MSNBC Live host Katy Tur struggled on Tuesday with a Monday Supreme Court decision that refused to rewrite Wisconsin's election laws. That, coupled with Amy Coney Barrett's confirmation to the Court, led Tur to conclude that Democrats have no other option, but to consider how to "reform" the Court: "One week out from the election, Democrats are left with few options beyond debating how they could reform the courts should they win the White House and the Senate."
Coming out of commercial Tur painted the Court's decision as, not a win for the rule of law, but a loss for Democrats, "A new Supreme Court ruling marks a defeat for Democrats in Wisconsin. Justices refused to let mail-in ballots be counted should they arrive after polls close, even if they are postmarked by November 3rd."
After reading an excerpt from Justice Kavanaugh's opinion, Tur moved to Barrett, "This decision comes as the latest Trump appointee, Associate Justice Amy Coney Barrett took the oath today in a private ceremony administered by Chief Justice John Roberts. Barrett’s addition to the court gives the court a conservatives 6-3 majority with a wave of election-related challenges posed to make their way to the nation’s highest court."
Despite the previously 5-3 conservative majority handing liberals a victory in Pennsylvania not that long ago, Tur declared Democrats must address the structure of the Court, "One week out from the election, Democrats are left with few options beyond debating how they could reform the courts should they win the White House and the Senate."
Returning to Wisconsin, Tur turned to NBC's Shaquille Brewster in Milwaukee and condemned the Court for not legislating from the bench:
So Shaquille, this is real-life consequences, immediate consequences in Wisconsin, we're hearing about delays at the postal service. People are sent their ballots in. They potentially will be postmarked before election day but might not get there before the polls close on Election Day and now it stands they will not be counted. What is being done in Wisconsin to make sure all those votes get there and that every vote is counted? This isn't a Democrat or Republican thing but that every vote that was cast on time is counted?
Brewster would report that the state is trying to raise awareness about what the Court's ruling means, but if Tur is looking for someone to be upset at, it should be the lower district court because Wisconsinites would not be in this situation if they had not assumed lawmaking powers and rewritten the state's election laws.
This segment was sponsored by Applebee's.
Here is a transcript for the September 27 show:
MSNBC
MSNBC Live with Katy Tur
2:41 PM ET
KATY TUR: A new Supreme Court ruling marks a defeat for Democrats in Wisconsin. Justices refused to let mail-in ballots be counted should they arrive after polls close, even if they are postmarked by November 3rd. In his written opinion, Justice Kavanaugh, a Trump appointee, said, elections have to have end sometime, “states want to avoid the chaos and suspicions of impropriety and that can ensue if thousands of absentee ballots flow in after Election Day and potentially flip the results of an election. Last-minute changes to long-standing election rules risk other problems, too, inviting confusion and chaos and eroding public confidence in electoral outcomes.”
This decision comes as the latest Trump appointee, Associate Justice Amy Coney Barrett took the oath today in a private ceremony administered by Chief Justice John Roberts. Barrett’s addition to the court gives the court a conservatives 6-3 majority with a wave of election-related challenges posed to make their way to the nation’s highest court. One week out from the election, Democrats are left with few options beyond debating how they could reform the courts should they win the White House and the Senate. Joining us from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, NBC News reporter Shaquille Brewster, also with me Politico senior national correspondent Anna Palmer. So Shaquille, this is real-life consequences, immediate consequences in Wisconsin, we're hearing about delays at the postal service. People are sent their ballots in. They potentially will be postmarked before election day but might not get there before the polls close on Election Day and now it stands they will not be counted. What is being done in Wisconsin to make sure all those votes get there and that every vote is counted? This isn't a Democrat or Republican thing but that every vote that was cast on time is counted?
