[EL] Breaking News in Prop. 8 disclosure case/more news

Tue May 20 08:56:52 PDT 2014

    Breaking News: Ninth Circuit Rejects Further Disclosure Challenges
    in Prop 8 Case <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=61622>

Posted on May 20, 2014 8:55 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=61622>by 
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

I have posted the opinion here 
<http://electionlawblog.org/wp-content/uploads/ProtectMarriage-v.-Bowen_Opinion_5.20.14.pdf>.

All three judges on the panel rejected the facial challenge to 
California law requiring the public disclosure of the names of anyone 
giving $100 or more to political committees supporting or opposing 
ballot measures.

On a 2-1 vote, with Judge Wallace dissenting, the panel also rejected 
the as-applied challenge (claiming the donors to this particular 
committee faced harassment) on grounds that the challenge was moot. 
Judge Wallace dissented, although he conceded binding Ninth Circuit 
precedent supported the majority's result. He apparently wants an en 
banc on the question of mootness.

Judge Wallace also added this, about the AG's refusal to defend Prop. 8 
in federal court:

    To my knowledge, nothing in California law requires the Attorney
    General to defend the Constitution of California, and other duly
    enacted laws of the State of California, from challenges in the
    courts. Nonetheless, it seems clear that the confusion created by
    the decisions discussed above, and the resulting abrogation of the
    federal courts' decisions due to lack of standing, could have been
    avoided if the Attorney General of California had defended
    Proposition 8 on appeal in the federal
    courts. This suggests that the State of California would do well to
    consider legislating a process whereby the State's elected officials
    would be obliged to defend the State's duly enacted laws in court,
    rather than leaving it to the unfettered discretion of the Attorney
    General to pick and choose which of the State's laws he or she
    elects to defend.

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

    D'Souza Pleads Guilty <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=61620>

Posted on May 20, 2014 8:36 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=61620>by 
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

AP reports 
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2016-filmmaker-pleads-guilty-in-campaign-case/2014/05/20/b9fb16ea-e029-11e3-9442-54189bf1a809_story.html?Post+generic=%3Ftid%3Dsm_twitter_washingtonpost> 
on plea deal of 10 to 16 months in prison: "D'Souza said he knew what he 
did was wrong and illegal and that he deeply regrets it."

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Posted in campaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>, 
chicanery <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=12>

    "Why is public corruption endemic in southeast Los Angeles County?"
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=61618>

Posted on May 20, 2014 7:22 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=61618>by 
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Important KPCC report 
<http://www.scpr.org/blogs/politics/2014/05/20/16648/why-is-public-corruption-endemic-in-southeast-los/>.  
Along with the reasons offered, I would suggest that lack of sustained 
investigative press coverage in these smaller cities (which is quite 
expensive) makes a big difference.

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

    "The Con Job on Voting-Rights Cases: The Obama administration trumps
    up the numbers on voting-rights cases the DOJ has brought. "
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=61616>

Posted on May 20, 2014 7:18 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=61616>by 
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Von Spakovsky and Adams 
<http://www.nationalreview.com/article/378241/con-job-voting-rights-cases-hans-von-spakovsky-j-christian-adams>on 
Politifact 
<http://www.politifact.com/florida/statements/2014/apr/23/barack-obama/obama-boasts-about-number-voting-rights-cases-take/>and 
Obama 
<http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2014/04/11/remarks-president-national-action-networks-16th-annual-convention>.

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Posted in Voting Rights Act <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=15>

    "Obama group OFA scales back staffing, fundraising"
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=61614>

Posted on May 20, 2014 7:13 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=61614>by 
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

AP reports. 
<http://bigstory.ap.org/article/obama-group-ofa-scales-back-staffing-fundraising>

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

    "After Railing Against John Doe Secrecy, WI Club for Growth Fights
    to Keep Docs Secret" <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=61612>

Posted on May 20, 2014 7:11 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=61612>by 
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Brendan Fischer blogs 
<http://www.prwatch.org/news/2014/05/12481/after-months-complaining-about-john-does-secrecy-wi-club-growth-fighting-keep>.

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Posted in campaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>, 
chicanery <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=12>

    "A New Light on Public Company Political Spending Disclosure"
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=61610>

Posted on May 20, 2014 7:10 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=61610>by 
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Mike Guttentag has postedthis draft 
<http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2438078> on SSRN 
(forthcoming /Columbia Business Law Review/). Here is the abstract:

    Mandatory disclosure is a central feature of securities regulation
    in the United States, yet there is little agreement regarding
    precisely how the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") should
    determine what public companies are required to disclose. The
    current debate about whether the SEC should require the disclosure
    of political spending by public companies is but one example of this
    lack of consensus.

    In this Article I first answer the more general question of how to
    evaluate any proposed public company mandatory disclosure
    requirement. I then apply this new evaluation method to the specific
    question of whether public companies should be required to disclose
    political spending. This analysis shows, based, in part, on
    previously unpublished empirical findings, that the evidence does
    not support requiring public companies to disclose political spending.

Mike's a very smart guy and I'm looking forward to reading this!

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

    "It Helps if You Close Your Eyes: UChicago IOP Video on
    'Professionalization of Election Administration'"
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=61608>

Posted on May 20, 2014 7:05 am <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=61608>by 
Rick Hasen <http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

A ChapinVideo 
<http://blog.lib.umn.edu/cspg/electionacademy/2014/05/it_helps_if_you_close_your_eye.php>.

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Posted in election 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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