“$5,000-Per-Plate Dinner Tests Museum Ban on Political Fund-Raisers”

August 17, 2025, 4:21 pmtax law and election lawRick Hasen

NYT: At a private event hosted by Senator Dave McCormick, Republican of Pennsylvania, donors wandered through a sculpture hall at the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh and partied with their cowboy hats on at a dinner where each plate… Continue reading

“Meet the Lobbyist Fighting Against ‘Perfect Legal’ Corruption in DC”

August 16, 2025, 12:12 pmelection law bizRick Hasen

Dave Levinthal profiles Craig Holman for the Washingtonian” When Craig Holman first came to, he found himself in George Washington University Hospital hooked up to machines. His ribs, hip, and knee were shattered. His ankle, too. He had suffered a… Continue reading

“Newsom’s Gerrymander of California Has a Formidable Foe: Schwarzenegger”

August 16, 2025, 12:05 pmredistrictingRick Hasen

NYT: A day after Gov. Gavin Newsom held a splashy campaign rally to debut his ballot measure to redraw California’s congressional map, Arnold Schwarzenegger walked into a Santa Monica hotel for breakfast on Friday. He was wearing a new custom-made… Continue reading

“NY state Senate candidate allegedly paid homeless people to lie about donations to net matching funds: report”

August 16, 2025, 12:03 pmchicaneryRick Hasen

NY Post: An upstate GOP state senate candidate’s campaign allegedly paid homeless people to claim they made donations to him, allowing him to net matching taxpayer funds, a report says. Several homeless men in Auburn told the Albany Times… Continue reading

“Democrats’ Proposed New California Map Puts Five GOP Seats in Danger”

August 16, 2025, 11:55 amdirect democracy, redistrictingRick Hasen

Cook Political Report: As Texas Republicans appear poised to thwart Democrats’ brief quorum break and pass a brutal new gerrymander, California Democrats’ plans to retaliate with their own aggressive map are coming into view. Democrats’ California proposal is a… Continue reading

The Roberts Court Has Applied the Unitary Executive Branch Doctrine Consistently Across Administrations

August 15, 2025, 12:56 pmUncategorizedRichard Pildes

As most separation of powers/administrative law scholars know, the Roberts Court has consistently applied the unitary executive branch theory (UET) across Democratic and Republican administrations. That theory maintains, at a minimum, that the President must have the power to remove… Continue reading

“Missouri Republicans appear headed to congressional redistricting special session”

August 15, 2025, 11:55 amUncategorizedRick Hasen

St. Louis Public Radio reports.

Texas calls second special session for redistricting

August 15, 2025, 11:19 amelection law and constitutional law, political parties, redistrictingHatch ActJustin Levitt

Gov. Abbott called a second special session Friday morning, calling the legislature into action for a second shot at redistricting maps (and, at least in theory, other issues). The call for the first special session asked the legislature to consider… Continue reading

“Is Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act Unconstitutional?”

August 15, 2025, 7:39 amUncategorizedNicholas Stephanopoulos

Bradley Smith and I talked about Callais and the future of Section 2 in the National Constitution Center’s “We the People” podcast with Jeffrey Rosen. In this episode, Bradley Smith of Capital University Law School and Nicholas Stephanopoulos of Harvard… Continue reading

“Democrats are fighting fire with fire over redistricting – but will democracy burn?”

August 15, 2025, 7:07 amUncategorizedNicholas Stephanopoulos

Sam Levine for the Guardian: “Gerrymandering is bad enough once a decade,” said Richard Pildes, a law professor at New York University. “But if we open the door to continual efforts throughout the decade to squeeze out every additional seat… Continue reading

“Texas Democrats say they will return to state once session ends, California unveils retaliatory map”

August 14, 2025, 5:46 pmredistrictingRick Hasen

Texas Tribune: Texas House Democrats who left the state in protest of proposed congressional redistricting said Thursday they will return to the state after the Legislature adjourns Friday and California’s state lawmakers introduce a retaliatory redistricting map in their… Continue reading

“Justice Department presses Texas for list of registered voters, and the officials who check it”

August 14, 2025, 5:44 pmUncategorizedRick Hasen

Votebeat.

The TBD details on California’s redistricting special election

August 14, 2025, 3:34 pmelection law and constitutional law, political parties, redistricting, The Voting WarsJustin Levitt

Justin here. Today, California Gov. Newsom announced what he’d been foreshadowing for a while now — an effort to seek voters’ approval for new congressional district lines in a Nov. 4 special election. (Rick noted the border patrol “escort” for… Continue reading

Annals of Authoritarianism: Trump’s Military Agents Appear Outside California Governor Gavin Newsom’s Press Conference on Redistricting Reform

August 14, 2025, 3:02 pmauthoritarian threats in USRick Hasen

Truly frightening stuff: As Gov. Gavin Newsom prepared to announce that he would take on President Trump’s redistricting plans on behalf of California, scores of federal immigration agents massed outside the venue Thursday. Newsom was set to speak at… Continue reading