“American Bar task force calls on lawyers to defend against threats to democracy”

August 3, 2024, 9:50 amUncategorizedauthoritarianism, election subversionSpencer Overton

The Hill: When the American Bar Association’s Task Force for American Democracy officially launches Thursday, it will call on America’s lawyers to take up the “clarion call” to defend the U.S. constitutional democracy against the “serious threat” of “rising… Continue reading

“Trump’s stalled election-subversion prosecution revs back to life“

August 3, 2024, 9:49 amUncategorizedSpencer Overton

Politico: The stalled criminal case against Donald Trump for seeking to subvert the 2020 election is starting to move. The Supreme Court’s landmark ruling on presidential immunity — a breathtaking legal victory for Trump’s bid to sideline his criminal… Continue reading

“Trump team gambles on new ground game capitalizing on loosened rules”

August 3, 2024, 9:48 amUncategorizedSpencer Overton

Washington Post: Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump is relying on a cluster of loosely coordinated outside groups to run turnout operations traditionally performed by the campaign itself, an approach that takes advantage of new leniencies in campaign finance rules… Continue reading

“U.S. 5th Circuit rules for Galveston County in voting rights case, striking down decades of precedent”

August 2, 2024, 6:38 amUncategorizedSection 2, Voting Rights ActSpencer Overton

Houston Public Media: The U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals has reversed a decades-old precedent that allows different racial and ethnic groups to form coalitions to seek legal remedies under the Voting Rights Act. The ruling will likely be appealed… Continue reading

“Without ‘Zuckerbucks,’ limited private funding available for elections”

August 2, 2024, 6:37 amUncategorizedelection administration, fundingSpencer Overton

Washington Post: In 2020, a group funded by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and his wife gave $332 million to local governments to run the presidential election amid a global pandemic, prompting a Republican backlash that led to more than two dozen… Continue reading

“Democrats begin process of officially making Harris their nominee”

August 2, 2024, 6:35 amUncategorizedSpencer Overton

Washington Post: Democratic delegates began online voting Thursday in a process that almost certainly will result in Harris formally becoming the party’s nominee, since she is the only candidate who qualified and most of the delegates have already endorsed… Continue reading

“Trump Escalates Race Attacks on Harris, Worrying Some Republicans”

August 2, 2024, 6:34 amUncategorizedracial appealsSpencer Overton

NYT: A day after telling an audience of Black journalists in Chicago that Ms. Harris had “all of a sudden” decided to become “a Black person,” Mr. Trump posted a photo on his social media site of Ms. Harris… Continue reading

“Secret Bundlers, Sham Donations: Adams Is Faulted in Campaign Audit”

August 2, 2024, 6:33 amUncategorizedCampaign financeSpencer Overton

NYT: Three years ago, as Eric Adams was running for mayor of New York City, his campaign was raking in donations from a broad range of mysterious sources. There was the $201,330 delivered by unidentified intermediaries through 57 clusters… Continue reading

“Pennsylvania’s long-running dispute over dates on mail-in voting ballots is back in the courts”

August 2, 2024, 6:31 amUncategorizedvote-by-mailSpencer Overton

ABC News: HARRISBURG, Pa. — A technical requirement that Pennsylvania voters write accurate dates on the exterior envelope of mail-in ballots was again the subject of a court proceeding on Thursday as advocates argued the mandate unfairly leads to otherwise… Continue reading

“Election Deniers Are Ramping Up Efforts to Disenfranchise Voters”

August 2, 2024, 6:29 amUncategorizedElection denier; misinformation; election conspiracySpencer Overton

Wired: For the past six months, election denial groups across the United States have been laser-focused on efforts to purge voter rolls in support of former president Donald Trump’s reelection bid. Using new apps and online tools, they claim… Continue reading

“States Legislating Against Digital Deception: A Comparative Study of Laws to Mitigate Deepfake Risks in American Political Advertisements”

August 2, 2024, 6:27 amUncategorizedArtificial Intelligence, deepfakesSpencer Overton

Hayden Goldberg’s new piece on SSRN: Abstract Scholars have long debated whether or not new laws are needed to address new technologies and their risks, or if existing laws are sufficient. This thesis examines one of the newest technologies –… Continue reading

JD Vance on the Electoral Count Reform Act

August 1, 2024, 7:31 amelectoral collegeDerek Muller

From Reese Gorman at NOTUS: Asked if that means he would go so far as to put Trump’s desires above his constitutional authority — as Pence has said he was asked to do on Jan. 6, 2021, when Trump… Continue reading

“How Samuel Alito got canceled from the Supreme Court social media majority”

August 1, 2024, 5:03 amUncategorizedcontent moderation, justice alito, Supreme CourtSpencer Overton

CNN: The hardline approach Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito takes usually gets him what he wants. This year it backfired. Behind the scenes, the conservative justice sought to put a thumb on the scale for states trying to restrict… Continue reading

“Trump Remarks on Harris Evoke a Haunting and Unsettling History”

August 1, 2024, 5:01 amUncategorizedcultural anxiety, identity, racial appealsSpencer Overton

News analysis by Lisa Lerer and Maya King in the NYT: The audience of Black journalists was prepared for a combative exchange well before Donald J. Trump took the stage on Wednesday for an interview at their annual gathering… Continue reading