Brian Fitzpatrick Makes the Case for Callais

There appears to be an academic consensus that the Supreme Court’s decision in Louisiana in Callais is incorrect. But does this tell us more about the decision or about the legal academy? Brian Fitzpatrick raises this question in a SCOTUSBlog essay “The Case for Callais.”

Fitzpatrick’s essay begins:

This publication has been inundated with essays by academics critical of Louisiana v. Callais, but has not published a single one in defense of it. So I decided to take it on in my column. After all, I am pretty sure Justice Antonin Scalia would have approved of the decision.

As you will see, I didn’t find the assignment particularly difficult. Which raises a question: why has no one else been willing to defend a 6-3 decision of the Supreme Court?

The essay is short, and you should read the whole thing.