In part two of their series, Dean Vikram Amar and Professor Jason Mazzone continue to explore the issue of certification. North Carolina might be the only state that has no process for higher courts to certify state laws, and Amar and Mazzone examine a case pending with the Supreme Court to understand how this could be a mistake on the part of the Old North State.
The case, Berger v. North Carolina State Conference of the NAACP, centers on the legislature's rights to intervene in a challenge to a new voter ID law. Amar and Mazzone explore the history of the case, the question at the heart of the legal issue, and what the Supreme Court might have standing to review. Because North Carolina has not adopted any means of certification, the central question is what basis the court has to decide whether the views of the plaintiff or defendants reflect the correct interpretation of a state law.
Read the full article at Justia Verdict.