By Michael Weingartner.
In Moore v. Harper, the Supreme court rejected the most extreme version of the Independent State Legislature Theory, which would have insulated state election laws from state courts and state constitutions, but left open a path for federal courts to second-guess state courts in election cases to ensure that they stay within “the ordinary bounds of judicial review” and do not “arrogate to themselves” lawmaking power from state legislatures. Drawing on analogous areas of law in which federal courts may review state court determinations of state law, this Article examines the questions left open in Moore and offers a framework for when and how federal courts should independently review state court election law decisions. Full Article.