Monthly Archives: July 2013

“The Senate that Senators Want”

July 16, 2013, 1:09 pmlegislation and legislatures, political parties, political polarizationRick Hasen

Monkey Cage guest post from Eric Schickler and Greg Wawro: Events in the Senate over the past few weeks offer two clear lessons. First, a simple majority in the Senate has the power – and indeed has long had the… Continue reading

“The Senate didn’t go nuclear. But, actually, it kind of did.”

July 16, 2013, 11:53 amlegislation and legislatures, political parties, political polarizationRick Hasen

Ezra Klein: “This will be the new normal. It will be the new normal under Democrats and then it will be the new normal under Republicans. The Senate stopped short of actually ending the filibuster against executive-branch nominations today. But… Continue reading

“Pennsylvania Voter ID Law Could Disenfranchise More Than 500,000 People: Trial Expert”

July 16, 2013, 10:57 amvoter idRick Hasen

HuffPo: A statistician testified on the second day of Pennsylvania’s latest trial over the constitutionality of the state’s voter identification law that hundreds of thousands of voters could be disenfranchised if the law is allowed to stand. Bernard Siskin,… Continue reading

“The Maryland solution to D.C. voting; A neighboring state may hold the key to representation in Congress”

July 16, 2013, 10:07 amSupreme Court, votingRick Hasen

Michael Wein oped in the Baltimore Sun. Interested to know what others think of this analysis.

Right Church, Wrong Pew Order

July 16, 2013, 9:41 amelection administration, provisional ballots, The Voting WarsRick Hasen

Read it here.

“UC Irvine School of Law to Host U.S. Supreme Court Term in Review Program on July 19”

July 16, 2013, 9:24 amSupreme CourtRick Hasen

See this press release. The event will be live webcast at 12 pm Pacific on Friday. UPDATE: The event is SOLD OUT but will be live webcast. I will post the webcast link Friday morning.

“Reid announces tentative deal to avert rules showdown”

July 16, 2013, 8:35 amlegislation and legislatures, political parties, political polarizationRick Hasen

The latest from WaPo.

“Federal Judge Makes ‘Right Church, Wrong Pew’ Permanent in Ohio”

July 16, 2013, 8:27 amelection administration, provisional ballots, The Voting WarsRick Hasen

Doug Chapin blogs.

“Progressive Reform and Progressive Politics”

July 16, 2013, 7:44 amcampaign financeRick Hasen

Bob Bauer: Rick Hasen has thoughtful advice for progressives on campaign finance reform, and it can be summed up as an exhortation to live to fight another day. He counsels against misguided gestures (constitutional amendments), empty gestures (“lip service” to… Continue reading

“Court Due to Make Second Trip Down the Aisle”

July 15, 2013, 9:54 pmSupreme CourtRick Hasen

I have written this piece for Reuters Opinion. It begins: Near the end of his engaging and informative e-book on the Supreme Court’s recent same-sex marriage decisions, To Have and To Uphold, New York Times reporter Adam Liptak makes… Continue reading

“Senate’s Leader Sets Showdown Over Changes to Filibuster”

July 15, 2013, 9:52 pmlegislation and legislatures, political parties, political polarizationRick Hasen

NYT: Senator Harry Reid of Nevada took a defiant and uncompromising stand on Monday before a showdown on the future of the filibuster, saying that Republicans must stop blocking executive branch nominations or he will try to change rules… Continue reading

“Renewing voting rights — with Roberts in mind”

July 15, 2013, 9:46 pmlegislation and legislatures, Supreme Court, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

Ari Melber has written this piece for Reuters Opinion.

“Developing a Speech or Debate Clause Framework for Redistricting Litigation”

July 15, 2013, 4:34 pmredistricting, Speech or Debate ClauseRick Hasen

Christopher Asta has posted this draft on SSRN (NYU Law Review). Here is the abstract: The Speech or Debate Clause of the U.S. Constitution protects legislators from being “questioned” at trial about their legislative acts. This protection shields legislators from… Continue reading