“Alabama Republicans defend not creating a second majority Black district in court”

August 15, 2023, 10:34 amUncategorizedredistricting, Voting Rights Act; Section 2Ned Foley

Zach Montellaro in POLITICO. “Hearings over the new map kicked off in federal court in Alabama on Monday, and the state is once again arguing that it is not illegally diluting the power of Black voters. This week’s hearing will… Continue reading

“The First Amendment Is No Defense for Trump’s Alleged Crimes”

August 15, 2023, 10:26 amUncategorizedJanuary 6, The Big LieNed Foley

Alan Rozenshtein in The Atlantic: “Some have criticized the indictment for taking a position on the predicate to all of Trump’s actions—whether the 2020 election was stolen—and concluding that Trump in fact lost, fair and square. But far from… Continue reading

My New One at Slate: “Why the Fulton County Indictment Is Different From Jack Smith’s Case”

August 15, 2023, 7:45 amchicanery, election subversion riskRick Hasen

I have written this piece for Slate. It begins: If the recent federal indictment of Donald Trump on charges related to his attempt to subvert the 2020 presidential election was a streamlined surgical strike aimed at assuring a clean case… Continue reading

“One state can make the Supreme Court decide if Trump can be president”

August 15, 2023, 5:13 amUncategorizedJanuary 6, Section 3Ned Foley

My opinion column in the Washington Post, which addresses potential litigation over Trump’s disqualification under section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment, especially in light of the new Baude-Paulsen law review article; some excerpts: “None of the criminal prosecutions of… Continue reading

Wall Street Journal’s Useful Scorecard of Charges

August 15, 2023, 5:00 amUncategorizedJanuary 6, The Big LieNed Foley

Lists number of charges against each defendant. Trump and Giuliani: 13. Eastman: 9. Meadows: 2. Chesebro: 7. Clark & Ellis: 2. Powell: 7. Etc., Etc.

Norm Eisen on the Georgia indictment

August 15, 2023, 4:53 amUncategorizedJanuary 6, The Big LieNed Foley

Co-authored with Amy Lee Copeland in the N.Y. Times,, a useful comparison to Jack Smith’s federal indictment of Trump: “The large cast of defendants populates a complete conspiracy chain of command and features the famous (Mr. Trump, his chief… Continue reading

Peter Baker on the Georgia indictment of Trump

August 15, 2023, 4:41 amUncategorizedJanuary 6, The Big LieNed Foley

Peter Baker’s analysis in the N.Y. Times. “The Georgia indictment, powerful as it is in its language, has been priced into the market, as the Wall Street types would put it. … “’The accumulated indictments are kind of a white… Continue reading

“Trump, 18 others indicted for trying to overthrow 2020 Georgia election”

August 14, 2023, 10:10 pmelection subversion riskRick Hasen

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Former President Donald Trump orchestrated a sweeping criminal enterprise, committing more than a dozen felonies, as he tried and failed to overturn his defeat in Georgia’s 2020 election, according to an indictment handed up Monday by a… Continue reading

The Georgia Indictments

August 14, 2023, 6:10 pmUncategorizedJanuary 6, The Big LieNed Foley

CNN is reporting that there are ten indictments. Details to follow (in one or more subsequent posts as information becomes available). (Update from Rick H.: At 11 pm eastern, we got the 98 page indictment. More to come.) (Second update… Continue reading

“Lawsuit targets Wisconsin legislative districts resembling Swiss cheese”

August 14, 2023, 4:27 pmUncategorizedredistrictingNed Foley

AP reports. “Wisconsin’s nationally peculiar practice of detached districts is cited as one of several alleged violations in a recent lawsuit seeking to strike down current Assembly and Senate districts and replace them before the 2024 election. … “Wisconsin’s… Continue reading

“Former Republican legal officials endorse special counsel’s speedy trial date proposal in Trump Jan. 6 case”

August 14, 2023, 1:44 pmUncategorizedJanuary 6, The Big LieNed Foley

CNN reports on amicus brief filed by eleven prominent former Republican judges and government officials, including Judge Michael Luttig and Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.

“New Ohio redistricting ballot proposal would end lawmakers’ map-drawing power”

August 14, 2023, 12:29 pmUncategorizedredistrictingNed Foley

Cleveland.com reports on the effort to adopt in Ohio a citizens redistricting commission (like the kind in Arizona, California, or Michigan), rather than the failed political-insiders commission that Ohio adopted in the previous effort at redistricting reform in the state.

“Does Ranked Choice Voting Promote Legislative Bipartisanship? Using Maine as a Policy Laboratory”

August 14, 2023, 12:21 pmUncategorizedpolarization, ranked choice votingNed Foley

Rachel Hutchinson of FairVote and Ben Reilly of the East-West Center have posted this new paper on SSRN. Here’s the abstract: Political polarization in the United States has increased dramatically, hampering the functioning of American government. Some scholars attribute… Continue reading