[EL] ELB News and Commentary 4/12/14
Rick Hasen
rhasen at law.uci.edu
Fri Apr 11 20:29:58 PDT 2014
"Obama, Citing New Laws, Says the G.O.P. Is Moving to Restrict
Voting Rights" <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=60421>
Posted on April 11, 2014 8:23 pm <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=60421>by
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
NYT reports.
<http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/12/us/politics/criticizing-gop-obama-says-the-right-to-vote-is-threatened.html?ref=politics>
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Posted in campaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>, Supreme
Court <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=29>
"McCain-Feingold's devastating legacy"
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=60419>
Posted on April 11, 2014 8:18 pm <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=60419>by
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Rob Kelner and Ray LaRaja WaPo oped
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/mccain-feingolds-devastating-legacy/2014/04/11/14a528e2-c18f-11e3-bcec-b71ee10e9bc3_story.html>.
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Posted in campaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>, Supreme
Court <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=29>
"The war against American citizens"
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=60417>
Posted on April 11, 2014 8:08 pm <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=60417>by
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Katrina vanden Heuvel WaPo column:
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/katrina-vanden-heuvel-the-war-against-american-citizens/2014/04/07/77000814-be82-11e3-b195-dd0c1174052c_story.html>
In 1971, before becoming a Supreme Court justice, Lewis F. Powell
Jr. penned a memo
<http://scalar.usc.edu/works/growing-apart-a-political-history-of-american-inequality/the-powell-memorandum>
to his friend Eugene Sydnor of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce
advocating a comprehensive strategy in favor of corporate interests.
Powell wrote, "Under our constitutional system, especially with an
activist-minded Supreme Court, the judiciary may be the most
important instrument for social, economic and political change."
In last week's ruling in /McCutcheon v. Federal Election Commission/
<http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/13pdf/12-536_e1pf.pdf>, the
Supreme Court was not a mere instrument so much as a blowtorch,
searing a hole in the fabric of our fragile democracy.
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Posted in campaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>, Supreme
Court <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=29>
"Obama: Right to vote under threat in the US"
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=60415>
Posted on April 11, 2014 4:01 pm <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=60415>by
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
AP
<http://news.yahoo.com/obama-vote-under-threat-us-202059095--politics.html>:
"In an unsparing critique of Republicans, President Barack Obama on
Friday accused the GOP of using voting restrictions to keep voters from
the polls and of jeopardizing 50 years of expanded ballot box access for
millions of black Americans and other minorities."
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Posted in The Voting Wars <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>
"Dramatic, Little Known GOP Rule Change Takes Choice Of Presidential
Candidate Away From Rank And File Republicans And Hands It To Party
Elite" <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=60411>
Posted on April 11, 2014 2:08 pm <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=60411>by
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Rick Ungar
<http://www.forbes.com/sites/rickungar/2014/04/07/dramatic-little-known-gop-rule-change-takes-choice-of-presidential-candidate-away-from-rank-and-file-republicans-and-hands-it-to-party-elite/>
at Forbes.
UPDATE: Apparenlty there is some question about the accuracy of this
article.
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Posted in political parties <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=25>,
primaries <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=32>
A Win for O'Keefe <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=60409>
Posted on April 11, 2014 1:24 pm <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=60409>by
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
<http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/ellis-drops-out-of-senate-race-b99245893z1-254907211.html>:
"State Senate President Mike Ellis dropped out of his re-election race
Friday, two days after a secret recording was released revealing him
discussing setting up an illegal political action committee to attack
his challenger."
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Posted in campaigns <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>, chicanery
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=12>
"After initial hysteria, back-pedaling over NC voter fraud claims"
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=60407>
Posted on April 11, 2014 12:53 pm
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=60407>by Rick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Facing South
<http://www.southernstudies.org/2014/04/after-initial-hysteria-back-pedaling-over-nc-voter.html>
continues to lead the way on this story.
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Posted in election administration <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>,
fraudulent fraud squad <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=8>, The Voting
Wars <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>
From the WTF File: Deprive Disabled of Bathrooms While Voting in
Name of Uniformity <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=60405>
Posted on April 11, 2014 12:28 pm
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=60405>by Rick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
New Rule Prohibits Voters In Miami-Dade County From Using The Restroom,
No Matter How Long The Line
<http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2014/04/10/3425252/new-rule-prohibits-vote/>
Paging Sam Bagenstos or Michael Waterstone.
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Posted in election administration <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>
"Iowa finds 12 votes were wrongly rejected in 2012?
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=60403>
Posted on April 11, 2014 12:04 pm
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=60403>by Rick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
AP reports.
<http://www.ottumwacourier.com/cnhi/x1445040675/Iowa-finds-12-votes-were-wrongly-rejected-in-2012>
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Posted in election administration <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>,
felon voting <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=66>
Lithwick on the Disappearing Political Outrage over SCOTUS's
Campaign Finance Decisions, and Disappearing Colbert
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=60401>
Posted on April 11, 2014 11:54 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=60401>by Rick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Dahlia
<http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/jurisprudence/2014/04/campaign_finance_after_mccutcheon_if_the_public_doesn_t_care_the_appearance.html>:
It's clear that at least some proportion of Americans are even more
likely than they were before to give up the fight; to become further
disaffected and disenfranchised in the wake of a decision by the
court to privilege the free-speech rights of a fistful of
millionaires over their own. And it's important to recognize that as
the public gives up, the things that once appeared corrupt will soon
seem like just another day on Capitol Hill.
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Posted in campaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>, Supreme
Court <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=29>
RNLA Issues Response to Bauer-Ginsberg; Praises Some Parts But Not
Push for Early Voting <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=60399>
Posted on April 11, 2014 10:55 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=60399>by Rick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
The report <http://www.rnla.org/pecaresponse.pdf> and the press release.
<http://www.rnla.org/pressreleases/PR_PECA.pdf> From the executive summary:
While RNLA agrees with a majority of PCEA's recommendations, we
caution against the Commission's recommendation that states embrace
expanded early voting as a solution to the systemic election
administration problems identified in its report. The experience
from recent elections demonstrates that early voting does not solve
the problem of long lines. It is also expensive, distracts from
Election Day preparations, and diminishes the importance of Election
Day. Most Americans continue to prefer to vote alongside their
neighbors and fellow citizens at the polls on Election Day so reform
needs to start there. Accordingly, states should instead invest
their limited time and resources fixing the problems at the polling
place and ensuring a smoother absentee voting process for those who
use it out of necessity, not convenience.
Here's my view
<http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2014/02/the_new_conservative_assault_on_early_voting_more_republicans_fewer_voters.html>
on the conservative resistance to early voting.
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Posted in election administration <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>,
PCEA (Bauer-Ginsberg Commission) <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=79>,
The Voting Wars <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>, voter registration
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=37>
"What kinds of Supreme Court cases interest Americans? Not campaign
finance" <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=60397>
Posted on April 11, 2014 10:09 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=60397>by Rick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Pew Research Center report.
<http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/04/10/what-kinds-of-supreme-court-cases-interest-americans-not-campaign-finance/>
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Posted in campaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>, Supreme
Court <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=29>
"Congressional Overrides of Supreme Court Statutory Interpretation
Decisions, 1967--2011? <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=60395>
Posted on April 11, 2014 9:46 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=60395>by
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Matthew Christiansen and Bill Eskridge have posted this draft
<http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2418417>on SSRN
(forthcoming /Texas Law Review/). Here is the abstract:
In 1991, one of us published a groundbreaking study demonstrating
that Congress frequently overrides Supreme Court statutory
interpretation decisions. The intervening two decades have shed
light on the phenomenon of congressional overrides as numerous
scholars have turned their attention to the override process. The
1991 study and subsequent scholarship have shown that overrides are
a critical component of the Congress-Court dialogue in statutory
interpretation cases. A recent article in the New York Times,
however, announced that congressional overrides declined
significantly after 1991, and all but dried up in the new
millennium. That assertion cast serious doubt on Congress's future
role in the statutory interpretation dialogue with the Supreme
Court. In this study, the authors show that, contrary to the reports
in the New York Times and elsewhere, congressional overrides did not
decline during the 1990s. Quite the opposite. That decade was a
"golden age" of overrides in which Congress displaced many more
Supreme Court statutory interpretation decisions than the decades
prior. The authors further show that, although overrides have fallen
off since 1999, they remain an important part of the legal landscape.
Altogether, the authors identify 276 Supreme Court statutory
decisions overridden by Congress between 1967 and 2011 --- some of
which have been overridden multiple times. These overrides are
focused overwhelmingly on federal procedure and jurisdiction,
criminal law, civil and political rights, bankruptcy, tax, and
intellectual property. The majority of overrides are motivated not
by a desire to rebuke an errant Supreme Court decision, but instead
by the perceived need to update public policy. Empirically, the
authors demonstrate that a few key characteristics of a Supreme
Court statutory decision --- a closely divided Court, a loss for an
administrative agency, a finding of plain meaning based upon the
whole act or whole code canons, and an invitation or plea for
Congress to Act --- make the decision much more likely to be
overridden than the average statutory decision.
As a normative matter, the authors argue that congressional
overrides serve valuable public purposes, for they represent
democratically legitimate policy updates and contribute to both good
public policy and even the predictable operation of the rule of law.
The authors suggest a variety of doctrinal implications courts and
agencies ought to heed to capture these normative values. The last
section of the Article proposes a series of institutional reforms
that Congress, the President, and the Supreme Court ought to
consider in the face of the last decade's decline in overrides. In
particular, they focus on how, under the Supreme Court's deference
regimes, the decline overrides is likely to shift policymaking
authority to the executive branch.
I'm really looking forward to reading this because the NYT report
referred to in the abstract is this piece by Adam Liptak
<http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/21/us/politics/supreme-court-gains-power-from-paralysis-of-congress.html>discussing
my research, *End of the Dialogue? Political Polarization, the Supreme
Court, and Congress <http://electionlawblog.org/a%20href=>, 86 /Southern
California Law Review/ 205 (2013)*.
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Posted in legislation and legislatures
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=27>, Supreme Court
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=29>
--
Rick Hasen
Chancellor's Professor of Law and Political Science
UC Irvine School of Law
401 E. Peltason Dr., Suite 1000
Irvine, CA 92697-8000
949.824.3072 - office
949.824.0495 - fax
rhasen at law.uci.edu
http://www.law.uci.edu/faculty/full-time/hasen/
http://electionlawblog.org
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