On May 8, fifteen states filed an amicus brief in the U.S. Supreme Court in Libby v Fecteau, 24A1051. This is the case filed by a Maine legislator to restore her right to vote on bills on the floor of the State House of Representatives. The states are Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Montana, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia.

The brief argues that the doctrine of legislative immunity does not apply because depriving a member of the legislature of her ability to vote on bills is not a normal legislative function. The brief refers to the 1920 instance when the New York legislature expelled all elected Socialist Party members. It quotes Charles Evans Hughes as saying that action was wrong. Hughes was Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, and he had also been the Republican nominee for President in 1916.

On May 8, former U.S. Supreme Court Justice David Souter died. He had written Norman v Reed, the last U.S. Supreme Court opinion that helped ballot access. The 1992 decision interpreted several Illinois ballot access laws in a favorable manner, and was a victory for the Harold Washington Party in its battle to appear on the Cook County ballot for county office. On the other hand, a few months later, Souter voted to uphold Hawaii’s ban on write-in votes.

On May 4, proponents of one particular Florida initiative filed a federal lawsuit to overturn new restrictions on petitioning for Florida initiatives. Florida Decides Healthcare v Byrd, n.d., 4:25cv-211. The lawsuit was filed only two days after the new restrictions, included in House Bill 1205, had been signed into law. Here is the Complaint. Page 21 and the following pages list the challenged restrictions. The first part of the Complaint as a history of previous attempts by the Florida legislature to make it difficult to qualify initiatives.

Among the challenged restrictions is the ban on out-of-state circulators. The case also challenges the fact that the new law goes into effect in the middle of the initiative drive. The case is assigned to U.S. District Court Judge Mark E. Walker, an Obama appointee.