Justice Kagan Says Supreme Court Voting and Election Rulings Have Deepened Polarization

Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan said Tuesday that the court's conservative majority has made the country more polarized and less democratic through its voting and elections rulings, about two weeks before the Nov. 3 midterm elections. Speaking at Catholic University's law school in Washington, Kagan, who dissented in the cases, criticized decisions on partisan gerrymandering, the Voting Rights Act and campaign finance. She cited the 2019 ruling that federal courts cannot limit extreme partisan gerrymandering, and a ruling this year that led Republican-led states to eliminate majority Black districts. She added that the court has repeatedly struck down campaign finance limits, most recently in June. Several states have redrawn congressional maps before the election.

Right-leaning outlets had not reported the story at the time of writing; left-leaning and alternative/independent outlets had. Alternative sources (AP, Reuters) lead with Kagan's warning about polarization and democracy, and Reuters stresses her view that map drawing has become a downward competition. Left sources (NYT, NBC) tie her remarks to the midterms, and NBC details the rulings and quotes her saying the court ignored the consequences.