Coming January 4 to New Orleans to the American Association of Law Schools’ annual meeting….

Hot Topic Workshop on Democracy and the Public Trust: Equality, Integrity, and Suppression in the 2012 Election
Moderators: Steven Bender, Seattle University School of Law
Audrey G. McFarlane, University of Baltimore School of Law
Speakers: Gilda Daniels, University of Baltimore School of Law
Richard L. Hasen, University of California, Irvine School of Law
Sylvia Lazos, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, William S. Boyd School of Law
Janai S. Nelson, St. John’s University School of Law
Spencer Overton, The George Washington University Law School
Terry Smith, DePaul University College of Law
Zephyr Teachout, Fordham University School of Law
The goal is to focus on how the voice of the powerful and the vulnerable were affected by laws regarding election registration and voter ID, election participation and felony disenfranchisement and how the new form of political voice through financial contributions from political action committees have affected the election landscape. Therefore, in addition to discussing some of the common themes that tie together the various voter ID laws that several states have adopted as well as the judicial responses to those laws, we are hoping to consider the broader implications for democracy and steps that can be taken to resolve the controversies surrounding the Election of 2012. We will in effect be exploring in hindsight whether there was anything different about the Election of 2012 from a historical perspective and what did the Election of 2012 teach us about our democracy? As well, we will consider how the various new laws impacted vulnerable populations such as Latina/o and Black voters.