“Slight majority say Trump should be charged with crime over Jan. 6 role, poll finds”

May 3, 2022, 7:56 amUncategorizedRick Hasen

WaPo: Sixteen months after the deadly attack on the U.S. Capitol, a slight majority of Americans say former president Donald Trump should be charged with a crime for urging his supporters to march to the building on Jan. 6, 2021,… Continue reading

Dahlia Lithwick on Celebrity Journalism and the Inability to Communicate Effectively About the Risks of Election Subversion

May 2, 2022, 11:51 amelection subversion riskRick Hasen

Spot-on Dahlia Lithwick, pivoting off the White House Correspondents dinner: All of which leads us to the second category error. It’s not merely that the American free press is not quite as free as we’d prefer to believe, but… Continue reading

Georgia: “Fulton prosecutors to begin jury selection for Trump probe”

May 2, 2022, 7:22 amUncategorizedRick Hasen

AJC: Jury selection is slated to begin early Monday in downtown Atlanta for a special investigative panel that will delve into the actions of former President Donald Trump and his allies as they sought to reverse Georgia’s 2020 election results.Prosecutors… Continue reading

Kang, Dawood, Issacharoff Essays Posted from Stanford Law Review Symposium, With More to Come

May 2, 2022, 7:16 amUncategorizedRick Hasen

SYMPOSIUM – 2022 – SAFEGUARDING THE FUNDAMENTAL RIGHT TO VOTE The Post-Trump Rightward Lurch in Election Law by Michael Kang on April 29, 2022 The United States Supreme Court’s decisions last Term, Brnovich v. Democratic National Committee and Americans for Prosperity v. Bonta, mark only… Continue reading

“One GOP hopeful for Idaho Secretary of State says she wouldn’t work to increase voter turnout”

May 2, 2022, 7:12 amUncategorizedRick Hasen

Idaho Press: While both Moon and McGrane said voter education and encouraging Idahoans to vote would be high priorities should they be elected, Souza said, “I have a different look at that. I do not think that it… Continue reading

“Judge rejects RNC bid to block email, fundraising data from Jan. 6 panel”

May 2, 2022, 6:59 amUncategorizedRick Hasen

WaPo: A federal judge late Sunday rejected the Republican National Committee’s bid to block its mass email marketing vendor from releasing records to the House panel investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack as it probes whether President Donald… Continue reading

“The Effect of Television Advertising in United States Elections”

May 2, 2022, 6:47 amcampaignsRick Hasen

New in APSR from Sides, Vavreck, and Warshaw. Abstract: We provide a comprehensive assessment of the influence of television advertising on United States election outcomes from 2000–2018. We expand on previous research by including presidential, Senate, House, gubernatorial, Attorney General,… Continue reading

“Georgia official frantically texted Mark Meadows as Trump badgered secretary of state to ‘find’ votes”

May 2, 2022, 6:45 amUncategorizedRick Hasen

CNN reports.

Breaking: Supreme Court, with No Noted Dissents, Turns Down Major Petition on Whether Corporations Have a Constitutional Right to Make Contributions Directly to Candidates

May 2, 2022, 6:35 amcampaign finance, Supreme CourtRick Hasen

Once again, the Supreme Court has turned down the chance to consider the constitutionality of laws limiting direct campaign contributions to candidates. The Court upheld such limits in Beaumont v. FEC but it has been under sustained attack since Citizens… Continue reading

Arizona: “Judge tosses defamation lawsuit filed by state Rep. Finchem, others”

May 1, 2022, 7:43 pmUncategorizedRick Hasen

Tuscon.com: A judge on Friday threw out a lawsuit by three current and former lawmakers claiming that former state Rep. Charlene Fernandez, D-Yuma, “smeared’’ their names.Yuma County Superior Court Judge Pro-Tem Levi Gunderson said Fernandez had an absolute… Continue reading

Bruce Freed: “CPA’s New ‘Practical Stake’ Report Takes a Hard Look at Corporations, Political Spending and Democracy”

May 1, 2022, 7:39 pmcampaign financeRick Hasen

The following is a guest post from Bruce Freed of the Center for Political Accountability: Today’s crisis of democracy poses fundamental questions for company engagement in the political process. Is a commitment to democratic institutions a priority for companies, or… Continue reading

“Republican election-deniers elevate races for secretary of state”

May 1, 2022, 7:33 pmelection subversion risk, fraudulent fraud squadRick Hasen

AP: States United Action, a nonpartisan advocacy organization co-founded by Whitman, has been tracking secretary of state races and identified nearly two dozen Republican candidates who deny the results of the 2020 presidential election.That includes John Adams, a former… Continue reading

“Evidence mounts of GOP involvement in Trump election schemes”

May 1, 2022, 7:31 pmchicanery, election subversion risk, fraudulent fraud squadRick Hasen

AP: Since launching its investigation last summer, the Jan. 6 panel has been slowly gaining new details about what lawmakers said and did in the weeks before the insurrection. Members have asked three GOP lawmakers — Jordan of Ohio, Rep.… Continue reading

Did Ending the Filibuster of Judicial Appointments Alter the Behavior of Lower-Court Judges?

April 30, 2022, 11:52 amUncategorizedRichard Pildes

Interesting speculation about that in this Axios story: What they’re saying: J. Michael Luttig, a former U.S. Court of Appeals judge appointed by the late President George H.W. Bush, told Axios: “Ideally, federal judges would make few, if any,… Continue reading

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The law of politics and the politics of law