Supreme Court social-distances from coronavirus decisions (cnn)
Washington (CNN)The US Supreme Court continues to send a clear message when it comes to emergency requests to block or change state actions and regulations tied to Covid-19: not interested.
Whether it's voting access, attendance limits on churches or prison crowding, the court -- steered by Chief Justice John Roberts -- is not yet stepping in to second-guess state or local officials.
The current track could make it harder for Republicans and President Donald Trump to stop states from expanding absentee voting in blue states and could hurt Democrats and liberals in red states who want to loosen voting restrictions due to coronavirus.
So far, however, the pattern has mainly benefited GOP interests and generally limited voting access. But on Thursday, the justices again backed a state's position when they sided with Rhode Island to turn away a Republican attempt to block an agreement to no longer require two signatures to vote absentee. It's the first time the court came down on the side of expanding voting access after several rulings going the other way in GOP-controlled states like Alabama, Idaho, Texas and Wisconsin.
- Log in to post comments
Source