Monthly Archives: April 2013

“Florida Senate Republicans crack down on foreign-language interpreters for voting”

April 16, 2013, 8:36 pmelection administration, The Voting Wars, voting, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

Marc Caputo: Desiline Victor, the 102-year-old North Miami voter who became a symbol of Florida’s elections woes, could again find it tough to cast a ballot now that the Republican-controlled state Senate voted Tuesday to keep a crack down… Continue reading

“Levin Promises to Investigate 501(c)(4)s Using Secret Money to Fund Campaigns”

April 16, 2013, 7:57 pmcampaign finance, tax law and election lawRick Hasen

Bloomberg BNA: “One of retiring Sen. Carl Levin’s (D-Mich.) last objectives in Congress will be to investigate the use of secret money to fund political campaigns, with the Internal Revenue Service on the hot seat.”

“In Defense of Citizens United”

April 16, 2013, 7:51 pmcampaign finance, Supreme CourtRick Hasen

Judge/Professor Michael McConnell has posted this draft on SSRN (forthcoming Yale Law Journal). Here is the abstract: Citizens United v. FEC is one of the most reviled decisions of the Supreme Court in recent years. The President of the United… Continue reading

Justice Scalia, Commenting on Pending Case, Calls Voting Rights Act “Racial Preferment”

April 16, 2013, 7:50 pmSupreme Court, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

Jess Bravin: Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia told university students that key provisions of the Voting Rights Act had evolved from an emergency response to racial discrimination in 1965 to an “embedded” form of “racial preferment” that would likely… Continue reading

Campbell Debate on Campaign Finance Reform

April 16, 2013, 1:36 pmcampaign financeRick Hasen

Details: April 18, 2013 U.S. Navy Memorial Naval Heritage Center Washington D.C. 5:45 PM This Assembly Believes the Current System of Campaign Finance Is Broken For the proposition Against the proposition Marc Elias Partner, Perkins Coie, general counsel, Kerry-Edwards… Continue reading

Sam Bagenstos Defends DOJ, Tom Perez

April 16, 2013, 1:33 pmDepartment of Justice, election administration, The Voting Wars, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

Testimony here. You can find links to the other witness testimony at the House hearing at this link. UPDATE: Watch this exchange between Rep. Gowdy and Prof. Bagenstos about the South Carolina preclearance process and whether career attorneys… Continue reading

“SEC: More than 500,000 Calls for Corporate Spending Disclosure”

April 16, 2013, 11:18 amcampaign financeRick Hasen

Bloomberg reports.

“In Political Campaigns, Do You Get What You Pay For?”

April 16, 2013, 7:38 amcampaign finance, campaignsRick Hasen

i missed this extensive Tom Edsall piece from last week.

“Americans love government — as long as it’s their own”

April 16, 2013, 7:27 ampolitical parties, political polarizationRick Hasen

Aaron Blake: Congress and the federal government continue to struggle with historically low approval ratings, as Americans grow tired of gridlock in Washington and hold both major parties in low regard. But when it comes to government in general,… Continue reading

“GOP issues critical report of labor secretary nominee Perez”

April 16, 2013, 7:23 amDepartment of JusticeRick Hasen

WaPo: “Republican lawmakers sharply criticized Thomas Perez, the nominee for labor secretary, in a report Sunday over what they said was a questionable deal he brokered while serving as head of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. The 63-page… Continue reading