Prep the rest of Review of State Courts and then Review of Federal Courts of Appeals. Review the Vladeck piece, which provides a nice history of cert before judgment. What does it mean for a case to be "in" the court of appeals for § 1254 purposes.
Read pp. 8-11 in Moore v. Harper. The Court reject the independent state legislature doctrine--the theory that the U.S. Constitution grants state legislatures exclusive and unilateral control over redistricing and selector of presidential elections, unchecked by the state executive or state courts. The case was complicated because the North Carolina Supreme Court first reached the merits and rejected ISL, then (while the case was pending in SCOTUS and after the court's political alignment changed) reconsidered and held that political gerrymandering claims are not justiciable under the state constitution. SCOTUS thus had to consider whether the initial judgment rejecting ISL was final for § 1257. Was the Court right in finding finality? Did it rely on the correct Cox category?
I hope to begin Panel III by sometime Tuesday.
