The ruling has little bearing on the ongoing fight for D.C. statehood, however, and does not preclude Congress from passing a law that would grant the District a vote in the national legislature.
November 30, 2021
The Supreme Court on Monday affirmed an earlier ruling that D.C. is not constitutionally entitled to voting representation in Congress, deflating hopes among some advocates that they could secure representation for District residents through the courts rather than through legislation, The Washington Post reports.
The Supreme Court issued its decision in a few-sentence order without holding a hearing, citing a previous legal precedent in a 2000 case in which the high court also ruled that D.C. is not entitled to voting representation because it is not a state.
The ruling has little bearing on the ongoing fight for D.C. statehood, however, and does not preclude Congress from passing a law that would grant the District a vote in the national legislature. The ruling only affirms the finding, by a three-judge panel made up of federal judges in D.C., that Congress is not constitutionally required to do so.
“We had good arguments. And the court has stuck to its guns that because you’re not a state, you’re not constitutionally entitled to the vote,” said Walter Smith, executive director of the D.C. Appleseed Center for Law and Justice, who was involved in both the 2000 case and this suit. “That doesn’t mean we can’t go to Congress and ask Congress … to give us the vote.”
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