John Roberts’ Supreme Court has effectively legalized partisan gerrymandering.
The gutting of the Voting Rights Act could entrench one-party white rule across much of the South.
Reforming the courts and adopting proportional representation may be the only path to real democracy.
David Daley — author of the national best-seller Ratf**ked: Why Your Vote Doesn’t Count — traces how the right turned gerrymandering from a political tactic into a permanent governing strategy. What he describes isn’t politics as usual but the slow construction of a parallel constitution, one that rewrites who counts and who doesn’t. The collapse of federal oversight under Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts has turned the map itself into a weapon, with state courts and dark-money operatives redrawing democracy by design.
Daley argues that the only real fix now is structural: rebuild the courts, reimagine representation, and reclaim the rules. The fight ahead, he warns, won’t be won in a single election—it will require the same generational patience and persistence that built this crisis in the first place.
Tune in to this urgent conversation with David Daley and Sam Osterhout.
When You’re a Star, the Supreme Court Lets You Do It
"When you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything." ~ Donald J. Trump
