“North Carolina justices offer a liberal roadmap for overturning elections”

August 25, 2022, 8:48 amUncategorizedRick Hasen

Jason Willick WaPo column: If American states are laboratories of democracy, they’re also laboratories of democratic decay. North Carolina — close to the median state by party vote share — is offering a grim lesson in how polarization can lead… Continue reading

5th Circuit, Sitting En Banc, Upholds Mississippi’s Felon Disenfranchisement Law Despite Finding It was Originally Enacted with Racially Discriminatory Intent, Finding 1968 Reauthorization Free of Such Intent (!)

August 25, 2022, 7:59 amfelon votingRick Hasen

You can find the per curiam opinion at this link. From the primary dissent by Judge Graves: In 1890, Mississippi held a constitutional convention with the express aim of enshrining white supremacy. The 1890 Convention was a backlash against Reconstruction-era… Continue reading

“Latest filing sheds more light on Fulton DA’s election interference probe”

August 25, 2022, 7:50 amUncategorizedRick Hasen

Stephen Fowler for GPB: A new filing from the Fulton County District Attorney’s office paints the clearest picture yet of the scope of a special grand jury’s investigation into potential election interference in Georgia’s 2020 presidential election by former President… Continue reading

“How a Corporate Law Firm Led a Political Revolution; The untold story of Jones Day’s push to move the American government and courts to the right.”

August 25, 2022, 7:34 amUncategorizedRick Hasen

NYT Mag: For much of its history, Jones Day was a juggernaut in the field of corporate litigation. A global goliath with more than 40 offices and about 2,500 lawyers, it raked in billions a year in fees from tobacco,… Continue reading

Montana: “GOP lawmaker: Republican election laws tied to concerns that college students vote ‘liberal'”

August 25, 2022, 7:27 amUncategorizedRick Hasen

Helena Independent Record: A Republican state lawmaker testified in a Billings courtroom Tuesday that her GOP colleagues were motivated when crafting new election laws last year by the perception that “college students tend to be liberal.”Rep. Geraldine Custer, a… Continue reading

“For Lindsey Graham, a Showdown in Georgia”

August 25, 2022, 7:24 amUncategorizedRick Hasen

NYT: Six days after major news organizations declared Donald J. Trump the loser of the 2020 presidential election, his allies were applying a desperate full-court press in an effort to turn his defeat around, particularly in Georgia.The pro-Trump lawyer… Continue reading

“Ken Paxton bucks legal precedent and secretary of state’s advice in letting anyone examine ballots right after elections”

August 24, 2022, 4:25 pmUncategorizedRick Hasen

Jessica Huseman for VoteBeat: A legal opinion released by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton last week will almost certainly throw county elections offices into chaos after November, experts say, exposing election clerks to possible criminal charges and materially reducing… Continue reading

“What Gorsuch will do and Biden won’t: condemn the Insular Cases”

August 24, 2022, 4:23 pmUncategorizedRick Hasen

Oped from Anthony Romero (ACLU), Janai Nelson (NAACP LDF), and Lourdes Rosado (LatinoJustice PRLDEF) calling on the Biden Admin to condemn the Insular Cases. The Solicitor General is set to file its response to the cert. petition in Fitisemanu v.… Continue reading

“Far-Right Sheriff Pushes the Big Lie in Arizona; Mark Lamb and a network of sheriffs around the country are partnering with leading purveyors of election fraud conspiracies, part of an escalating campaign to police the vote.”

August 24, 2022, 10:54 amelection subversion riskRick Hasen

Bolts: Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb walked out to standing applause at Donald Trump’s July 22 rally in Prescott, Arizona, wearing his usual cowboy hat-and-blue jeans getup and flashing a blindingly white smile. He waved and pumped a fist… Continue reading

“A Democracy Crisis In The Making: August 2022 Edition”

August 24, 2022, 10:52 amelection subversion riskRick Hasen

States United updated report: “As of July 31, 2022, with most state legislative sessions having drawn to a close, there have been at least 244 bills introduced in 33 states that would interfere with election administration—and 24 of this… Continue reading

“The Truly Scary Part of the $1.6 Billion Conservative Donation; It’s not about the legality. It’s about the loop.”

August 23, 2022, 6:00 pmcampaign finance, Supreme Court, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

I have written this piece with Dahlia Lithwick for Slate. It begins: On Monday, the New York Times broke the news that last year conservative mastermind Leonard Leo had obtained control over $1.6 billion through something called the “Marble Freedom… Continue reading

“To Fight Election Falsehoods, Social Media Companies Ready a Familiar Playbook”

August 23, 2022, 7:23 amcheap speechRick Hasen

NYT: The election dashboards are back online, the fact-checking teams have reassembled, and warnings about misleading content are cluttering news feeds once again.As the United States marches toward another election season, social media companies are steeling themselves for a… Continue reading

“Court filings detail dramatic near encounter between Schumer and Proud Boys member on January 6”

August 23, 2022, 7:21 amelection subversion riskRick Hasen

CNN: Court filings have shed further light on the dramatic moment when Proud Boy Joshua Pruitt nearly came face to face with the then-Senate minority leader during the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol.Pruitt pleaded guilty … Continue reading

“Can computer simulations help fix democracy?”

August 23, 2022, 7:10 amredistrictingRick Hasen

WaPo: After the release of the 2020 Census, legislatures across the country redrew their states’ congressional district maps, just like they do every decade. And, just like every decade, aggrieved citizens sued them for gerrymandering — the process whereby… Continue reading

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