My first introduction to the U.S. Supreme Court was in 1996. I was 26 years old, a third-year associate, and I was asked to help draft an amicus brief for the Democratic Party. The Republican Party had brought a case to challenge the limits on how much political parties can spend in direct coordination with their candidates. Safe to say, it was an intimidating task.

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July 1, 2025

My first introduction to the U.S. Supreme Court was in 1996. I was 26 years old, a third-year associate, and I was asked to help draft an amicus brief for the Democratic Party. The Republican Party had brought a case to challenge the limits on how much political parties can spend in direct coordination with their candidates. Safe to say, it was an intimidating task.

Coordinating comments from various clients and lawyers was overwhelming as a junior associate. And to make matters worse, the East Coast had been hit with a major blizzard that dropped more than a foot of snow, paralyzing Washington, D.C.

It was a different time. There was no such thing as remote work, and legal research was still largely done by going to the law library and finding cases in physical books. Briefs were either dictated or written in longhand and then typed. Even worse, Supreme Court briefs had to be typeset by a commercial printer. Editing meant resetting all the letters on at least that page.

Republicans failed to achieve their goal in that case — and in several other efforts over the years — to strike down the coordinated party spending limits. But they never stopped trying.

Now, nearly 30 years later, the Supreme Court has announced it will once again consider a Republican challenge to these same limits. And times have changed...

Marc isn’t just writing about these cases — he’s arguing them before the Supreme Court. At Democracy Docket, we combine his firsthand experience as a top voting rights litigator with in-depth reporting to expose the threats to our democracy and explain what’s at stake.

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