Monthly Archives: February 2013
“Testimony Before the Senate Judiciary Committee: ‘The Citizens United Court and the Continuing Importance of the Voting Rights Act'”
Anthony Johnstone has posted recent Senate testimony on SSRN. Here is the abstract:
This testimony concerns the role of the Supreme Court in reviewing the constitutionality of “laws of democracy,” including campaign finance regulation, election administration, and voting rights enforcement.… Continue reading
Blog Migration to New Servers
The flood of traffic to the blog over the last few days has necessitated a move to a larger server. While it is gratifying that this blog has attracted more readers, there will be some short-term pain. Once the migration… Continue reading
“Voting Law Decision Could Sharply Limit Scrutiny of Rules”
Must-read Charlie Savage NYT report on the difference between sections 2 and 5 of the Voting Rights Act begins:
If the Supreme Court strikes down or otherwise guts a centerpiece of the Voting Rights Act, there will be far less… Continue reading
“Should I Stay or Should I Go? States Weigh Future of Federal Voting System Certification”
Mega-Shelby County Roundup
Yesterday I posted roundups of news stories and commentaries from yesterday’s voting rights oral argument at the Supreme Court in posts here, here, and here. I had two substantive posts on the oral argument, one predicting the … Continue reading
Another Aggregate Contribution Case Heading to Supreme Court?
James v. FEC is SCOTUBlog’s Petition of the Day, and Justin Levitt thinks it might be a stronger case for plaintiffs than the McCutcheon case already taken.
Scalia in Shelby County Case: Do States Need Special Protection from Courts?
I was struck by this statement from Justice Scalia today at the oral argument in the Shelby County case:
The problem here, however, is suggested by the comment I made earlier, that the initial enactment of this legislation in a… Continue reading
Upcoming Speaking Gigs
On Monday March 4, I’ll be on a panel about the Shelby County voting rights case at a symposium on voting rights at UC Berkeley.
On Tuesday, March 5, at noon, I’ll be speaking on “The Voting Wars Revisited”… Continue reading
Would Torts Plaintiffs Lawyers Secretly Hope for SCOTUS to Strike Down Section 5 of Voting Rights Act?
A longtime ELB reader writes:
I don’t know if anyone has written about this, but the PI plaintiffs’ bar might be secretly rooting for the Supreme Court to strike down section 5. In California and in other states, plaintiffs have… Continue reading
True the Vote Issues Report: “The 2012 Voter Suppression Myth”
Interesting DOJ/FEC Split in Danielczyk Case Raises Tricky Question for Election Lawyers
See this post at Inside Political Law.
“Contractor Contribution Ban Defended by Watchdogs in Appeals Court Filing”
Press release: “Today, the Campaign Legal Center, joined by Democracy 21 and Public Citizen, filed an amici brief in Wagner v. FEC opposing an effort to overturn the 70-year-old ban on campaign contributions by federal contractors. The case is… Continue reading
More Early Oral Argument Stories
Ari Berman at the Nation: “It quickly became clear inside the courtroom that there are four votes to uphold Section 5 and four votes to strike it down. Justice Kennedy, as is so often the case, appears to be the… Continue reading