[EL] ELB News and Commentary 1/21/15

Tue Jan 20 20:47:47 PST 2015

    A Few Thoughts on Williams-Yulee, the Supreme Court Judicial
    Elections Case <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=69783>

Posted onJanuary 20, 2015 8:43 pm 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=69783>byRick Hasen 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Today was oral argument in theWilliams-Yulee case 
<http://www.scotusblog.com/case-files/cases/williams-yulee-v-the-florida-bar/?wpmp_switcher=desktop>, 
and Howard rounds up thepress coverage 
<http://howappealing.abovethelaw.com/012015.html#060024>.Here 
<http://www.supremecourt.gov/oral_arguments/argument_transcripts/13-1499_bq7c.pdf>is 
the oral argument transcript. The case concerns the constitutionality of 
Florida’s ban on judicial candidates personally soliciting campaign 
contributions. I haven’t weighed in much on this case, mostly because 
I’ve been busy with other projects, including my campaign finance book 
project. But here are a few thoughts.

1. There’s been an interesting debate betweenBob Bauer 
<http://www.moresoftmoneyhardlaw.com/2015/01/intuition-polling-case-prohibiting-personal-fundraising-judicial-candidates/>and 
theBrennan Center 
<http://www.brennancenter.org/blog/florida%E2%80%99s-ban-direct-solicitation-has-significant-implications-due-process>over 
whether this is a big case or a small case. I think the ruling one way 
or another on the solicitations questions itself is not going to make 
much of a difference, for reasonsAdam Bonin 
<http://www.phillymag.com/citified/2015/01/20/judicial-fundraising-charade/http://www.phillymag.com/citified/2015/01/20/judicial-fundraising-charade/>gives. 
There’s just not that much at stake—we need far more major changes to 
judicial elections if we are going to deal with the problem of money 
flowing into them.

2. That said, I think there is a lot at stake in /how/the Court decides 
/Williams-Yulee/.  If the Court goes the way that Justice Ginsburg 
pushed at oral argument—to recognize that it is permissible to have 
different rules for judicial elections compared to normal elections—that 
would go a long way toward giving lower courts the ability to uphold a 
host of other judicial campaign laws which /do /matter and which can and 
have been subject to judicial challenge. On the other hand, if the Court 
follows the Chief Justice’s apparent view that once you choose to elect 
your judges, the full First Amendment protections for campaigning and 
political activities apply to judicial candidates, we could end up with 
strict scrutiny and lots of other, more important judicial campaign laws 
getting struck down.  I’d hate to think that this case could lead a 
court to strike down a judicial canon barring judicial candidates from 
promising how they would vote on particular issues or cases, for example.

3. From the transcript, it is hard to see how this law survives, given 
how full of holes the solicitation rules are.  It could happen, but it 
would take some major efforts on the part of Justice Kennedy (the likely 
median Justice in this case). Although the oral argument comments of 
Kennedy were not crystal clear on where he will come out, he seemed 
quite skeptical.  It is possible, though, to write a narrow opinion that 
avoids deciding major issues, or messing with the level of scrutiny. 
  That might be the best that supporters of judicial campaign 
limitations may hope for at this point, and a very narrow opinion might 
even avoid the potential 5-4 split in this case, as we saw in the last 
of these cases, /Republican Party of Minn. v. White/.

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Posted incampaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>,campaigns 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>,judicial elections 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=19>,Supreme Court 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=29>

    Reuters Opinion Citizens United 5th Anniversary Forum
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=69781>

Posted onJanuary 20, 2015 1:30 pm 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=69781>byRick Hasen 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

LAWRENCE NORDEN & DANIEL WEINER 
<http://blogs.reuters.com/great-debate/2015/01/16/tycoon-dough-the-ultimate-electoral-martial-art/>

FRED WERTHEIMER 
<http://blogs.reuters.com/great-debate/2015/01/16/democracy-is-drowning-in-a-sea-of-dark-money/>

TREVOR POTTER 
<http://blogs.reuters.com/great-debate/2015/01/16/when-it-comes-to-money-in-politics-the-supreme-court-lives-in-a-different-reality/>

  BRADLEY SMITH 
<http://blogs.reuters.com/great-debate/2015/01/16/citizens-united-gives-freedom-of-speech-back-to-the-people/>

DEBORAH HELLMAN 
<http://blogs.reuters.com/great-debate/2015/01/19/money-speaks-louder-than-words-but-that-doesnt-make-it-speech/>

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

    “The State of the Union Gets Awkward When You Can’t Vote for a
    President” <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=69779>

Posted onJanuary 20, 2015 1:24 pm 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=69779>byRick Hasen 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Neil Weare blogs 
<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/neil-weare/the-state-of-the-union-ge_b_6501736.html>.

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Posted invoting <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=31>

    “From Selma to Citizens United: The contested struggle for one
    person, one vote” <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=69777>

Posted onJanuary 20, 2015 1:23 pm 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=69777>byRick Hasen 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

This item 
<http://www.southernstudies.org/2015/01/from-selma-to-citizens-united-the-contested-strugg.html>appears 
at Facing South.

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Posted incampaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>,Supreme 
Court <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=29>,Voting Rights Act 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=15>

    “McConnell Allies Start ‘Super PAC’ to Keep Senate Majority”
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=69775>

Posted onJanuary 20, 2015 9:38 am 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=69775>byRick Hasen 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

NYT reports. 
<http://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2015/01/20/?entry=8565>

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

    “INSIDE TAKE: End the Judicial Fundraising Charade Let us demand
    real reforms, not fig leaves.” <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=69773>

Posted onJanuary 20, 2015 8:41 am 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=69773>byRick Hasen 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Adam Bonin 
<http://www.phillymag.com/citified/2015/01/20/judicial-fundraising-charade/http://www.phillymag.com/citified/2015/01/20/judicial-fundraising-charade/>on 
Williams-Yulee and judicial elections.

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Posted incampaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>,campaigns 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>,judicial elections 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=19>,Supreme Court 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=29>

    “Addressing the Influence of Money in Politics Through Executive
    Action” <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=69771>

Posted onJanuary 20, 2015 8:39 am 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=69771>byRick Hasen 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Alex DeMots writes 
<https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/open-government/report/2015/01/16/104761/addressing-the-influence-of-money-in-politics-through-executive-action/>for 
the Center for American Progress.

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

-- 
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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