Category Archives: legislation and legislatures
“Convicted felon and California Senator Rod Wright has probably forfeited his seat”
Convincing analysis from Derek the Muller.
“Sunshine’s Shadow: Overbroad Open Meetings Laws as Content-Based, Distinct from Campaign Finance Disclosure Laws, and Constitutionally Suspect”
Steven Mulroy has posted this draft on SSRN. Here is the abstract:
In this Article, Professor Mulroy discusses “strict” open meetings laws applicable in many states to local legislators — laws which restrict substantive discussion of government business even among… Continue reading
“Overrides: The Super Study”
Victoria Nourse on Christiansen & Eskridge:
Overrides should be of interest to a far larger group of scholars than statutory interpretation enthusiasts. We have, in overrides, open inter branch encounters between Congress and the Courts far more typically found in… Continue reading
Now Available: Hasen, Legislation, Statutory Interpretation, and Election Law: Examples and Explanations
[Bumping to the top for the start of classes.]
[UPDATE: You can now order the book at Amazon, or electronically as a Kindle Book, or directly from the publisher.]
I am happy to announce that you … Continue reading
“Non-white representation on America’s city councils”
Seth Masket has this very interesting analysis on WaPo’s Monkey Cage, finding a higher degree of descriptive representation for African Americans than for Latinos or Asian Americans: “Each additional percent of the population that is African American translates to about… Continue reading
“Midterms Give Parties Chance for Sweeping Control of States”
“Florida Legislature: Don’t talk to congressional members, political consultants”
“The Value of Political Corruption”
“More Partisanship in Congress, Fewer Overrides of High Court; Dems’ attempts to undo voting rights, birth control rulings are likely dead. “
Todd Ruger reports for NLJ. (My 2012 article on overrides is among those discussed.)
“Congress Off for the Exits, but Few Cheer”
NYT:
By traditional measurements, the 113th Congress is now in a race to the bottom with the 112th for the “do nothing” crown, with members of both parties frustrated about the lack of action. As of Wednesday, it had passed… Continue reading
DC Circuit Unsurprisingly Rejects Origination Clause Challenge to Obamacare
You can find the unanimous opinion in Sissel v. HHS here.
I discuss the Origination Clause and Sissel (and explain why the origination clause would likely fail), on pages 12-13 of my new Legislation, Statutory Interpretation and Election Law: Examples … Continue reading
“Bad Readers: The judges who ruled against Obamacare are following Scalia down a terrible path of interpretation.”
I have written this new Jurisprudence essay for Slate. It begins:
Unless you are a lawyer or a glutton for punishment, you probably want to avoid reading the new D.C. Circuit and 4th Circuit opinions reaching conflicting results on the… Continue reading
“Leadership war stymies Senate mission”
Paul Kane for WaPo:
The Senate went three months this spring without voting on a single legislative amendment, the nitty-gritty kind of work usually at the heart of congressional lawmaking. So few bills have been approved this year, and so… Continue reading