Brnovich v. Democratic National Committee

Consolidated with:

Arizona Republican Party v. Democratic National Committee

Docket No.	Op. Below	Argument	Opinion	Vote	Author	Term
19-1257	9th Cir.	Mar 2, 2021	Jul 1, 2021	6-3	Alito	OT 2020

Holding: Arizona"s out-of-precinct policy and H.B. 2023 do not violate Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, and H.B. 2023 was not enacted with a racially discriminatory purpose.

Judgment: Reversed and remanded, 6-3, in an opinion by Justice Alito on July 1, 2021. Justice Gorsuch filed a concurring opinion, in which Justice Thomas joined. Justice Kagan filed a dissenting opinion, in which Justices Breyer and Sotomayor joined.

SCOTUSblog Coverage

The Supreme Court gets it right on Section 2 (Hans von Spakovsky, July 7, 2021)
Selective originalism and selective textualism: How the Roberts court decimated the Voting Rights Act (David Gans, July 7, 2021)
Brnovich, election-law tradeoffs, and the limited role of the courts (Derek Muller, July 6, 2021)
One of the oldest problems in America persists: How to protect the voting rights of non-white citizens (Ciara Torres-Spelliscy, July 6, 2021)
Court upholds Arizona voting restrictions, limits cases under Voting Rights Act (Amy Howe, July 1, 2021)
Majority appears poised to uphold Arizona voting rules (Amy Howe, March 2, 2021)
A false choice between state sovereignty and multi-racial democracy (Loren AliKhan and Harrison Stark, February 24, 2021)
The Voting Rights Act isnt a moving target, but the 9th Circuits test would turn it into one (Megan Larrondo and Robert Barry, February 23, 2021)
A partisan battle in an overreach of a case (Richard Hasen, February 22, 2021)
Supreme Court needs to set clear standards for vote-denial claims (Ilya Shapiro and Stacy Hanson, February 19, 2021)
Voting discrimination is getting worse, not better (LaShawn Warren, February 18, 2021)
Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act: Equal opportunity vs. disparate impact (Christopher Kieser, February 17, 2021)
Justices to consider whether Arizonas voting rules discriminate against minorities (Amy Howe, February 16, 2021)
February argument calendar includes immigration, voting-rights cases (Amy Howe, December 31, 2020)
Justices add seven new cases to docket, including major voting-rights dispute (Amy Howe, October 2, 2020)
Petitions of the week (Andrew Hamm, June 5, 2020)

Date	Proceedings and Orders (key to color coding)
04/27/2020	Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due June 1, 2020)
04/30/2020	Blanket Consent filed by Petitioner, Mark Brnovich, et al.
05/20/2020	Motion of respondent Katie Hobbs, Arizona Secretary of State to extend the time to file a response from June 1, 2020 to July 1, 2020, submitted to The Clerk.
05/20/2020	Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is extended to and including July 1, 2020, for all respondents.
05/29/2020	Brief amici curiae of Judicial Watch, Inc. and Allied Educational Foundation filed.
05/29/2020	Brief amici curiae of States of Ohio, et al. filed.
06/01/2020	Brief amicus curiae of Republican State Leadership Committee filed.
06/01/2020	Brief amici curiae of Election Integrity Project California and Arizona filed.
06/01/2020	Brief amicus curiae of Helen Purcell filed.
06/01/2020	Brief amici curiae of Pacific Legal Foundation, Center for Equal Opportunity, and Project 21 filed.
06/01/2020	Brief amicus curiae of American Constitutional Union filed.
06/01/2020	Brief amici curiae of Kentucky Secretary of State Michael Adams, et al. filed.
06/01/2020	Brief amici curiae of Elijah Haahr, et al. filed. VIDED.
06/01/2020	Brief amicus curiae of Honest Elections Project filed.
06/01/2020	Brief amicus curiae of Maricopa County filed.
06/01/2020	Brief amici curiae of Public Interest Legal Foundation et al. filed.
06/01/2020	Brief amici curiae of Governor Douglas A. Ducey, et al. filed. VIDED.
06/01/2020	Brief amici curiae of United States Senators Ted Cruz, Marsha Blackburn, John Cornyn, Tom Cotton, James M. Inhofe, James Lankford, And Mike Lee filed. VIDED.
07/01/2020	Brief of respondent Katie Hobbs, Arizona Secretary of State in opposition filed. VIDED.
07/01/2020	Brief of respondents Democratic National Committee, et al. in opposition filed. VIDED.
07/02/2020	Motion of petitioner to delay distribution of the petition for a writ of certiorari under Rule 15.5 from July 15, 2020 to July 29, 2020, submitted to The Clerk.
07/02/2020	Motion to delay distribution of the petition for a writ certiorari until July 29, 2020, granted.
07/28/2020	Reply of petitioner Mark Brnovich, et al. filed. (Distributed)
07/29/2020	DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 9/29/2020.
10/02/2020	Petition GRANTED. The petition for a writ of certiorari in No. 19-1258 is granted. The cases are consolidated, and a total of one hour is allotted for oral argument. VIDED.
10/02/2020	Because the Court has consolidated these cases for briefing and oral argument, future filings and activity in the cases will now be reflected on the docket of No. 19-1257. Subsequent filings in these cases must therefore be submitted through the electronic filing system in No. 19-1257. Each document submitted in connection with one or more of these cases must include on its cover the case number and caption for each case in which the filing is intended to be submitted. Where a filing is submitted in fewer than all of the cases, the docket entry will reflect the case number(s) in which the filing is submitted; a document filed in all of the consolidated cases will be noted as “VIDED.”
10/26/2020	Blanket Consent filed by Petitioner, Mark Brnovich, et al.
10/28/2020	Blanket Consent filed by Petitioner, Arizona Republican Party, et al.
11/11/2020	Blanket Consent filed by Respondent, Katie Hobbs, Arizona Secretary of State. VIDED.
11/13/2020	Blanket Consent filed by Respondent, Democratic National Committee, et al. VIDED.
11/13/2020	Motion for an extension of time to file the briefs on the merits filed. VIDED.
11/13/2020	Motion to extend the time to file the briefs on the merits granted. The time to file the joint appendix and petitioners' briefs on the merits is extended to and including November 30, 2020. The time to file respondents' briefs on the merits is extended to and including January 13, 2021. VIDED.
11/30/2020	Joint appendix filed. (Statement of cost filed). VIDED.
11/30/2020	Brief of State Petitioners filed. VIDED.
11/30/2020	Brief of Private Petitioners filed. VIDED.
12/03/2020	Brief amici curiae of Election Integrity Project California, et al. filed. VIDED.
12/04/2020	Brief amici curiae of Public Interest Legal Foundation, et al. filed.
12/04/2020	Brief amici curiae of States of Ohio, Alabama, et al. filed. VIDED.
12/04/2020	Brief amici curiae of Pacific Legal Foundation, et al. filed. VIDED.
12/04/2020	Brief amicus curiae of The Cato Institute supporting neither party filed. VIDED.
12/07/2020	Brief amicus curiae of United States filed. VIDED.
12/07/2020	Brief amicus curiae of American Constitutional Rights Union filed. VIDED
12/07/2020	Brief amicus curiae of Liberty Justice Center filed. VIDED.
12/07/2020	Brief amicus curiae of Professor Nicholas Stephanopoulos in support of neither party filed. VIDED.
12/07/2020	Brief amicus curiae of Honest Elections Project filed. VIDED.
12/07/2020	Brief amicus curiae of Republican Governors Public Policy Committee filed. VIDED.
12/07/2020	Brief amicus curiae of Helen Purcell in Support of Petitioners filed. VIDED.
12/07/2020	Brief amici curiae of Governor Douglas A. Ducey, President of the Arizona State Senate Karen Fann, and Speaker of the Arizona House of Representatives Russell Bowers filed. VIDED.
12/07/2020	Brief amici curiae of Legislators Elijah Haahr, et al. in support of neither party filed. VIDED.
12/07/2020	Brief amici curiae of Judicial Watch, Inc. and Allied Educational Foundation filed. VIDED.
12/07/2020	Brief amici curiae of Senator Ted Cruz and Ten Other Members of the United States Senate filed. VIDED.
12/07/2020	Brief amici curiae of Wisconsin Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald and Speaker Robin Vos filed. VIDED
12/07/2020	Brief amicus curiae of Governor Kristi Noem filed. VIDED.
12/31/2020	SET FOR ARGUMENT on Tuesday, March 2, 2021. VIDED.
01/06/2021	Motion for divided argument filed by petitioners. VIDED.
01/13/2021	Brief of respondents Democratic National Committee, et al. filed. VIDED (Distributed)
01/13/2021	Brief of respondent Katie Hobbs, Arizona Secretary of State filed. VIDED. (Distributed)
01/19/2021	Motion for divided argument filed by respondents. VIDED.
01/19/2021	Brief amici curiae of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, et al. filed. VIDED. (Distributed)
01/19/2021	Brief amici curiae of State And Local Election Officials filed. VIDED. (Distributed)
01/19/2021	Brief amicus curiae of Navajo Nation filed. VIDED. (Distributed)
01/19/2021	Brief amicus curiae of Constitutional Accountability Center filed. VIDED. (Distributed)
01/20/2021	Brief amici curiae of Voting Rights Scholars filed. VIDED. (Distributed)
01/20/2021	Brief amicus curiae of National Congress of American Indians filed. VIDED. (Distributed)
01/20/2021	Brief amicus curiae of Campaign Legal Center filed. VIDED. (Distributed)
01/20/2021	Brief amici curiae of District of Columbia, et al., filed. VIDED. (Distributed)
01/20/2021	Brief amici curiae of North Carolina, Memphis, Central Virginia, and Miami-Dade Chapters of the A. Philip Randolf Institute filed. VIDED. (Distributed)
01/20/2021	Brief amici curiae of National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law filed. VIDED. (Distributed)
01/20/2021	Brief amici curiae of Senate Staffers and Other Leading Participants in the 1982 Amendments to the Voting Rights Act filed. VIDED. (Distributed)
01/20/2021	Brief amici curiae of Empirical Elections Scholars filed. VIDED. (Distributed)
01/20/2021	Brief amici curiae of The American Civil Liberties Union and The American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona filed. VIDED. (Distributed)
01/20/2021	Brief amicus curiae of Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law filed. VIDED. (Distributed)
01/20/2021	Brief amicus curiae of Professor Travis Crum filed. VIDED. (Distributed)
01/20/2021	Brief amici curiae of Casper Sleep Inc., et al. filed. VIDED. (Distributed)
01/20/2021	Brief amicus curiae of NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, Inc. filed. VIDED. (Distributed)
01/20/2021	Brief amici curiae of Fair Fight Action, Inc., et al. filed. VIDED. (Distributed)
01/20/2021	Brief amici curiae of Mi Familia Vota, et al. filed. VIDED. (Distributed)
01/22/2021	CIRCULATED
01/25/2021	Motion for divided argument filed by petitioners GRANTED. VIDED.
01/25/2021	Motion for divided argument filed by respondents GRANTED. VIDED.
01/25/2021	Record requested from the U.S.C.A. 9th Circuit.
01/28/2021	Record from the U.S.C.A. 9th Circuit electronic and located on Pacer.
02/12/2021	Reply of petitioners Mark Brnovich, et al. filed. VIDED. (Distributed)
02/12/2021	Reply of petitioners Arizona Republican Party, et al. filed. VIDED. (Distributed)
02/16/2021	Letter from the Acting Solicitor General notifying the Court of the updated position of the United States' from that presented in its amicus curiae brief filed on December 7, 2020 filed. VIDED. (Distributed)
02/24/2021	USDC, D. Ariz. plaintiffs' exhibits electronically received. VIDED.
02/24/2021	USDC, D. of Ariz., defendants' exhibits electronically received. VIDED.
03/02/2021	Argued. For petitioners in 19-1258: Michael A. Carvin, Washington, D. C. For petitioners in 19-1257: Mark Brnovich, Attorney General, Phoenix, Ariz. For respondent Secretary Hobbs: Jessica R. Amunson, Washington, D. C. For respondents DNC, et al.: Bruce V. Spiva, Washington, D. C. VIDED.
07/01/2021	Judgment REVERSED and case REMANDED. Alito, J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which Roberts, C. J., and Thomas, Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, and Barrett, JJ., joined. Gorsuch, J., filed a concurring opinion, in which Thomas, J., joined. Kagan, J., filed a dissenting opinion, in which Breyer and Sotomayor, JJ., joined. VIDED.
08/02/2021	JUDGMENT ISSUED.