Several months ago I wrote to argue against the constantly-repeated storyline that cast Citizens United as responsible for the explosion of SuperPacs in this election cycle.  Though I have written critically about the Court’s decision, I was also skeptical of… Continue reading

Today’s Supreme Court decision in the Texas redistricting case is largely a win for the State of Texas, for reasons I explained in advance of the decision.  But the Court forged a “compromise” solution that was not raised or discussed… Continue reading

1.  There’s been speculation that the Court might adopt a “compromise” solution, first floated at oral argument by Justice Kagan, in the Texas cases.  If so, my view is that this would be one of those “compromises” that actually gives… Continue reading

One of the historical oddities about today’s debates over corporate money and elections is that the issue maps so directly onto partisan political differences, at least among national political players.  As I’ve noted before, the deeper, long-term pattern historically has… Continue reading

Yesterday, the indispensable Supreme Court blog ran a discussion on what we know at this stage about how much the Citizen's United decision is affecting campaign financing.  Because I have a somewhat different view on this question than Rick Hasen… Continue reading

The 2011 Supplement to the The Law of Democracy:  Legal Structure of the Political Process (3rd ed.), written by Samuel Issacharoff, Pamela Karlan, and Richard Pildes, is now available.  Foundation Press has graciously made the Supplement available without charge to… Continue reading

Former Governor Blagojevich’s criminal conviction for trying to sell his power to appoint someone to fill out the rest of the term left on Barack Obama’s Senate seat after Obama had been elected President helps frame this important constitutional question:… Continue reading

Much of the initial reaction to the Edwards indictment from experts in campaign-finance law has been critical or skeptical of the government’s theory. But in my view, the reaction has not been critical enough. Some skeptics think the problem with… Continue reading