Monthly Archives: October 2015

“Donald Trump’s candidacy raises novel ethics questions”

October 6, 2015, 1:30 pmcampaigns, conflict of interest lawsRick Hasen

Fredreka Schouten for USA Today: If voters decide to hire billionaire Donald Trump as their president in 2016, they couldn’t actually fire him from the job he now holds. Federal law doesn’t explicitly prohibit President Trump from continuing to run… Continue reading

“State high court set to hear arguments on Citizens United advisory measure”

October 6, 2015, 9:50 amcampaign finance, Supreme CourtRick Hasen

LAT: California legislators decided last year to ask voters whether they supported overturning a landmark ruling that allowed unlimited corporate spending to support or denounce federal candidates. A conservative taxpayers group balked, arguing that state legislators lack the power… Continue reading

“Super PACs stretch the rules that prohibit coordination with presidential campaigns”

October 6, 2015, 9:47 amcampaign finance, campaignsRick Hasen

LAT: One Democratic commissioner at the FEC said that she is “very concerned” about the growing influence of super PACs and frustrated about the inability of her agency to do anything about it. “These super PACS are more and… Continue reading

“High court to decide free-speech limits in political-retribution case”

October 6, 2015, 9:45 amSupreme CourtRick Hasen

LAT: The Supreme Court said Thursday it will decide an important question on the rights of the nation’s 22 million public employees: How far do free-speech rights go in protecting a public employee who is demoted or fired over his… Continue reading

“How Chief Justice Roberts and Four Supreme Court Colleagues Gave the Nation a System of Legalized Bribery”

October 6, 2015, 9:38 amcampaign finance, Supreme CourtRick Hasen

Fred Wertheimer oped. One of my goals in writing Plutocrats United is to banish the term “legalized bribery” from the reformers’ lexicon.

Christopher Coates Heavily Criticizes Ari Berman Voting Rights Book

October 6, 2015, 9:37 amThe Voting Wars, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

Former DOJ voting section chief, who has now become associated with conservative legal attacks on the DOJ’s voting rights position, minces no words.

“Launch of Voting Rights Institute: Remarks of J. Gerald Hebert on October 2, 2015”

October 6, 2015, 9:34 amVoting Rights ActRick Hasen

Gerry: The VRI will have 3 main focuses, and Dean Treanor and Caroline Fredrickson have highlighted two of them: a VRI at Georgetown Law will provide opportunities for students, recent graduates, and fellows to engage in litigation and policy… Continue reading

“In Menendez case, Citizens United also on trial”

October 5, 2015, 9:52 pmbribery, campaign financeRick Hasen

Philly.com: The corruption case against New Jersey Sen. Robert Menendez has become a battleground over the controversial Supreme Court decision that allowed the flood of campaign money that is reshaping elections. I remain skeptical of the tension between the… Continue reading

“AG’s office files new felony identify theft charge against Dianna Duran”

October 5, 2015, 9:48 pmchicaneryRick Hasen

Albuquerque Journal: Attorney General Hector Balderas’s office has tacked another criminal charge onto its case against Secretary of State Dianna Duran, alleging the person Duran listed as her campaign treasurer during her 2010 election bid — former state Sen.… Continue reading

“Former Indiana Secretary of State Charlie White begins home detention sentence”

October 5, 2015, 9:46 pmchicanery, SOS WhiteRick Hasen

IndyStar: Former Secretary of State Charlie White has started serving his home detention sentence after losing a lengthy legal battle to have all of his felony convictions in a voter fraud case overturned. The former Hamilton County Republican Party… Continue reading

“Supreme Court Plans to Highlight Revisions in Its Opinions”

October 5, 2015, 9:34 pmSupreme CourtRick Hasen

NYT: The Supreme Court announced on Monday that it would disclose after-the-fact changes to its opinions, a common practice that had garnered little attention until a law professor at Harvard wrote about it last year. The court also took… Continue reading

“Supreme Court Inadvertently Announces Argument Date in Voting Case”

October 5, 2015, 9:30 pmSupreme Court, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

Tony Mauro: The closely watched “one person one vote” election law case Evenwel v. Abbott is set to be argued before the U.S. Supreme Court on Nov. 30, according to an apparently inadvertent post on the court’s website.

“Supreme Court Prepares to Take On Politically Charged Cases”

October 5, 2015, 9:04 amSupreme CourtRick Hasen

Adam Liptak in the NYT: The current court is the first in history split along partisan lines, where the party of the president who appointed each justice is a reliable predictor of judicial ideology. Put another way, all five… Continue reading