Monthly Archives: March 2013

What If The Supreme Court Releases the Fisher Affirmative Action Case Tuesday or Wednesday?

March 23, 2013, 7:46 pmSupreme CourtRick Hasen

The Fisher affirmative action case before the Supreme Court was argued October 10. It is one of three cases from the October sitting not yet decided. It is certainly plausible it could be released on Tuesday or Wednesday, dates the… Continue reading

“Bloomberg’s TV Blitz on Guns Puts Swing Senators on the Spot”

March 23, 2013, 7:36 pmcampaign financeRick Hasen

NYT: “Determined to persuade Congress to act in response to that shooting, Mr. Bloomberg on Monday will begin bankrolling a $12 million national advertising campaign that focuses on senators who he believes might be persuaded to support a pending… Continue reading

“University of South Carolina professor hacks Courier-Journal online poll to ‘get the discussion going'”

March 23, 2013, 7:17 pmchicanery, election administration, internet voting, The Voting Wars, voting technologyRick Hasen

Courier-Journal: An unscientific online poll conducted on The Courier-Journal’s website was hacked Thursday by two University of South Carolina students and a professor. The poll, hosted by Polldaddy, asked website viewers, “Should overseas U.S. military personnel be allowed to… Continue reading

“How Foreign Governments Make Sure You Don’t Know They’re Lobbying You”

March 23, 2013, 7:11 pmlegislation and legislatures, lobbyingRick Hasen

BuzzFeed: The European Centre for a Modern Ukraine, an obscure nonprofit based in Belgium, was founded by a former top official in Ukraine’s governing party and appears to be a proxy for the country’s pro-Russian government. In 2012, the… Continue reading

“Dozens of Attorneys Protest IRS Release Of 501(c)(4) Application, Return, Information”

March 22, 2013, 7:47 pmcampaign finance, tax law and election lawRick Hasen

Bloomberg BNA: “Dozens of attorneys have written to the Internal Revenue Service saying they are gravely concerned about the disclosure of confidential taxpayer information from tax code Section 501(c)(4) applications for exemption and unredacted tax returns that were given… Continue reading

Sen. Tester Pushes Electronic Campaign Disclosure for Senators through Budget Amendment

March 22, 2013, 3:13 pmcampaign financeRick Hasen

CPI reports. Yes, let’s at least bring the Senate into the 20th century, if not the 21st.

“America’s Top Model: The Wisconsin Government Accountability Board”

March 22, 2013, 3:10 pmelection administration, The Voting WarsRick Hasen

Dan Tokaji has posted a draft of this important paper on SSRN (forthcoming UCI Law Review election law symposium issue). Here is the abstract: The United States is an outlier among democratic countries when it comes to the institutions charged… Continue reading

Indiana Law Review Symposium on Merit Selection of Judges

March 22, 2013, 3:08 pmjudicial electionsRick Hasen

Check it out: Table of Contents SYMPOSIUM Reflecting on Forty Years of Merit Selection in Indiana: An Introduction Joel M. Schumm 1 Keynote Address Justice in Jeopardy: The ABA Perspective Wm. T. (Bill) Robinson III 7 Merit Selection in Indiana: … Continue reading

What Benjamin Jealous Said to the Solicitor General about Shelby County

March 22, 2013, 2:56 pmSupreme Court, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

Wow: The grilled shrimp appetizer had just arrived at the 128th annual press-pols Gridiron dinner Saturday night when NAACP President Benjamin Jealous fell into conversation with a fellow white-tied dinner guest about the Supreme Court’s recent argument over the… Continue reading

Fred Wertheimer Doesn’t Like OFA Sharing President Obama’s Twitter Account

March 22, 2013, 9:36 amcampaign finance, tax law and election lawRick Hasen

Aaron Blake reports.

“The numbers prove it: The GOP is estranged from America”

March 22, 2013, 9:22 ampolitical parties, political polarizationRick Hasen

Fascinating argument and data from Andrew Kohut in WaPo: In my decades of polling, I recall only one moment when a party had been driven as far from the center as the Republican Party has been today. The outsize influence… Continue reading

Ilya Shapiro on Cert Petition in Lepak

March 22, 2013, 8:52 amSupreme Court, votingRick Hasen

Here. UPDATE: See also this HuffPo Live segment on the case.

“Repeal of voter ID law rejected in N.H. House”

March 22, 2013, 8:12 amelection administration, The Voting WarsRick Hasen

AP: “The New Hampshire House rejected a proposal Thursday to repeal the state’s voter identification law, instead passing legislation that would prevent tighter regulations from taking effect until the attorney general’s office completes an inquiry into the last election.”

“Supreme Court Recusal: From Marbury to the Modern Day”

March 22, 2013, 7:37 amjudicial elections, Supreme CourtRick Hasen

James Sample has posted this draft on SSRN (Georgetown Journal of Legal Ethics). Here is the abstract: For Justices of the U.S. Supreme Court, controversies pitting personal conflicts — whether actual or merely alleged — against the constitutional commitment to… Continue reading