[EL] ELB News and Commentary 4/11/15

Rick Hasen rhasen at law.uci.edu
Sat Apr 11 09:08:37 PDT 2015 

    “Hedge-Fund Magnate Robert Mercer Emerges as a Generous Backer of
    Cruz” <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=71676>

Posted onApril 11, 2015 9:04 am 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=71676>byRick Hasen 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Fascinating NYT report. 
<http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/11/us/politics/hedge-fund-magnaterobert-mercer-emerges-as-a-generous-backer-of-ted-cruz.html?ref=politics&_r=0>

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Posted incampaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>,campaigns 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>


    “Judge Scolds U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara Over Speeches And Tweets”
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=71674>

Posted onApril 10, 2015 5:19 pm 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=71674>byRick Hasen 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

BuzzFeed 
<http://www.buzzfeed.com/matthewzeitlin/judge-scolds-us-attorney-preet-bharara-over-speeches-and-twe?utm_term=.fnvQDJ2ej6#.hk9r4gdQZ>:

    U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara was scolded by a federal judge today for
    his comments to the press and his office’s tweets in the aftermath
    of the arrest of former New York state Assembly speaker Sheldon
    Silver. The embattled longtime Assembly leader had requested that
    his indictment be dismissed because of Bharara’s comments, which his
    attorneys described as prejudicial, but the case will go on despite
    the judge’s criticism.

    “The U.S. Attorney … strayed so close to the edge of the rules
    governing his own conduct that Defendant Sheldon Silver has a
    non-frivolous argument that he fell over the edge to the Defendant’s
    prejudice,” U.S. District Judge Valerie Caproni said in anopinion
    released<http://www.documentcloud.org/documents/1822035-judge-caproni-opinion.html#document/p2>Friday
    afternoon.

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Posted inUncategorized <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>


    Bainbridge: “Corporate Social Responsibility in the Night-Watchman
    State” <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=71672>

Posted onApril 10, 2015 4:15 pm 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=71672>byRick Hasen 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

New 
<http://columbialawreview.org/corporate_social_responsibility_bainbridge/>Steve 
Bainbridge in the /Columbia Law Review/ Sidebar:

    In a recent article,[5]
    <http://columbialawreview.org/corporate_social_responsibility_bainbridge/#_ftn5>Strine
    and his coauthor Nicholas Walter argue that the U.S. Supreme Court’s
    controversial/Citizens United v. FEC /[6]
    <http://columbialawreview.org/corporate_social_responsibility_bainbridge/#_ftn6>deci­sion
    poses a significant challenge for “conservative corporate law
    theory.”[7]
    <http://columbialawreview.org/corporate_social_responsibility_bainbridge/#_ftn7>They
    argue that conservative corporate law theory supports shareholder
    primacy[8]
    <http://columbialawreview.org/corporate_social_responsibility_bainbridge/#_ftn8>on
    grounds that government regulation is a more superior constraint on
    the externalities caused by corporate conduct than
    social-responsibility norms.[9]
    <http://columbialawreview.org/corporate_social_responsibility_bainbridge/#_ftn9>Because/Citizens
    United/purportedly has unleashed a torrent of corporate political
    campaign contributions in­tended to undermine regulations, they
    argue that the decision under­mines the viability of conservative
    corporate law theory.[10]
    <http://columbialawreview.org/corporate_social_responsibility_bainbridge/#_ftn10>As
    a result, they contend,/Citizens United/“logically supports the
    proposition that a corporation’s governing board must be free to
    think like any other citizen and put a value on things like the
    quality of the environment, the elimination of poverty, the
    alleviation of suffering among the ill, and other values that
    animate actual human beings.”[11]
    <http://columbialawreview.org/corporate_social_responsibility_bainbridge/#_ftn11>

    This Essay argues that Strine and Walter’s analysis is flawed in
    three major respects. Part I contends that “conservative corporate
    law theory” is a misnomer. Strine and Walter apply the term to such
    a wide range of thinkers as to make it virtually meaningless. More
    importantly, scholars who range across the political spectrum
    embrace shareholder primacy. Part II summarizes and critiques the
    key factual claims that underlie Strine and Walter’s principal
    normative claim. In particular, Part II argues that Strine and
    Walter likely overstate the extent to which/Citizens United/will
    result in significant erosion of the regulatory environment that
    constrains corporate conduct. Finally, the role of government
    regulation in controlling corporate conduct is just one of many
    argu­ments in favor of shareholder primacy. Many of those arguments
    would be valid even in a night-watchman state in which corporate
    conduct is subject only to the constraints of property rights,
    contracts, and tort law. As such, even if Strine and Walter were
    right about the effect of/Citizens United/on the regulatory state,
    conservative corporate law theory would continue to favor
    shareholder primacy over corporate social responsibility.

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Posted incampaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>,Supreme 
Court <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=29>


    “New law forces a choice – job or elected office”
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=71670>

Posted onApril 10, 2015 3:52 pm 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=71670>byRick Hasen 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

The Chicago Tribune reports. 
<http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/post-tribune/news/ct-ptb-election-law-reaction-st-0412-20150410-story.html>

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Posted incampaigns <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>,conflict of 
interest laws <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=20>


    “Federal judge deals Utah Republican Party a blow in its challenge
    of new election law” <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=71668>

Posted onApril 10, 2015 3:09 pm 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=71668>byRick Hasen 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Salt Lake Tribune 
<http://www.sltrib.com/news/2386618-155/federal-judge-deals-utah-republican-party>:

    A federal judge on Friday refused to block a new Utah law that will
    change the way candidates are nominated in next year’s election.

    U.S. District Judge David Nuffer ruled from the bench at the
    conclusion of a more than five-hour hearing on the Utah Republican
    Party’s quest for a preliminary injunction against SB54.

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Posted inUncategorized <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>


    “Secret Money Group Tied to Marco Rubio Super PAC Has Been
    Researching Presidential Primary Voters”
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=71664>

Posted onApril 10, 2015 1:51 pm 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=71664>byRick Hasen 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

National Journal. 
<http://www.nationaljournal.com/2016-elections/secret-money-group-tied-to-marco-rubio-super-pac-has-been-researching-presidential-primary-voters-20150410>

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Posted incampaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>,campaigns 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>


    Justice Sotomayor Unfairly Slams #SCOTUS Press Corps
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=71661>

Posted onApril 10, 2015 1:22 pm 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=71661>byRick Hasen 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

BLT 
<http://www.nationallawjournal.com/legaltimes/id=1202723165481/Sotomayor-Dont-Blame-the-Justices-for-Politicization-of-Supreme-Court?cmp=share_twitter>:

    Sotomayor also took a swipe at media coverage of the court. “I pick
    up a newspaper half an hour after we’ve issued a decision,” she
    said, “and they’re writing about what we’ve done wrong, and half the
    time they’re saying things we haven’t done. They’re writing before
    they’ve even read the thing. And so that’s a dangerous way to assume
    that the Supreme Court is doing this.”

I assume she means she’s read a story online rather than read a 
newspaper one half hour after an opinion issues. But in any case this is 
not my experience with SCOTUS press coverage at all. It is usually 
careful and fair, and filled in as time goes on, balancing need for 
speed with desire for nuance.

More generally, I deal with a lot of reporters and I find that, on 
average, Supreme Court reporters are much more knowledgeable about the 
subjects they are covering than other reporters.

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Posted inSupreme Court <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=29>


    “Why is Blago’s appeal dragging on and on?”
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=71659>

Posted onApril 10, 2015 10:35 am 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=71659>byRick Hasen 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Gerald 
Skoning<http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/commentary/ct-rod-blagojevich-prison-appeal-corruption-perspec-0413-jm-20150410-story.html>with 
a question I’ve been asking for a while.

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


    Campaign Reform Groups Really Afraid of Constitutional Convention
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=71657>

Posted onApril 10, 2015 9:48 am 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=71657>byRick Hasen 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

I find thisodd and misplaced 
<http://www.democracy21.org/money-in-politics/press-releases-money-in-politics/reform-groups-strongly-oppose-efforts-in-the-states-to-call-a-constitutional-convention/>. 
Tell me what campaign finance reform measure is going to get approved by 
a supermajority of the states right now, in either direction.

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Posted inUncategorized <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>

-- 
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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