WASHINGTON: An Indian-American attorney is being hailed as a “national hero” and a “true patriot” after successfully arguing a case before the Supreme Court that legal experts say is possibly the most important constitutional case in US history.
US-born Neal Katyal, representing the watchdog group Common Cause, won a 6-3 judgment from the Supreme Court on Monday rejecting the primacy of state legislatures over courts to set election rules, a fringe legal theory promoted by pro-Trump conservatives in a cynical powergrab effort.
The court’s decision in Moore v. Harper case shut down what was emerging as a radical overhaul of America’s election laws, empowering state legislatures to set rules for federal elections, with little oversight.
The so-called Independent State Legislature theory, advanced by the Republican-dominated North Carolina state legislature, was rebuffed by three liberal justices joined by three conservatives, who ruled that the US Constitution does not insulate state legislative actions from review by the state courts, and its power is constrained by the federal and state constitutions.
America’s top legal and constitutional scholars held their breath as the ruling came, with even former President Barack Obama, a legal scholar himself, exulting over the decision.
“Today, the Supreme Court rejected the fringe independent state legislature theory that threatened to upend our democracy and dismantle our system of checks and balances.
This ruling rejects the far-right theory that threatened to undermine our democracy, and makes clear that courts can continue defending voters’ rights—in North Carolina and in every state,” Obama tweeted.
Accolades rolled in for Katyal, 53, who is said to have argued more cases before the US Supreme Court (around 50) than any minority attorney, breaking a record held by the legendary Thurgood Marshall.
“Thank you to two great Americans & magnificent legal minds ?@neal_katyal and ?@judgeluttig #SupremeCourt #USAWins,” the activist actress Mia Farrow tweeted as America’s liberals and moderates celebrated the ruling. Judge Luttig, a distinguished jurist who was also associated with fight, called it the “single most important constitutional case for American Democracy since the Nation’s Founding almost 250 years ago.” He later said Katyal made “the single best oral argument I have ever heard made before the Supreme Court of the United States. He was masterful!”
Son of immigrants from India — his mother is a pediatrician , and his father, an engineer — Katyal went to Dartmouth College and earned his law degree at Yale, where he studied under Akhil Amar, another distinguished US constitutional scholar of Indian origin. He is currently a partner at the law firm Hogan Lovells and teaches National Security Law at Georgetown University Law Center, where he is one of the youngest professors to have received tenure and a chaired professorship in the university’s history. He has also served as a visiting professor at both Harvard and Yale law schools.
Another unusual achievement in his CV; he has cameo appearances in Netflix’s House of Cards and Showtime’s Billions (he played himself in both series), in addition to a few other acting credits.
He is also a frequent guest and commentator on the liberal MSNBC, where an excited anchor told him he would have given him a standing ovation for his legal victory but for the fact he is tangled in wires.
US-born Neal Katyal, representing the watchdog group Common Cause, won a 6-3 judgment from the Supreme Court on Monday rejecting the primacy of state legislatures over courts to set election rules, a fringe legal theory promoted by pro-Trump conservatives in a cynical powergrab effort.
The court’s decision in Moore v. Harper case shut down what was emerging as a radical overhaul of America’s election laws, empowering state legislatures to set rules for federal elections, with little oversight.
The so-called Independent State Legislature theory, advanced by the Republican-dominated North Carolina state legislature, was rebuffed by three liberal justices joined by three conservatives, who ruled that the US Constitution does not insulate state legislative actions from review by the state courts, and its power is constrained by the federal and state constitutions.
America’s top legal and constitutional scholars held their breath as the ruling came, with even former President Barack Obama, a legal scholar himself, exulting over the decision.
“Today, the Supreme Court rejected the fringe independent state legislature theory that threatened to upend our democracy and dismantle our system of checks and balances.
This ruling rejects the far-right theory that threatened to undermine our democracy, and makes clear that courts can continue defending voters’ rights—in North Carolina and in every state,” Obama tweeted.
Accolades rolled in for Katyal, 53, who is said to have argued more cases before the US Supreme Court (around 50) than any minority attorney, breaking a record held by the legendary Thurgood Marshall.
“Thank you to two great Americans & magnificent legal minds ?@neal_katyal and ?@judgeluttig #SupremeCourt #USAWins,” the activist actress Mia Farrow tweeted as America’s liberals and moderates celebrated the ruling. Judge Luttig, a distinguished jurist who was also associated with fight, called it the “single most important constitutional case for American Democracy since the Nation’s Founding almost 250 years ago.” He later said Katyal made “the single best oral argument I have ever heard made before the Supreme Court of the United States. He was masterful!”
Son of immigrants from India — his mother is a pediatrician , and his father, an engineer — Katyal went to Dartmouth College and earned his law degree at Yale, where he studied under Akhil Amar, another distinguished US constitutional scholar of Indian origin. He is currently a partner at the law firm Hogan Lovells and teaches National Security Law at Georgetown University Law Center, where he is one of the youngest professors to have received tenure and a chaired professorship in the university’s history. He has also served as a visiting professor at both Harvard and Yale law schools.
Another unusual achievement in his CV; he has cameo appearances in Netflix’s House of Cards and Showtime’s Billions (he played himself in both series), in addition to a few other acting credits.
He is also a frequent guest and commentator on the liberal MSNBC, where an excited anchor told him he would have given him a standing ovation for his legal victory but for the fact he is tangled in wires.
