[EL] ELB News and Commentary 4/3/15

Fri Apr 3 07:50:49 PDT 2015

    “Ted Stevens Case Looms Over Menendez Indictment”
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=71516>

Posted onApril 3, 2015 7:49 am 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=71516>byRick Hasen 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Mike Sacks 
<http://www.nationallawjournal.com/id=1202722424024/Ted-Stevens-Case-Looms-Over-Menendez-Indictment> reports 
for NLJ.

Share 
<https://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D71516&title=%E2%80%9CTed%20Stevens%20Case%20Looms%20Over%20Menendez%20Indictment%E2%80%9D&description=>
Posted inchicanery <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=12>,direct democracy 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=62>

    “In a Short Time, Ted Cruz Has Raised Big Money From Small Donors”
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=71514>

Posted onApril 3, 2015 7:44 am 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=71514>byRick Hasen 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

NYT’s The Upshot reports. 
<http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/03/upshot/what-ted-cruzs-early-fund-raising-means-and-doesnt.html?ref=politics&abt=0002&abg=1>

Share 
<https://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D71514&title=%E2%80%9CIn%20a%20Short%20Time%2C%20Ted%20Cruz%20Has%20Raised%20Big%20Money%20From%20Small%20Donors%E2%80%9D&description=>
Posted incampaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>

    “Interim Report on Voting Equipment Performance, Usage &
    Certification” <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=71512>

Posted onApril 3, 2015 7:33 am 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=71512>byRick Hasen 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

 From Virginia 
<http://elections.virginia.gov/WebDocs/VotingEquipReport/1.pdf>(morehere) <http://elections.virginia.gov/webdocs/VotingEquipReport/>.

Share 
<https://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D71512&title=%E2%80%9CInterim%20Report%20on%20Voting%20Equipment%20Performance%2C%20Usage%20%26%20Certification%E2%80%9D&description=>
Posted inelection administration 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>,voting technology 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=40>

    “A Skewed Electoral Field” <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=71510>

Posted onApril 3, 2015 7:29 am 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=71510>byRick Hasen 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Rob Richie 
<http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/03/opinion/a-skewed-electoral-field.html>NYT 
letter to the editor.

Share 
<https://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D71510&title=%E2%80%9CA%20Skewed%20Electoral%20Field%E2%80%9D&description=>
Posted inelectoral college <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=44>

    “Fresh Questions About ‘Coordination’ Rules”
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=71508>

Posted onApril 3, 2015 7:28 am 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=71508>byRick Hasen 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Bauer 
<http://www.moresoftmoneyhardlaw.com/2015/04/fresh-questions-coordination-rules/>on 
Brickner on Gilbert.

Share 
<https://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D71508&title=%E2%80%9CFresh%20Questions%20About%20%E2%80%98Coordination%E2%80%99%20Rules%E2%80%9D&description=>
Posted incampaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>

    #SCOTUS Didn’t Mean It When They Said It Dep’t
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=71506>

Posted onApril 3, 2015 7:25 am 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=71506>byRick Hasen 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Brad Smith 
<http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/03/us/politics/robert-menendez-indictment-points-to-corrupting-potential-of-super-pacs.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=second-column-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=1>trying 
to recast the holding of Citizens United in the NYT:

    “The court’s position is pretty simple, and it is not that
    independent expenditures can never create gratitude in an
    officeholder,” said Bradley A. Smith, a professor of law at Capital
    University Law School. “Rather it is that as a constitutional
    matter, they do not pose a threat of corruption sufficient to
    justify the invasions of First Amendment rights that the ‘reformers’
    crave.”

Here’s what the Court actually said inCitizens United 
<http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=US&vol=000&invol=08-205>:

    The/McConnell/record was “over 100,000 pages” long,/McConnell I/,
    251 F. Supp. 2d, at 209, yet it “does not have any direct examples
    of votes being exchanged for . . . expenditures,”/id./, at 560
    (opinion of Kollar-Kotelly, J.). This confirms/Buckley/‘s reasoning
    that independent expenditures do not lead to, or create the
    appearance of,/quid pro quo/corruption. In fact, there is only scant
    evidence that independent expenditures even ingratiate. See 251
    F. Supp. 2d, at 555-557 (opinion of Kollar-Kotelly, J.).
    Ingratiation and access, in any event, are not corruption.

I explain how the Court significantly narrowed the definition of 
corruption in /Citizens United /in my /Michigan Law Review 
/article,/Citizens United and the Illusion of Coherence/ 
<http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1620576>. It is a 
trend that was extended from expenditures to contributions in last 
year’s /McCutcheon /case.

Share 
<https://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D71506&title=%23SCOTUS%20Didn%E2%80%99t%20Mean%20It%20When%20They%20Said%20It%20Dep%E2%80%99t&description=>
Posted incampaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>,Supreme 
Court <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=29>

    “Gov. Scott’s criticism of online voter registration angers
    counties” <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=71504>

Posted onApril 2, 2015 4:17 pm 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=71504>byRick Hasen 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

News 
<http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/the-buzz-florida-politics/scotts-criticism-of-online-voter-registration-angers-elections-officials/2223877>from 
FL.

Share 
<https://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D71504&title=%E2%80%9CGov.%20Scott%E2%80%99s%20criticism%20of%20online%20voter%20registration%20angers%20counties%E2%80%9D&description=>
Posted inUncategorized <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>

    “The Menendez Case Proves the Supreme Court Was Naive About Campaign
    Finance Laws” <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=71502>

Posted onApril 2, 2015 4:10 pm 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=71502>byRick Hasen 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Christian Farias writes 
<http://www.newrepublic.com/article/121446/menedez-corruption-case-exposes-supreme-court-naivete>for 
TNR.

Share 
<https://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D71502&title=%E2%80%9CThe%20Menendez%20Case%20Proves%20the%20Supreme%20Court%20Was%20Naive%20About%20Campaign%20Finance%20Laws%E2%80%9D&description=>
Posted incampaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>,Supreme 
Court <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=29>

    “Robert Menendez Indictment Points to Corrupting Potential of Super
    PACs” <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=71500>

Posted onApril 2, 2015 4:09 pm 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=71500>byRick Hasen 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

NYT reports. 
<http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/03/us/politics/robert-menendez-indictment-points-to-corrupting-potential-of-super-pacs.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=second-column-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0>

Share 
<https://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D71500&title=%E2%80%9CRobert%20Menendez%20Indictment%20Points%20to%20Corrupting%20Potential%20of%20Super%20PACs%E2%80%9D&description=>
Posted incampaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>

    Michael Boos on @99Rise: “Do As I Say, Not As I Do”
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=71498>

Posted onApril 2, 2015 4:07 pm 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=71498>byRick Hasen 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

The following is a guest post from Michael Boos, Vice President and 
General Counsel of the group Citizens United:

    The group 99Rise made headlines earlier this week when several of
    its members disrupted proceedings at the U.S. Supreme Court in a
    protest over the Supreme Court’s recent campaign finance law
    rulings, including/Citizens United v. FEC/.  This wasn’t the first
    time, the group disrupted the Supreme Court.  Last year, several of
    its members, including co-founder Kai Newkirk, pulled off a similar
    stunt.  There’s even of videotape of Newkirk yelling: “Money is not
    speech.  Corporations are not people.”  99Rise’s anti-corporate
    theme appears throughout its promotional materials, including on its
    website, where it calls for a constitutional amendment to “ensure
    that neither private wealth nor corporate privilege could be used to
    exercise undue influence over elections and policy making.”

    While 99Rise and its spokespersons rail against corporations,
    nowhere on its website or in its promotional materials does the
    group or its leaders disclose a critical fact – 99Rise is the very
    embodiment of the corporate form that it so readily condemns. 
    According to filings with the California Secretary of State’s
    office, 99Rise is a consortium of two corporate entities – 99Rise
    National Support Center, which was incorporated on August 7, 2014,
    and 99Rise Action, which was incorporated on October 14, 2014.  And
    both corporate entities share the same registered agent – Noah Kai
    Newkirk – the anti-corporate protester who disrupted the Supreme Court.

    But there’s more. 99Rise solicits contributions on its website,
    where the contribution page tells would be contributors:
    “Contributions are tax-deductible.”  This, of course, implies the
    group is a California charity.  Nevertheless, according to the
    California Attorney General’s charities website, none of the 99Rise
    organizations are registered with that office to solicit
    contributions for charitable purposes

    99Rise, a group that’s clearly the personification of “Do As I Say,
    Not As I Do.”

    Michael Boos

    Vice President & General Counsel

    Citizens United

Share 
<https://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D71498&title=Michael%20Boos%20on%20%4099Rise%3A%20%E2%80%9CDo%20As%20I%20Say%2C%20Not%20As%20I%20Do%E2%80%9D&description=>
Posted incampaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>

    “Don’t like ‘dark money’ in your politics? This guy could help stop
    it with a pen.” <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=71496>

Posted onApril 2, 2015 10:05 am 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=71496>byRick Hasen 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Michael Keegan oped 
<http://blogs.reuters.com/great-debate/2015/04/01/how-obama-could-help-solve-the-dark-money-problem/>at 
Reuters.

Share 
<https://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D71496&title=%E2%80%9CDon%E2%80%99t%20like%20%E2%80%98dark%20money%E2%80%99%20in%20your%20politics%3F%20This%20guy%20could%20help%20stop%20it%20with%20a%20pen.%E2%80%9D&description=>
Posted incampaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>

    “A compromise in Connecticut; Registrars and Merrill reach consensus
    on reform legislation” <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=71494>

Posted onApril 2, 2015 9:31 am 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=71494>byRick Hasen 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

That’s the lead story in this week’sElectionline Weekly 
<http://www.electionline.org/index.php/electionline-weekly>.

Share 
<https://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D71494&title=%E2%80%9CA%20compromise%20in%20Connecticut%3B%20Registrars%20and%20Merrill%20reach%20consensus%20on%20reform%20legislation%E2%80%9D&description=>
Posted inelection administration <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>

    “Thanks to Obama, the New World of Campaign Finance Is Unlimited and
    Undisclosed” <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=71492>

Posted onApril 2, 2015 8:53 am 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=71492>byRick Hasen 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Bloomberg Politics. 
<http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2015-04-02/thanks-to-obama-the-new-world-of-campaign-finance-is-unlimited-and-undisclosed?cmpid=BBD040215&utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_term=The%20Brief&utm_campaign=Politics%20Newsletter%20-%20April%202%2C%202015>

Share 
<https://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D71492&title=%E2%80%9CThanks%20to%20Obama%2C%20the%20New%20World%20of%20Campaign%20Finance%20Is%20Unlimited%20and%20Undisclosed%E2%80%9D&description=>
Posted incampaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>

    “Delaying your candidacy doesn’t mean you can avoid campaign finance
    rules” <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=71490>

Posted onApril 2, 2015 8:53 am 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=71490>byRick Hasen 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

FEC Chair Ann Ravel oped. 
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/if-it-walks-like-a-candidate-and-talks-like-a-candidate-/2015/03/31/87a91a14-d490-11e4-8fce-3941fc548f1c_story.html>

Share 
<https://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D71490&title=%E2%80%9CDelaying%20your%20candidacy%20doesn%E2%80%99t%20mean%20you%20can%20avoid%20campaign%20finance%20rules%E2%80%9D&description=>
Posted incampaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>,federal 
election commission <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=24>

    “America’s ‘Menendez’ problem: How big money poisons politics — and
    how it can be fixed” <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=71488>

Posted onApril 2, 2015 8:52 am 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=71488>byRick Hasen 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Stephen Spauling oped 
<http://www.salon.com/2015/04/02/americas_menendez_problem_how_big_money_poisons_politics_and_how_it_can_be_fixed/>in 
Salon.

Share 
<https://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D71488&title=%E2%80%9CAmerica%E2%80%99s%20%E2%80%98Menendez%E2%80%99%20problem%3A%20How%20big%20money%20poisons%20politics%20%E2%80%94%20and%20how%20it%20can%20be%20fixed%E2%80%9D&description=>
Posted incampaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>

    “Senator Robert Menendez — possibly corrupt, definitely bad at using
    AmEx reward points” <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=71486>

Posted onApril 2, 2015 8:42 am 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=71486>byRick Hasen 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

LOL. <http://www.vox.com/2015/4/2/8333447/menendez-amex>

Share 
<https://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http%3A%2F%2Felectionlawblog.org%2F%3Fp%3D71486&title=%E2%80%9CSenator%20Robert%20Menendez%20%E2%80%94%20possibly%20corrupt%2C%20definitely%20bad%20at%20using%20AmEx%20reward%20points%E2%80%9D&description=>
Posted inchicanery <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=12>

-- 
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

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://webshare.law.ucla.edu/Listservs/law-election/attachments/20150403/68f4dc13/attachment.html>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: share_save_171_16.png
Type: image/png
Size: 1504 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://webshare.law.ucla.edu/Listservs/law-election/attachments/20150403/68f4dc13/attachment.png>