[EL] Perry; more news

Mon Aug 18 14:29:14 PDT 2014

    "Just Politics: Just because politics can be ugly doesn't make it a
    crime." <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=64396>

Posted onAugust 18, 2014 2:28 pm 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=64396>byRick Hasen 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

I have writtenthis new piece for Slate <http://slate.me/1ySjjdl>, with 
the subhead, "If you think the Perry indictment is ridiculous, watch 
Blagojevich get out of jail and McDonnell go free."  It begins:

    Over the weekend, liberal and conservative commentators achieved
    rare bipartisan consensus in condemning the indictment of Texas Gov.
    Rick Perry as "unbelievably ridiculous
    <http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2014/08/rick-perry-indictment-is-unbelievably-ridiculous.html>,"
    legally thin
    <http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/2014/08/16/does-a-governor-have-custody-or-possession-of-funds-the-legislature-wants-to-appropriate-in-a-bill-that-he-vetoes/>,
    and potentially unconstitutional
    <http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/2014/08/16/is-the-indictment-of-texas-gov-rick-perry-inconsistent-with-a-texas-court-of-appeals-precedent-as-to-the-coercion-count/>.
    Perry is accused of threatening to veto and then actually vetoing
    funding for the Travis County district attorney's office, unless it
    got rid of its district attorney, who---in an embarrassing incident
    <http://www.texastribune.org/2014/08/16/five-things-know-about-perry-indictment/>---pleaded
    guilty to drunk driving and arguably got off too easily. It's worth
    noting that the same outrage expressed over the Perry indictment did
    not accompany the conviction
    <http://www.nbcchicago.com/blogs/ward-room/8-Months-Later-Still-No-Word-on-Blagojevich-Appeal-271149641.html> of
    former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich for trying to sell Barack
    Obama's Senate seat, or the trial of former Virginia Gov. Bob
    McDonnell and his wife for allegedly taking $165,000 in gifts
    <http://www.wjla.com/articles/2014/08/mcdonnell-corruption-trial-reveals-unflattering-portrait-of-maureen-mcdonnell-ex-va-first-lady-10614.html> from
    a businessman selling snake oil, who was looking to curry political
    influence with the governor. But a similar problem of drawing the
    line between illegal conduct and politics as usual may set them both
    free. And it suggests prosecutors are in a tough position when they
    see conduct that fails the smell test but might not be illegal
    <http://theweek.com/article/index/266551/how-much-legal-trouble-is-rick-perry-really-in>.

    This seems to be the season for investigations of governors. New
    Jersey's Gov. Chris Christie has his "bridgegate
    <http://time.com/2918132/chris-christie-bridgegate/>." The U.S.
    attorney is investigating
    <http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/31/nyregion/us-attorney-warns-cuomo-on-ethics-case-.html> New
    York Gov. Andrew Cuomo's potential interference with the Moreland
    Commission---a commission he created himself to investigate
    corruption. State prosecutors in Wisconsin have been investigating
    <http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/jurisprudence/2014/06/the_scott_walker_case_in_wisconsin_could_shred_the_remaining_limits_on_influencing.html> Gov.
    Scott Walker's involvement in potentially illegal coordination of
    campaign finances between his political campaign and outside groups.
    And then, of course, there are McDonnell, Perry, and Blagojevich, as
    well as Connecticut Gov. John Rowland
    <http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/nation/2005-03-18-rowland_x.htm>,
    who went to jail for graft, and Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman
    <http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/22/us/22justice.html>, who went to
    jail for bribery and fought his conviction (unsuccessfully) all the
    way to the U.S. Supreme Court. At least the endless prosecutions
    appear to target both Democrats and Republicans.

    But the problem facing prosecutors, in the Perry case and the others
    noted above, is this: State officials have tremendous power, and
    many of them abuse that power for personal benefit. But many state
    officials also engage in unseemly conduct and hardball politics that
    do not clearly cross the line of illegality. In those cases, as I've
    written in relation to former U.S. Sen. John Edwards
    <http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/jurisprudence/2012/04/john_edwards_should_not_be_prosecuted_for_campaign_finance_violations_.html>,
    former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay
    <http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/jurisprudence/2013/09/tom_delay_s_conviction_reversed_on_appeal.html>,
    and now Rick Perry, we run the danger of the criminalization of
    ordinary politics <http://t.co/K5yWcNzt9E>. And a prosecutor's
    desire to make a name for herself, the potential for partisan
    prosecutions, and the public's desire to ferret out corruption that
    it believes to be rampant all push prosecutors into pursuing
    sometimes novel or dubious legal theories against high public
    officials. There is very little incentive in the other direction.

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Posted inbribery <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=54>,chicanery 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=12>

    "Will Rick Perry's Indictment Stick?"
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=64394>

Posted onAugust 18, 2014 2:10 pm 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=64394>byRick Hasen 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Here 
<http://www.msnbc.com/the-cycle/watch/will-perrys-indictment-stick--319201859590>was 
my appearance on The Cycle.

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Posted inchicanery <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=12>

    "Political Speech, Limited Time Offer"
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=64392>

Posted onAugust 18, 2014 10:30 am 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=64392>byRick Hasen 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

WSJ editorial 
<http://online.wsj.com/articles/political-speech-limited-time-offer-1408138102> onHolmes 
v. FEC 
<http://www.campaignfreedom.org/litigation/current-litigation/holmes-v-fec/>case.

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Posted incampaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>

    "Arapahoe County pioneering use of new vote verification system"
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=64390>

Posted onAugust 18, 2014 10:27 am 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=64390>byRick Hasen 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Denver Post 
<http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_26339735/arapahoe-county-pioneering-use-new-vote-verification-system>: 
"Arapahoe County is piloting a vote-checking system this week that 
promises to raise the level of confidence in the accuracy of election 
results in Colorado."

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Posted inelection administration <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>

-- 
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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