise that cases concerning the role of race in redistricting have offered the Supreme Court a steady diet. I…
View article: Introducing "Clustering:" Redistricting in Geographic Perspective
Introducing "Clustering:" Redistricting in Geographic Perspective Open
Previous research in redistricting has treated geography and institutions as two separate, disconnected questions. Geographic variation in partisanship and race has mostly been treated as a structural question best suited for long-term, bi…
View article: Quick and Dirty: The New Misreading of the Voting Rights Act
Quick and Dirty: The New Misreading of the Voting Rights Act Open
The role of race in the apportionment of political power is one of the thorniest problems at the heart of American democracy, and reappears with dogged consistency on the docket of the Supreme Court. Most recently, the Court resolved a cas…
View article: Lulac v. Perry : The Frumious Gerry-Mander, Rampant
Lulac v. Perry : The Frumious Gerry-Mander, Rampant Open
Election law is the infrastructure of representative democracy, and hence the basis for most other law. In this most fundamental of fields, this is the story of the case with everything. Absconding officials. Abuses of power. Ethical malfe…