Danforth, Luttig et. al SCOTUS Amicus Brief Stresses the Risk of Presidential Immunity for President Accused of Election Subversion

February 13, 2024, 12:01 pmelection subversion risk, Supreme CourtRick Hasen

From the excellent just-filed brief: Here, one dispositive basis that fully sustains the judgment of the D.C. Circuit is that a President does not have immunity to engage in federal statutory crimes to subvert presidential election results and prevent the… Continue reading

My New One in The Atlantic: “How to Actually Guarantee the Right to Vote: A Six-Point Checklist”

February 13, 2024, 7:39 amReal Right to VoteRick Hasen

I have written this piece for the Atlantic, which is adapted from my book out next week, A Real Right to Vote. It begins: As election season begins and Americans head to the polls, many would be shocked to learn… Continue reading

Our Amicus Brief in United States v. Mackey: Lying About When, Where or How People Vote Violates Federal Law (18 USC 241) and Prosecution is Consistent with the First Amendment

February 13, 2024, 7:27 amcheap speech, chicanery, First Amendment theoryRick Hasen

Protect Democracy and the Yale Media Freedom and Information Access Clinic filed this Second Circuit amicus brief (with me as client and co-counsel) in United States v. Mackey. Mackey was convicted “under 18 U.S.C. § 241 for conspiring “to use… Continue reading

“Trump Asks Supreme Court to Pause Ruling Denying Him Absolute Immunity”

February 13, 2024, 7:04 amSupreme CourtRick Hasen

NYT: Former President Donald J. Trump asked the Supreme Court on Monday to pause an appeals court’s ruling rejecting his claim that he is absolutely immune from criminal charges based on his attempts to subvert the 2020 election. Unless the… Continue reading

“Compulsory Voting’s American History”

February 12, 2024, 1:16 pmvotingRick Hasen

Very excited to read this Harvard Law Review student note by Aidan Calvelli. Here’s the Introduction: Voter turnout was higher in the 2020 U.S. presidential election than it had been in 120 years.1 Nearly sixty-seven percent of citizens over… Continue reading

Quick Note on the Chesebro Docs

February 12, 2024, 12:10 pmUncategorizedNed Foley

The second edition of Ballot Battles has gone to press (it’s scheduled for release on May 10), and so I won’t be able to include any discussion of the newly disclosed documents. (Maybe there will be a third edition… Continue reading

“The Legal Coup; New Documents Reveal How Trump Lawyers Sought ‘Chaos’ to Force SCOTUS, or Whoever Else, to Anoint Trump”

February 12, 2024, 7:40 amelection subversion riskRick Hasen

Josh Kovensky for TPM: In late 2020, a group of conservative movement attorneys set out to build a legal pathway by which Donald Trump could stay in power, having lost the election. We’ve known about the outcome of their work… Continue reading

“RFK Jr.’s super PAC runs a $7M ad during the Super Bowl”

February 12, 2024, 7:32 amcampaign finance, campaignsRick Hasen

Politico: The super PAC backing Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s presidential campaign aired a costly Super Bowl ad that didn’t just draw direct parallels between the independent candidate and his uncle, former president John F. Kennedy — it also used the… Continue reading

“This Pa. activist is the source of false and flawed election claims gaining traction across the country”

February 12, 2024, 7:26 amfraudulent fraud squadRick Hasen

VoteBeat: On Jan. 6, 2021, as former President Donald Trump rallied his supporters, he used a statistic that, though false, was making the rounds: “In Pennsylvania, you had 205,000 more votes than you had voters,” he screamed, throwing his arms… Continue reading

Mar. 8 Wisconsin Event: “Current Challenges to Election Administration”

February 12, 2024, 7:24 amUncategorizedRick Hasen

Current Challenges to Election Administration Co-hosted by the Elections Research Center (ERC) and the State Democracy Research Initiative (SDRI) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Sponsored by Stafford Rosenbaum LLP When: Friday, March 8, 3-4:15 p.m. CTWhere: UW Law School, RM 2260 (or… Continue reading

“Real Right to Vote” Book Tour Opens This Thursday, Feb. 15, at UCLA Hammer Museum, with me in Conversation with Erwin Chemerinsky

February 11, 2024, 9:04 pmReal Right to VoteRick Hasen

I recently noted some in-person and virtual events to discuss my new book, A Real Right to Vote, out February 20th. (Preorder from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Bookshop, and read the Kirkus Review). Here’s the… Continue reading

Digging in in the Badger State

February 11, 2024, 11:16 amredistrictingJustin Levitt

Justin here. There’s an oddity in the most recent round of Wisconsin’s redistricting travails. Democratic legislators (and later, the Democratic Governor) seem to be voting against an ostensible olive branch extended by the Republican legislative leadership. And I wonder if… Continue reading

“Meta turns its back on politics again, angering some news creators”

February 11, 2024, 7:48 amcheap speechRick Hasen

WaPo: Meta announced on Friday it would stop proactively recommending political content on Instagram or its upstart text-based app Threads, alarming news and politics-focused creators and journalists gearing up for a crucial election year. While users will still be allowed… Continue reading

“Georgia Republican Party official denies voting fraud charges in court”

February 11, 2024, 7:14 amUncategorizedRick Hasen

AJC: A top Georgia Republican Party official and talk show host accused of election fraud, Brian K. Pritchard, testified Friday that he never voted illegally while serving a felony sentence for forging checks, but state attorneys showed evidence that he… Continue reading