[EL] ELB News and Commentary 9/4/15

[Rick Hasen]

    “Hundreds rally in Raleigh for voting rights”
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=75849>

Posted onSeptember 3, 2015 11:04 pm 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=75849>byRick Hasen 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

WRAL 
<http://www.wral.com/hundreds-rally-in-raleigh-for-voting-rights/14874730/>:

    Hundreds of people marched through downtown Raleigh on Thursday
    evening and rallied near the State Capitol in support of voting rights.

    The demonstration is part of the NAACP’s Journey for Justice march,
    which began Aug. 1 in Selma, Ala., and is expected to conclude later
    this month with a rally in Washington, D.C. The 860-mile trek has
    focused on issues from improving schools to economic growth to
    criminal justice reform, but in North Carolina, it has centered on
    voting rights.

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


    “Ethics probe finds California Rep. Honda may have mixed official
    and campaign business” <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=75846>

Posted onSeptember 3, 2015 11:02 pm 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=75846>byRick Hasen 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

WaPo 
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/wp/2015/09/03/ethics-probe-finds-california-rep-honda-may-have-mixed-official-and-campaign-business/>:

    A congressional ethics panel announced Thursday that Rep. Mike Honda
    (D-Calif.) may have improperly used tax-payer funded congressional
    staff and resources for campaign activity in 2012 and 2014.

    A report from the Office of Congressional Ethics
    <http://ethics.house.gov/sites/ethics.house.gov/files/Rep.%20Honda%20OCE%20Report%20and%20Findings.pdf>(OCE)
    found that there “there is substantial reason to believe” that
    staffers assigned to Honda’s House office were involved in work that
    benefited his campaign. The OCE is an independent body that
    investigates ethics allegations and refers issues to the House
    Ethics Committee for further review. TheEthics Committee plans
    <https://ethics.house.gov/press-release/statement-chairman-and-ranking-member-committee-ethics-regarding-representative-14>to
    extend its probe into Honda’s behavior.

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Posted incampaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>,conflict 
of interest laws <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=20>,ethics 
investigations <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=42>


    “Anti-Citizens United initiative case to be argued in October”
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=75844>

Posted onSeptember 3, 2015 10:57 pm 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=75844>byRick Hasen 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

At the Lectern: 
<http://www.atthelectern.com/anti-citizens-united-initiative-case-to-be-argued-in-october/>

    /Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association v. Padilla/
    <http://appellatecases.courtinfo.ca.gov/search/case/dockets.cfm?dist=0&doc_id=2083887&doc_no=S220289>—
    the case to decide whether the Legislature can ask the voters to
    give their advisory opinion whether the United States Constitution
    should be amended to overturn the United States Supreme
    Court’s/Citizens United/opinion — will be argued before the
    California Supreme Court next month.  The Legislature had placed on
    the 2014 ballot an initiative requesting that opinion, but, with
    election deadlines imminent, the Supreme Courtremoved it
    <http://www.atthelectern.com/could-prop-49-be-prop-140-redux/>,
    saying the proposition’s validity wasuncertain
    <http://www.horvitzlevy.com/extranet/XNet/case_27/filing2476.pdf>and
    holding out the possibility of the initiative appearing on a future
    ballot if the court ultimately determines it is valid.  Now, after
    full briefing, the court is set — one way or the other — to remove
    the uncertainty about the validity.

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


    “With flourish, Trump rejects independent bid if he loses GOP
    nomination” <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=75841>

Posted onSeptember 3, 2015 6:26 pm 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=75841>byRick Hasen 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

LAT <http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-gop-trump-20150903-story.html>:

    Election lawyers say the pledge is not legally binding because it
    does not promise the parties anything in return for their loyalty.

    “As a matter of contract law, it doesn’t look like an enforceable
    contract,” said UC Irvine law professor Richard Hasen, who
    specializes in election law.

    “To be a binding contract, they have to be giving something, and
    what could they give?” Hasen asked.

    Trump told reporters he received “absolutely nothing, other than the
    assurance that I would be treated fairly” in return for his
    signature, a statement that might leave some room for later
    interpretation. Asked whether he would change his mind, he said,
    “No, I have no intention of changing my mind.”

    The party appears to be simply banking on candidates’ unwillingness
    to break a promise, Hasen noted.

    “If [Trump] later changed his mind, he would be painted as a
    hypocrite for promising one thing and doing something else,” Hasen said.

    Michael Kang, a professor at Emory University in Atlanta who has
    written about election laws, called the pledge “an attempt to
    replicate the effect” of so-called sore-loser laws. Such laws
    stipulate that a registered primary candidate cannot switch parties
    or become an independent to run in a general election, though states
    rarely apply them to presidential candidates, Kang and Hasen said.

    Kang called the enforcement of such a pledge an “open question.”

    “It’s safe to say that there would be constitutional questions about
    their enforceability,” Kang said.

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Posted incampaigns <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>


    Irregular Blogging the Next Few Weeks
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=75839>

Posted onSeptember 3, 2015 5:01 pm 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=75839>byRick Hasen 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

I’m on my way to #APSA, and between APSA and my talk at Ohio State in 
early October, I have a number of speaking engagements, internal and 
external administrative and scholarly deadlines, and family obligations. 
So expect blogging to be more irregular (I’d say erratic, but my 
blogging is always erratic).  Those who get my posts via the Election 
Law listserv may not receive posts every day.

Thanks for your patience.

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


    Major Benchslap to Nevada Federal District Court Judge Robert Jones
    by 9th Circuit <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=75837>

Posted onSeptember 3, 2015 4:57 pm 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=75837>byRick Hasen 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

In the NVRA case I justmentioned <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=75835>, 
the Ninth Circuit took the rare step of reassigning a case away from 
federal district court Robert Jones. (This isnot the first smackdown 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=44900>of Judge Jones by the Ninth 
Circuit). Here’s the discussion fromtoday’s opinion 
<http://www.demos.org/sites/default/files/imce/nv_opinion_1_%20%281%29.pdf>:

    D. Reassignment

    Plaintiffs have asked, in the event we reverse and remand, that we
    assign this case to a different district judge. We reassign only in
    “‘rare and extraordinary circumstances,’” Krechman v. Cnty. of
    Riverside, 723 F.3d 1104, 1112 (9th Cir. 2013) (quoting United Nat’l
    Ins. Co. v. R&D Latex Corp., 242 F.3d 1102, 1118 (9th Cir. 2001)),
    such as when the district court “has exhibited personal bias,” In re
    Ellis, 356 F.3d 1198, 1211 (9th Cir. 2004) (en banc) (quoting United
    Nat’l Ins. Co., 242 F.3d at 1118), or when “reassignment is
    advisable to maintain the appearance of justice.” United States v.
    Kyle, 734 F.3d 956, 966–67 (9th Cir. 2013) (quoting United States v.
    Lyons, 472 F.3d 1055, 1071 (9th Cir. 2006)). We reluctantly conclude
    that we must reassign this case. The errors made by the district
    judge may suggest to a reasonable outside observer that reassignment
    “to maintain the appearance of justice” is necessary. The reasons
    for our conclusion are apparent from what we have written above, and
    we review them only briefly here. The judge sua sponte sought to
    limit the effectiveness of representation by insisting unreasonably
    that only two of Plaintiffs’ chosen out-of-state attorneys be given
    pro hac vice status. See In re United States, No. 14-70486, 2015 WL
    3938190, at *8 (9th Cir. June 29, 2015) (“At minimum, a court’s
    decision to deny pro hac vice admission must be based on criteria
    reasonably related to promoting the orderly administration of
    justice, or some other legitimate policy of the courts.” (citations
    omitted)). The judge did this despite the plea of Plaintiffs’ Nevada
    lawyer that he needed the expert assistance of out-of-state counsel
    who specialize in NVRA litigation, and over the objection of one of
    the would-be out-of-state counsel that the judge’s ruling would
    prevent depositions from being taken in Nevada by associates in his
    firm. The judge’s actions came very shortly after the Ninth Circuit
    had deemed “troubling” his comments regarding out-of-state counsel
    in another case involving a different Nevada agency. Henry A. v.
    Wilden, 678 F.3d 991, 1012 (9th Cir. 2012). Based on this and other
    cases, a reasonable observer could conclude that the judge’s
    feelings against out-of-state attorneys are both wellestablished and
    inappropriately strong. See Great Basin Res. Watch v. United States
    Dep’t of the Interior, No. 3:13-CV- 00078-RCJ, 2014 WL3697107, at *3
    (D. Nev. July 23, 2014) (this same judge expressly stated he would
    “presume[] that the out-of-state lawyers are unwilling to obey the
    ethical strictures that govern all other attorneys”). Further, the
    judge sua sponte and without notice dismissed Plaintiffs’ case based
    on a motion the State had previously withdrawn, pursuant to a joint
    stipulation by the parties. Still further, the judge misread the
    complaint when he concluded that Plaintiffs had failed to allege
    that they had changed their behavior and had thus suffered no
    injury, when Plaintiffs had alleged that they had expended
    additional resources on voter registration as a result of the
    State’s violation of Section 7. Finally, the judge dismissed the
    complaint without leave to amend despite Plaintiffs’ explicit
    request that they be allowed to amend their complaint if the judge
    found its allegations insufficient.

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


    “Ninth Circuit Hands Victory to Voting Rights Groups in Public
    Assistance Voter Registration Case”
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=75835>

Posted onSeptember 3, 2015 4:53 pm 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=75835>byRick Hasen 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

This is abig deal 
<http://www.demos.org/press-release/ninth-circuit-hands-victory-voting-rights-groups-public-assistance-voter-registration->:

    Today, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
    issueda decision
    <http://www.demos.org/sites/default/files/imce/nv_opinion_1_%20%281%29.pdf>reinstating
    a case challenging the State of Nevada’s failure to provide
    federally required voter registration services to its low-income
    citizens.  The case, brought by the National Council of La Raza, the
    NAACP Reno/Sparks Branch, and NAACP Las Vegas, had been thrown out
    by the United States District Court for the District of Nevada.

    Voting rights groups Demos, Project Vote, and the Lawyers’ Committee
    for Civil Rights Under Law, which represented the plaintiffs along
    with the law firms Dechert LLP and Woodburn and Wedge, applauded the
    decision.

    “Today’s decision is a victory for low-income voters in Nevada and
    the community groups that serve them,” said Brenda Wright, Vice
    President for Legal Strategies at Demos. “The Ninth Circuit’s
    decision recognizes the fundamental importance of access to the
    courts in protecting the right to vote. We are pleased that the
    Ninth Circuit has rectified a miscarriage of justice by reinstating
    our clients’ voting rights claims.”

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Posted inelection administration 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>,NVRA (motor voter) 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=33>


    “Bloomberg Law Brief: Voting Booth Selfies”
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=75833>

Posted onSeptember 3, 2015 1:01 pm 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=75833>byRick Hasen 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

(Bloomberg) — Richard Hasen, Professor of Law and Politics at University 
of California – Irvine, and Timothy Zick, Professor of Law at William & 
Mary, discuss whether a law that bans taking selfies in the voting booth 
is unconstitutional. They speak with Michael Best and June Grasso on the 
“Bloomberg Law” show.

Listen <http://media.bloomberg.com/bb/avfile/vipzfh1JnYFQ.mp3>.

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


    “Emails show how Clinton fundraiser-turned-lobbyist used connections
    for clients” <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=75831>

Posted onSeptember 3, 2015 1:01 pm 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=75831>byRick Hasen 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Open Secrets reports. 
<https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2015/09/emails-show-how-clinton-fundraiser-turned-lobbyist-used-connections-for-clients/>

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Posted incampaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>,lobbying 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=28>


    “Donald Trump signs pledge not to run as independent”
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=75829>

Posted onSeptember 3, 2015 12:40 pm 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=75829>byRick Hasen 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

But it’slikely 
<http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/sep/03/donald-trump-pledge-independent-president>unenforceable.

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Posted incampaigns <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>


    Shirley Abrahamson to 7th Circuit to Try to Get Chief Justice Job
    Back <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=75827>

Posted onSeptember 3, 2015 8:40 am 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=75827>byRick Hasen 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Patrick Marley reports 
<http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/shirley-abrahamson-appeals-in-attempt-to-reclaim-chief-justice-post-b99569818z1-324103141.html>.

I give this just over a 0% chance of success.

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


    “Why Wouldn’t Congress Give Pagliano Immunity?”
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=75824>

Posted onSeptember 3, 2015 8:36 am 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=75824>byRick Hasen 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Mike Stern explores. 
<http://www.pointoforder.com/2015/09/03/why-wouldnt-congress-give-pagliano-immunity/>

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Posted inlegislation and legislatures <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=27>


    “How Jimmy Carter championed civil rights — and Ronald Reagan
    didn’t” <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=75821>

Posted onSeptember 3, 2015 8:22 am 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=75821>byRick Hasen 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Ari Berman 
<http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-0906-berman-carter-civil-rights-20150906-story.html>in 
the LAT:

    When we look back on Reagan’s victory over Carter, we think of the
    end of the Iran hostage crisis and the beginning of “Morning in
    America.” Less well known is that Reagan’s triumph also ushered in a
    counterrevolution against the country’s civil rights laws.

    Whereas Carter had appointed Drew Days III, a former lawyer with the
    NAACP Legal Defense Fund, to run the Justice Department’s Civil
    Rights Division, Reagan installed the conservative lawyer William
    Bradford Reynolds, who believed that “government-imposed
    discrimination” had created “a kind of racial spoils system in
    America,” favoring historically disadvantaged minorities over
    whites. The future leaders of the contemporary conservative legal
    movement, including Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., came of age
    in the Reagan Justice Department, where they aggressively tried to
    weaken the civil rights laws of the 1960s.
    Now we live in the world Reagan created. The five conservative
    justices on the Supreme Court who gutted the Voting Rights Act in
    the 2013 decision Shelby County vs. Holder were all appointed by
    Reagan or served in his administration. Reagan’s ideological
    descendants, post-Shelby, have imposed strict voter-ID laws, cut
    early voting and eliminated same-day voter registration.

I was surprised this piece did not mention the Carter-Baker commission’s 
support for voter id laws (though Carter laterpulled 
back<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=54915>from that support).

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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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