“States Are Tightening Rules for Getting Citizen-Led Proposals on the Ballot”

May 6, 2025, 7:12 amdirect democracyRick Hasen

NYT: After a wave of successful citizen-led efforts to expand abortion rights via ballot measures, some state legislatures are making it harder for members of the public to put such measures before voters. Florida, which late last week became… Continue reading

Breaking and Analysis: Federal District Court–in a Ruling Likely to Be Upheld on Appeal– Holds That Judge Griffin’s Attempt to Overturn the Results of the North Carolina Supreme Court Election Violates the Constitutional Rights of Voters and Orders Certification for Incumbent Justice Riggs

May 5, 2025, 5:15 pmelection subversion risk, judicial elections, votingRick Hasen

You can read the detailed analysis at this link. Here is the core holding: The court concludes that the retroactive invalidation of absentee ballots cast by overseas military and civilian voters violates their substantive due process rights, and that the… Continue reading

“Trump Sons’ Deals on Three Continents Directly Benefit the President”

May 5, 2025, 7:31 amconflict of interest lawsRick Hasen

NYT: A contest of sorts has played out across Europe, the United States and the Middle East in recent days as President Trump’s two older sons have pursued a blitz of family moneymaking ventures capitalizing on their father’s name and… Continue reading

“Badly needed updates to Pa.’s election law unlikely despite new consensus on voter ID”

May 5, 2025, 7:28 amelection administrationRick Hasen

Spotlight PA and Votebeat: For two decades, disputes over voter identification have sunk attempts to rewrite Pennsylvania’s badly outdated election law. But in recent years, prominent Democrats have offered tentative support for stricter rules. In March, state House Speaker Joanna… Continue reading

“Threats to democracy and academic freedom after Trump’s second first 100 days; Bright Line Watch April 2025 survey”

May 5, 2025, 7:17 amauthoritarian threats in USRick Hasen

Release: uring the first months of Donald Trump’s second presidency, his administration challenged constitutional and democratic norms on a wide range of issues, including the scope of executive power and the authority of courts to check it, individual … Continue reading

“Trump Says Third Term Is ‘Not Something I’m Looking to Do'”

May 4, 2025, 3:05 pmauthoritarian threats in USRick Hasen

WSJ: President Trump on Sunday said he expects to leave the White House at the end of his second term without trying to run again, which would be prohibited by the U.S. Constitution. The 78-year-old had indicated in late March… Continue reading

“Trump says he’s unsure whether people in the US are entitled to due process”; “Trump, asked if he has to ‘uphold the Constitution,’ says, ‘I don’t know'”

May 4, 2025, 7:04 amauthoritarian threats in USRick Hasen

NBC News: When Welker tried to point out what the Fifth Amendment said, Trump suggested that such a process would slow him down too much. “I don’t know. It seems — it might say that, but if you’re talking… Continue reading

“Justice Department lawyers face skeptical judges upset by ‘shoddy work'”

May 4, 2025, 6:58 amchicanery, Department of JusticeRick Hasen

WaPo: Justice Department lawyers defending the Trump administration’s policies are encountering mounting criticism and frustration from federal judges, a sign of deepening tension between the executive branch and courts weighing its aggressive uses of power. In recent hearings and… Continue reading

“Misinformed by election officials, American Samoans in Alaska now face prosecution”

May 3, 2025, 9:07 pmvotingRick Hasen

Alaska Current: When Tupe Smith heard a knock at her door on Nov. 30, 2023, she thought it was her mother-in-law coming to see her grandkids. Instead, two Alaska State Troopers stood outside. They arrested her in front of her… Continue reading

“Republicans in Congress Use Obscure Law to Roll Back Biden-Era Regulations”

May 3, 2025, 8:28 amlegislation and legislaturesRick Hasen

NYT: As President Trump moves unilaterally to slash the federal bureaucracy and upend longstanding policies, Republicans in Congress have embarked on a spree of deregulation, using an obscure law to quietly but steadily chip away at Biden-era rules they say… Continue reading

In Thorough and Persuasive Opinion, Federal District Court Permanently Enjoins Trump Administration from Discriminating Against Law Firm Perkins Coie Based on Trump’s Animus Toward Firm He Sees as Political Opposition

May 2, 2025, 4:07 pmUncategorizedRick Hasen

You can read the persuasive 102-page opinion, which begins: No American President has ever before issued executive orders like the one at issue in thislawsuit targeting a prominent law firm with adverse actions to be executed by all Executive… Continue reading

“North Carolina auditor names elections board members after judges let law stand during appeal”

May 2, 2025, 3:22 pmUncategorizedRick Hasen

AP: North Carolina’s elections board became a Republican majority on Thursday as the GOP state auditor appointed a new panel one day after an appeals court ruled a law shifting that power away from the Democratic governor could still… Continue reading

“Senate Republicans raise red flags about Trump’s private dinner with his meme coin holders”

May 2, 2025, 11:12 ambribery, conflict of interest lawsRick Hasen

NBC News: Some Senate Republicans are raising concerns about an exclusive dinner and White House tour President Donald Trump is offering top investors in his $TRUMP meme token. “This is my president that we’re talking about, but I am willing… Continue reading

“‘An Egalitarian Pressure’: Australia Has Been Requiring People to Vote for 100 Years”

May 2, 2025, 9:26 amUncategorizedRick Hasen

Bolts reports.

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The law of politics and the politics of law