“Judge Allows Release of Half of Special Counsel’s Report on Trump Cases”

January 13, 2025, 2:12 pmDepartment of Justice, election subversion riskRick Hasen

NYT: A federal judge in Florida cleared the way on Monday for the Justice Department to soon release a portion of a report written by the special counsel, Jack Smith, detailing the decisions he made in charging President-elect Donald J.… Continue reading

Announcing the Winter/Spring Lineup of Safeguarding Democracy Project Events

January 13, 2025, 7:29 amcheap speech, election administration, The Voting Wars, voter registration, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

We’ve got a great lineup of in person, online, and hybrid events! Tuesday, January 28 Fair Elections and Voting Rights: What’s Ahead in the Next Four Years? Register for the webinar here. In-person registration here. Lunch will be… Continue reading

Supreme Court Rejects Racial Gerrymandering Claim Out of North Dakota Redistricting

January 13, 2025, 7:12 amredistricting, Supreme Court, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

Michael Li explains:

“‘I Think Things Are Going to Be Bad, Really Bad’: The US Military Debates Possible Deployment on US Soil Under Trump”

January 13, 2025, 7:02 amauthoritarian threats in USRick Hasen

Michael Hirsh for Politico Magazine: According to nearly a dozen retired officers and current military lawyers, as well as scholars who teach at West Point and Annapolis, an intense if quiet debate is underway inside the U.S. military community about… Continue reading

“The Good Lawyers of January 6”

January 13, 2025, 6:56 amelection law biz, election subversion riskRick Hasen

W. Bradley Wendel has posted this draft on SSRN. Here is the abstract: Much of the response by the community of legal ethics and professional responsibility scholars to the 2020 presidential election has been focused on the wrongs committed by… Continue reading

“The ‘Determinative Popular Vote’: Measuring the Margin in U.S. Presidential Elections”

January 13, 2025, 6:53 amelectoral collegeRick Hasen

Mark Haidar and Aidan Calvelli have posted this draft on SSRN (forthcoming, Election Law Journal). Here is the abstract: Presidential elections are often close; that much is clear. But the standard ways of measuring the margins in these elections-the national… Continue reading

“The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: Redistricting Commissions in the 2021 Cycle”

January 13, 2025, 6:43 amredistrictingRick Hasen

Sam Wang and Zacharia Sippy have posted this draft on SSRN (forthcoming, Duke Journal of Constitutional Law & Public Policy). here is the abstract: In the last decade, redistricting commissions have proliferated across the United States as a means of… Continue reading

“Republicans Saved Democracy Once. Will They Do It Again?”

January 12, 2025, 12:19 pmauthoritarian threats in USRick Hasen

Andrea Kendall-Taylor, Joseph Wright and Erica Frantz in POLITICO Magazine: n the coming weeks and months, after Donald Trump takes the oath of office for the second time, Democrats are going to take every opportunity to mobilize voters and… Continue reading

“Despite Trump’s Attacks, Republicans Made Big Gains in Mail Voting”

January 12, 2025, 12:16 pmabsentee ballotsRick Hasen

NYT: Republicans made almost universal gains in mail voting during the 2024 election, eroding a key Democratic advantage in nearly every state that tracks party registration, according to a data analysis by The New York Times. The Republican rise in… Continue reading

“Jack Smith, Who Led Prosecutions of Trump, Resigns”

January 12, 2025, 7:53 amDepartment of Justice, election subversion riskRick Hasen

NYT: Jack Smith, the special counsel who brought two failed federal prosecutions against President-elect Donald J. Trump, resigned this week, according to a footnote buried in court papers — a remarkably muted conclusion to a fight that redefined the nation’s… Continue reading

“In North Carolina, Republicans Try to Reverse a Supreme Court Election Loss”

January 10, 2025, 3:29 pmchicanery, judicial electionsRick Hasen

NYT: Judge Griffin’s protest includes two arguments against counting a few thousand ballots cast by overseas voters that one Republican justice said this week may have merit. But its centerpiece is a claim that some 60,000 voters in the Supreme… Continue reading

Fourth Circuit Sets Expedited Briefing Schedule in North Carolina Supreme Court Election Dispute, But Does Not Issue Any Orders for Now

January 10, 2025, 2:36 pmUncategorizedRick Hasen

Here is the order (via Democracy Docket). As things stand on the question of removing this case to federal court, the case for now remains before the North Carolina Supreme Court, which would be deciding an issue relating to the… Continue reading

“Trump Inauguration, Awash in Cash, Runs Out of Perks for Big Donors”

January 10, 2025, 2:22 pmcampaign finance, campaigns, conflict of interest lawsRick Hasen

NYT: President-elect Donald J. Trump’s inaugural committee is no longer selling tickets for major donors to attend his swearing-in and accompanying private events in Washington, according to five people briefed on the conversations. The committee has raised over $170 million,… Continue reading

“Rudy Giuliani held in contempt for second time this week”

January 10, 2025, 2:02 pmfraudulent fraud squadRick Hasen

Politico: A federal judge has held Rudy Giuliani in contempt for continuing to falsely accuse two Georgia women of election fraud in 2020, breaching a court order against further attacking them after the pair won a $148 million defamation suit… Continue reading