Supreme Court is 'one of the major impediments' to American democracy: voting law expert

The United States Supreme Court was ripped as a "major impediment" to American democracy by one of America's foremost election law experts.

"In two disturbing rulings closing out the Supreme Court's term, the court's six-justice conservative majority, over the loud protests of its three-liberal minority, has shown itself hostile to American democracy," Prof. Rick Hasen wrote in The New York Times.

"In one case, Brnovich v. Democratic National Committee, the court has weakened the last remaining legal tool for protecting minority voters in federal courts from a new wave of legislation seeking to suppress the vote that is emanating from Republican-controlled states. In the other, Americans for Prosperity v. Bonta, the court has laid the groundwork for lower courts to strike down campaign finance disclosure laws and laws that limit campaign contributions to federal, state and local candidates," he wrote. "The court is putting our democratic form of government at risk not only in these two decisions but in its overall course over the past few decades."

He worried about the impact of the two decisions.

"If you put the Brnovich and Americans for Prosperity cases together, the court is making it easier for states to pass repressive voting laws and easier for undisclosed donors and big money to influence election outcomes," he wrote. "It is too much to ask for the Supreme Court to be the main protector of American democracy. But it should not be too much to ask that the court not be one of the major impediments."

Read the full op-ed.