John Haubenreich

@johnhaubenreich

Attorney fighting for voting rights and democracy with @protectdemocracy.org. Board member, @organizetn.bsky.social. Teach "Democracy and Voting Rights Litigation.” Film photography hobbyist. Bojangles stan. Opinions my own. Sorry for the soccer stuff.

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John Haubenreich@johnhaubenreich· 9d

One of my favorite things about living in East Nashville is the annual Tomato Art Fest (coming up this weekend). I celebrated a bit early with some homemade bread, homemade basil mayo, and one of the best Cherokee Purple tomatoes I’ve grown in recent years. Happy 🍅 Art Fest!

John Haubenreich@johnhaubenreich· 10d

Great stuff from my @protectdemocracy.org colleague linking corruption to both (1) the broken economy and (2) why most people hate politics (and politicians). Highly recommend you read the whole thing (gift link below): www.nytimes.com/2026/07/24/m...

Another theory is that Americans feel worse off now than they did in 2017, and they are looking for someone to blame. “There’s two dominant sentiments in our politics now,” said Justin Florence, a founder of Protect Democracy, a watchdog organization established in Trump’s first term. “One is feeling that the economy and economic future doesn’t work for most Americans; the other is the political system is broken and Americans don’t have a say. Corruption ties together those two sentiments.”

John Haubenreich@johnhaubenreich· 20d

🚨BREAKING: Surprising no one, the 3-judge panel in Sherman (one of the TN gerrymandering cases) denied the Plaintiffs' Motion for Preliminary Injunction today. The reasoning is ludicrous but echoes the Jim Crow redux Callais decision. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

First, they claim that the new map’s effects are by themselves evidence of Tennessee’s
discriminatory purpose. They say that the new map destroys the only district where Black
Memphians could elect their preferred candidate by splitting them into three near-identical slices.
R.1, Compl., ¶¶ 66, 87, 94. But this argument is unavailing. When a map’s effects are “readily
explainable on grounds apart from race . . . disproportionate impact alone cannot be decisive.”
City of Mobile v. Bolden, 446 U.S. 55, 70 (1980). Here, the map’s effects—breaking Black
Memphians into three separate congressional districts—are readily explainable by political
motivations. It’s no secret (supported by Plaintiffs’ own statements) that city voters prefer
Democratic candidates and that rural voters prefer Republican candidates. So it makes sense that
Tennessee’s legislature would split Memphis into thirds when attempting to create a map that
favors Republican candidates. And it’s no surprise that the resulting map would also split the
Black population of Memphis into thirds. In all, the map’s effects aren’t enough because they’re
“readily explained” by Tennessee’s stated political motivations and don’t indicate a discriminatory
purpose. See id.

John Haubenreich@johnhaubenreich· 24d

Excellent piece by my @protectdemocracy.org colleague Cerin Lindgrensavage and @davidasuper.bsky.social on how Russ Vought and the Trump Administration are quietly implementing authoritarianism by ignoring Congress' decisions about how to spend our tax dollars. thehill.com/opinion/cong...

For centuries, kings embroiled England in numerous wars on the European continent, largely without consulting Parliament in advance. Monarchs could do this because they alone had the power both to command the armies and to pay them. This bitter experience convinced our nation’s Founders of the importance of giving Congress, not the president, the power of the purse.

Two hundred fifty years later, that crucial choice is under active attack by a White House that increasingly is snatching that power of the purse out of the hands of a feeble Congress.

President Trump’s most direct assault on Congress’s constitutional power of the purse is his repeated claim that he can implement cuts he has proposed to federal programs even after Congress has refused to make precisely those cuts. A unanimous Supreme Court rejected similar attempts to override Congress from President Richard Nixon, but President Trump and Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought are undeterred.

John Haubenreich@johnhaubenreich· Jul 5

(shamelessly stolen from a pal on the Nashville SC discord)

The meme of Stringer Bell from The Wire saying “I want you to put the word out there that we back up” except he has a US men’s national team jersey on and a stars and stripes top hat

John Haubenreich@johnhaubenreich· Jul 2

Tough times for Trump vis à vis the Balogun red card and suspension. Is he picking up the red phone to call Gianni Infantino?

John Haubenreich@johnhaubenreich· Jul 1

As usual, @elienyc.bsky.social gets it exactly right: "The battle over birthright citizenship is over. The war against birthright citizenship is just beginning." www.thenation.com/article/soci...

The fact that the foundational principle of American citizenship, something said clearly and plainly in the Constitution, survived by only the slimmest of majorities over the strenuous objections of two-thirds of the Republican supermajority should not be cause for celebration. It is a cause for deep concern. Trump tried to change the definition of citizenship by executive fiat in clear opposition to the text of the 14th Amendment, and he almost got away with it. This time. And we know there will almost certainly be a next time; the Supreme Court loves to give Trump multiple bites at the apple whenever he is trying to graft bigotry onto the Constitution.

John Haubenreich@johnhaubenreich· Jun 28

Yep, this is it. It's worse, in fact: Alito et al. act *offended* if anyone even argues that racism could be a cause. I've seen it for years as a practicing lawyer; the tell is that the [lawyer / gov't official / judge] gets offended (and often angry!) when you even bring up the argument.

John Haubenreich@johnhaubenreich· Jun 13

This showed up on my timeline a while back, and I still laugh every few days thinking about it. YOU WOULDN'T DOWNLOAD A SUCCULENT

A picture of a sign at a garden center warning customers against "Proplifting," definedd as "picking up fallen succulent leaves (or any other plant leaf) off the floors of garden centers or pinching off leaves and taking them home to propagate - IT IS THEFT! PLEASE DO NOT DO IT." This picture was reposted by a user with the caption, "YOU WOULDN'T DOWNLOAD A SUCCULENT," which was then re-posted by another user with the caption "I guarantee most customers had no idea this was a possibility until you told them about it with a sign"

John Haubenreich@johnhaubenreich· May 27

Finally, the Panel also dismissed the Constitutional argument, i.e., that the subject of the special session was narrow (drawing new maps) and that the repeal of the statute prohibiting mid-decade redistricting was not within the call and therefore void. /end

effectuate changes to the composition of Tennessee’s congressional districts and to facilitate 2026 congressional elections.” Bill Lee, State of Tennessee, Proclamation by the Governor, at 1. Petitioners argue that the complete repeal of the prohibition on redistricting between censuses was not necessary when the General Assembly could have merely suspended it as it did with the other requirements. Petitioners also argue that those other requirements being relaxed actually make the 2026 Congressional Elections more difficult rather than easier for the candidates. Petitioners’ approach would have the Judicial Branch micromanaging its coequal Legislative Branch and substituting this Court’s judgment in place of the General Assembly’s on a granular level as to the specific exercises of its authority by inquiring into whether a specific action was actually necessary to accomplish a particular goal or what the best methods of carrying out congressional elections are. This, the Court should not do. Moreover, it is neither equipped nor tasked to do so. It is with good reason that it is sufficient for purposes of Article III, Section 9 that the legislation enacted in a special session be reasonably contained within the call of the Governor. And the Court holds that HB 7001 and HB 7002 are reasonably contained within Governor Lee’s Proclamation.
Because the Court finds no merit to Petitioner Hill’s claims under Article III, Section 9, those claims must be DISMISSED with prejudice.

John Haubenreich@johnhaubenreich· May 27

In essence, the Panel ruled that *even if* Plaintiff's constitutional argument was right (discussed below), it wouldn't matter because the statutes could still be read together. The key portion of the opinion is on page 21: /4

If Tenn. Code Ann. § 2-16-102 provides that “[t]he districts [for the election of members of the house of representatives in congress] may not be changed between apportionments [of representation],” HB 7003 doing precisely that would be a conflict. One conclusion could be that the General Assembly has repealed the prohibition in Tenn. Code Ann. § 2-16-102 by implication. Since that conclusion would be disfavored unless the two statutes are utterly irreconcilable, however, a safer conclusion would be that the prohibition remains in effect as the general rule but that HB 7003 constituted a more specific statute that created an exception for 2026. Under either scenario, no matter the merits of Petitioners’ constitutional challenge, HB 7003 will stand. Accordingly, the Court holds that the statutory claim against HB 7003 is without merit and must be DISMISSED with prejudice.

John Haubenreich@johnhaubenreich· May 22

Exceptionally good (and very funny) book from @leahlitman.bsky.social (of @strictscrutiny.bsky.social fame) — highly recommend

John Haubenreich@johnhaubenreich· May 21

One section in particular stuck out to me. I have no idea how Judge Campbell could say he "give[s] strong weight to the likelihood of voter confusion" and yet credit the *ongoing litigation* trying to undo the racist gerrymander with engendering confusion rather than the *gerrymander itself*.

The burdens on voters with regard to voter confusion are less certain. Information
regarding the new districts is available on the Division of Election website with a voter-look-up
feature that allows voters to look up their address to determine which district they are in. (See
Dodd Decl., Doc. No. 40-1, ¶ 15).7
The burdens to the association rights of voters and candidates
that arise by virtue of the changes to district boundaries during the election cycle after the original
deadline for candidate qualification is undeniable, particularly as to those voters who formed
associative bonds with candidates who are no longer in their district and vice versa.
On balance, given the timing of the legislation vis-a-vis the election, Plaintiffs’ immediate
request for relief, and the relative burdens, it does not appear to the Court that this is a case where
the Purcell principle alone warrants denial of an injunction. The Court does, however, give strong
weight to the likelihood of voter confusion in the face of ongoing litigation close to an election
regardless of the outcome of that litigation. This consideration counsels strongly against the
issuance of an injunction.

John Haubenreich@johnhaubenreich· May 12

My favorite car that my Dad had

John Haubenreich@johnhaubenreich· May 11

As @jeffyarbro.bsky.social noted, exactly how stupid is the new hyper-gerrymandered / racist TN Congressional map? In the Nashville area, during the 20 min drive between the Krispy Kreme on Thompson Lane and the Krispy Kreme on Mallory Lane, you pass through FIVE different congressional districts.

A map of congressional districts showing that Nashville/Davidson county includes 3 different congressional districts and that Williamson County/Brentwood (just south of Davidson county and within the greater Nashville area) includes 2 additional congressional districts

John Haubenreich@johnhaubenreich· May 2

Exactly right from @jaywillis.net for @ballsandstrikes.org. The SCOTUS majority is corrupt and nakedly partisan. There is no fix here other than fundamental reform of the most autocratic branch of our government. ballsandstrikes.substack.com/p/the-republ...

For all the effort that Supreme Court justices put into insisting they are not "partisan hacks," when the Court resolves awful democracy cases, elected Republicans have remarkably little trouble understanding what they are supposed to do, and how quickly they are supposed to act. Typically, the Court leaves its biggest cases until the end of the term, in late June or early July. In context, it is hard not to see the timing of Callais as the conservative justices doing their best to give DeSantis and Reeves and Landry and Lee as much time as possible to capitalize on it.

None of these post-Callais redistricting efforts are guaranteed to succeed. Even if they do, once it is time for voters who are really fucking sick of Donald Trump to actually cast ballots, there is no guarantee that these changes yield the real-world election outcomes for which Donald Trump desperately hopes. But the all-out sprint to make the 2026 maps at once redder and whiter lays bare the real project of the Callais majority: The Republican justices are trying to help their fellow Republicans win more elections in more places. Every seat counts.

John Haubenreich@johnhaubenreich· Apr 29

More simply:

The "ascending size dominoes" meme with "hanging chads in Florida" at the small end and "SCOTUS nukes the Voting Rights Act" at the large end

John Haubenreich@johnhaubenreich· Apr 29

Not a shock that immediately after Callais comes down, the front-runner for next TN governor calls on her party to finish the horrific gerrymandering of TN that started back in 2020. Thanks, John Roberts.

Twitter post from Marsha Blackburn showing an all-red map of TN with hypothetical new congressional districts: "I urge our state legislature to reconvene to redistrict another Republican seat in Memphis. It's essential to cement @realDonaldTrump’s agenda and the Golden Age of America.

I've vowed to keep Tennessee a red state, and as Governor, I'll do everything I can to make this map a reality."

John Haubenreich@johnhaubenreich· Apr 29

This response to the Callais decision from @ariberman.bsky.social for @motherjones.com hits the nail squarely on the head: www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

In the long run, however, the court’s decision will turbocharge the GOP’s current gerrymandering efforts for future elections in 2027 and 2028, potentially costing Democrats up to 19 House seats, according to one study. As much as 30 percent of the Congressional Black Caucus could lose their seats, according to a report by Fair Fight Action and the Black Voters Matter Fund. Nearly 200 state legislative seats held by Democrats in the South could also be wiped out.

Republicans could ultimately eliminate a dozen Democratic congressional seats in the South as a result, leaving no Democratic representatives or majority-minority districts in states including Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Louisiana—the very places where voting discrimination has historically been most prevalent. That will take America back to the Jim Crow era, with no Black representatives in Southern states with sizable Black populations. It will be reminiscent of what happened after Reconstruction was violently overthrown, when white supremacy and one-party rule were locked in for decades across the South. Indeed, the Callais decision is likely to trigger the largest drop in Black representation since the end of Reconstruction.

The hypocrisy of the Roberts Court is simply astounding. The GOP-appointed wing of the court is clearly inventing one set of rules to approve maps that favor white voters and Republicans while using another set of rules to block maps that benefit racial minorities and Democrats.

John Haubenreich@johnhaubenreich· Apr 12

www.nytimes.com/2026/04/07/w...

The mocking Spongebob meme, with Spongebob saying, "What was that, JD? followed by a quote from the linked New York Times story, "Viktor Orban is, of course, going to win."

John Haubenreich@johnhaubenreich· Apr 12

Incredible news in the fight against #authoritarianism as Viktor Orbán concedes. Great things can happen with sustained mass mobilization. The pro #democracy coalition in the United States should take heart.

John Haubenreich@johnhaubenreich· Apr 3

From the new bill: /6 cc: @nashvillebanner.bsky.social @wpln.bsky.social @tennesseelookout.com

(a) Notwithstanding another law to the contrary, a cause of action exists under this section for any affected person who seeks declaratory or injunctive relief in any action brought regarding the legality or constitutionality of a governmental action of only a political subdivision of this state. A cause of action does not exist under this section:

(1) To seek damages; or
(2) To challenge the validity or constitutionality of any state statute.

(b) This section does not authorize a cause of action against, or waive the sovereign immunity and privileges of, the state, state entities, or state officials.

John Haubenreich@johnhaubenreich· Mar 25

Making a nostalgia playlist from my middle and high school years, and is there possibly a better set of lyrics of all time than these from Todd Snider's "Talkin' Seattle Blues"?

Now, to fit in on the Seattle scene
You've gotta do somethin' they ain't never seen
So thinkin' up a gimmick one day
We decided to be the only band that wouldn't play a note
Under any circumstances
Silence
Music's original alternative
Roots grunge

Well, we spread the word through the underground
That we were the hottest new thing in town
The record guy came out to see us one day
And, just like always, we didn't play
It knocked him out
He said he loved our work
He said he loved our work but he wasn't sure if he could sell a record with nothing on it
I said, tell 'em we're from Seattle
He advanced us two and a half million dollars

John Haubenreich@johnhaubenreich· Mar 15

Excited to present tomorrow with Keeda Haynes in partnership with @organizetn.bsky.social, Fisk University, and @brennancenter.org about felony disenfranchisement in Tennessee. There's still time to sign up and, if you're an attorney, get CLE credit! lnkd.in/e2_YRMh7

John Haubenreich@johnhaubenreich· Jan 7

MLS left backs as of this morning

Meme of obviously stressed out man with a cigarette and another dozen or so in his hand

John Haubenreich@johnhaubenreich· Dec 31

RESISTANCE. WORKS. #Democracy

< Truth Details
268 replies
...
Donald J. Trump
@reaDonaldTrump
+
We are removing the National Guard from Chicago, Los Angeles, and Portland, despite the fact that CRIME has been greatly reduced by having these great Patriots in those cities, and ONLY by that fact. Portland, Los Angeles, and Chicago were GONE if it weren't for the Federal Government stepping in. We will come back, perhaps in a much different and stronger form, when crime begins to soar again - Only a question of time! It is hard to believe that these Democrat Mayors and Governors, all of whom are greatly incompetent, would want us to leave, especially considering the great progress that has been made??? President DJT
502 ReTruths 1.64k Likes
12/31/25, 3:55 PM
A
个

John Haubenreich@johnhaubenreich· Dec 30

One of the most searing observations from the past year. The only thing I would change would maybe be to switch out “terrifying” with “demoralizing” or “enraging.” Let us never forget those institutions and individuals who, faced with a generational threat, decided to bow down rather than fight.

Still, there was no question that he and his people were going to try to consolidate an authoritarian regime, whatever hand they were dealt, the second they were able to take the White House again. And try they have. Part of what was so terrifying at the beginning of the year was the way many elites acted as if Trump had won a landslide and had the widest conceivable support among the public. Many among the press, the universities, corporations, and law firms surrendered in advance.

Then there was the speed at which they seemed to be dismantling the structure of the government in February and March, through the seizure of computer systems and DOGE's lawless, chaotic closures and firings. Normally anarchic congressional Republicans lined up to pass a deeply. unpopular bill at Trump's behest, despite their narrow control of Congress.

John Haubenreich@johnhaubenreich· Dec 1

conveniently located across from the coat bath, so that's good

Zoomed in portion of a horrorshow of a floorplan created by Grok AI with lots of misspellings, including "Master Roksn" and "Coat Bath," the latter of which appears to have a sink, toilet, and.... cryo pod? Anyway, there are also WAYYYY too many doors and the whole thing is a mess.

John Haubenreich@johnhaubenreich· Oct 2

Mr. Mayor, can we get a COYBIG from you on this most auspicious of evenings? We’ll check back about the parade later 👍 #EveryoneN 🦞 @freddieoconnell.bsky.social cc: @scavendish.bsky.social @whittlz.bsky.social

John Haubenreich@johnhaubenreich· Sep 13

Fantastic panel on youth engagement and youth voting priorities from Pei from @civictn.bsky.social and Lara from @protectdemocracy.org