Author

Henry L. Chambers Jr.

Henry L. Chambers Jr.

Professor Henry L. Chambers, Jr., teaches and writes in the areas of constitutional law, criminal law, law and religion, and employment discrimination at the University of Richmond. He is active in the Virginia State Bar, including serving as chair of its Section on the Education of Lawyers from 2007-2009, and has been a member of the American Law Institute since 2002. Professor Chambers served as Special Assistant Attorney General for redistricting matters for the Commonwealth of Virginia from 2011-2013. He also frequently lectures on constitutional law through the We The People program, which provides civic education instruction to school teachers and the public; at James Madison’s Montpelier; and at the Federal Executive Institute in Charlottesville.

COMMENTARY

The independent state legislature doctrine could reverse 200 years of progress and take power away from the people

By: - August 9, 2022

In a case to be heard in the coming months, the U.S. Supreme Court could decide that state legislatures have control over congressional elections, including the ability to draw voting districts for partisan political advantage, unconstrained by state law or state constitutions. At issue is a legal theory called the “independent state legislature doctrine,” which […]