Justice Elena Kagan accuses Supreme Court’s conservative majority of undermining democracy

Justice Elena Kagan, a member of the Supreme Court's liberal wing, used a Tuesday appearance at Catholic University's law school in Washington to accuse the conservative majority of weakening American democracy. NBC News reports she pointed to decisions on partisan gerrymandering, campaign money and the Voting Rights Act, and said the justices ignored what their rulings would do to the political system.

Kagan said the 2019 decision keeping federal courts out of extreme gerrymandering disputes set off a contest among both parties to draw lopsided maps. Texas started the latest round at the urging of President Donald Trump, and other states, California among them, followed ahead of the Nov. 3 midterms. She argued such maps deny voting equality and push candidates toward the extremes, since only primaries matter. She also criticized a ruling this year that led Republican-run states to dismantle majority Black districts, and the court's repeated rejection of limits on campaign finance.

In a conversation with professor Joel Alicea, Kagan also faulted this year's decision expanding Trump's authority over independent agencies. Still, she rejected the idea that the 6-3 conservative court simply does Trump's bidding, citing cases he lost, including his sweeping tariffs.

Summarized by PolitiKool from NBC News’s reporting. Read the full story at NBC News →