Monthly Archives: December 2021

New Brookings Institute report on how to combat untruths in the marketplace of ideas

December 3, 2021, 5:54 amcheap speechproposed legislationTabatha Abu El-Haj

Nate Persily and Joshua Tucker have issued a new Report, How to fix social media? Start with independent research. A key issue for regulatory responses, they argue, is just “how little outsiders know about what is happening inside these companies.”… Continue reading

“Two Election Workers Targeted by Pro-Trump Media Sue for Defamation”

December 2, 2021, 7:03 pmelection administration, election subversion riskDefamationTabatha Abu El-Haj

Reid J. Epstein, N.Y. Times “Two Georgia election workers who were the targets of a right-wing campaign that falsely claimed they manipulated ballots filed a defamation lawsuit on Thursday against one of the nation’s leading sources of pro-Trump misinformation.” Must… Continue reading

“How the Suburbs Have Changed Gerrymandering”

December 2, 2021, 6:52 pmredistrictingTabatha Abu El-Haj

Maggie Astor, N.Y. Times, writes that “Republican gerrymandering efforts used to focus mainly on diluting the influence of cities,” but this cycle the focus is also on cracking the political power of the suburbs. The article notes, further, that… Continue reading

1982 Amendments to VRA–New Article

December 2, 2021, 10:04 amVoting Rights ActNew ScholarshipTabatha Abu El-Haj

A new article by Richard Johnson, Queen Mary, University of London explores conflicts with the Reagan administration over the 1982 amendments to the Voting Rights Act. It pushes back against the view that Republican support can be explained by the… Continue reading

Lessig and Equal Citizens Group Make Another Run at Supreme Court, Arguing that States Can Limit Contributions to Super PACs Without Violating the First Amendment

December 2, 2021, 9:52 amcampaign finance, Supreme CourtRick Hasen

Read the cert petition, with the following question presented: Petitioners are Alaskan citizens who challenged the Alaska Public Offices Commission’s (“APOC’s”) refusal to enforce Alaskan law regulating contributions to independent political action committees. APOC had defended its refusal on… Continue reading

Challenge to Minnesota’s Procedures for Restoring Voting Rights to Felons Heard in State Supreme Court

December 2, 2021, 7:02 amfelon voting, Uncategorizedstate constitutionsTabatha Abu El-Haj

Minnesota Public Radio Minnesota’s Supreme Court heard arguments this week in a case that may determine whether continuing to disenfranchise voters on parole or on probation violates the state’s constitution. The case turns on the fact that, under the Minnesota… Continue reading

New Civic Center Study–“In Arizona’s two largest counties, fewer than 15% of 18-year-olds are registered to vote

December 2, 2021, 6:46 amUncategorizedmobilization, voter registration, youth voteTabatha Abu El-Haj

New research by Laura W. Brill at the Civics Center shows struggles to register young voters in Arizona. “[F]ewer than 15% of 18-year-old residents of Arizona’s most populous counties, Maricopa County and Pima County, have registered to vote.” These trends… Continue reading

Dec. 3 virtual event: “Self-districting: the ultimate antidote to gerrymandering.”

December 2, 2021, 6:38 amredistrictingEventsTabatha Abu El-Haj

On Friday, Dec. 3, at 1:30 PM ET the Princeton Gerrymandering Project / Electoral Innovation Lab will present a virtual Academic Talk over Zoom with Edward Foley, Charles W. Ebersold and Florence Whitcomb Ebersold Chair in Constitutional Law, the Director… Continue reading

Young Voters Disillusioned

December 1, 2021, 5:02 pmUncategorizedmobilization, voting, young votersTabatha Abu El-Haj

Harvard Public Opinion Project “A national poll of America’s 18- to 29-year-olds released today by the Institute of Politics at Harvard Kennedy School indicates that a majority of young Americans believe that our democracy is “in trouble” or “failing.” While… Continue reading

“How the GOP threatens harm to red state residents, as revealed in a new study”

December 1, 2021, 4:47 pmpolitical parties, political polarizationdemocracy deficit, governance, policy responsivenessTabatha Abu El-Haj

This new Op Ed by Greg Sargent in the Washington Post, highlights, once more, deficits in policy responsiveness that arises out of hyper-polarization, among other things. Sargent highlights a new study from the Third Way–a centrist Democratic-leaning group–that analyzes the… Continue reading

“Dark Money Group Sought Trump Pardons”

December 1, 2021, 2:52 pmcampaign financeAlleged Campaign Finance ViolationsTabatha Abu El-Haj

Political Wire flags this story from the Daily Beast. “Former Trump acting attorney general Matthew Whitaker earned $400,000 last year by helping a conservative dark money group secure pardons from his former boss . . . Neither Whitaker nor the… Continue reading

Dec. 15 virtual event: “Protecting Our Constitutional Democracy”

December 1, 2021, 1:14 pmUncategorizedRick Hasen

Looking forward to participating in this event of the NYC Bar: Protecting Our Constitutional DemocracyWednesday, December 15 | 6:00 p.m. – 7:15 p.m. Program Fee:Free for City Bar Members, NYSBA Members and Non-Lawyers | $15 for Non-Member LawyersNYSBA Members please call… Continue reading

“GOP targets Wisconsin elections system, nonpartisan director”

December 1, 2021, 7:49 amchicanery, election administration, election subversion riskTabatha Abu El-Haj

Political Wire notes this news item from NBC News. ” Wisconsin Republicans are working to discredit the bipartisan system they created to run elections in the state after President Joe Biden narrowly won last year’s presidential race, making the… Continue reading

Ohio’s Maps Challenged in State Court

December 1, 2021, 7:42 amredistrictingTabatha Abu El-Haj

The ACLU, the League of Women Voters of Ohio, and the A. Philip Randolph Institute are challenging Ohio’s new Republican-drawn congressional map as an illegal gerrymander. The suit filed with the Ohio Supreme Court yesterday argues that the adopted maps… Continue reading