[EL] ELB News and Commentary 4/28/16
Rick Hasen
rhasen at law.uci.edu
Thu Apr 28 08:33:34 PDT 2016
“John Boehner just confirmed everything liberals suspected about the
Republican Party” <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=82366>
Posted onApril 28, 2016 8:23 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=82366>byRick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Ezra Klein:
<http://www.vox.com/2016/4/28/11526258/john-boehner-ted-cruz-republicans>
But don’t laugh it off. John Boehner was the Speaker of the House as
recently as a single year ago. He is, himself, a conservative
Republican. And he is saying, flatly, that the Republican Party has
been captured by morons, goofballs, and “Lucifer.” He is saying that
the party has moved so far to the right that Ronald Reagan wouldn’t
recognize it.
Boehner is validating one of the most persistent and controversial
critiques of the modern Republican Party. And he has the authority
to do so….
In 2012, the congressional scholars Thomas Mann and Norm Ornstein
wrote a column for the Washington Post diagnosing what they saw to
be the central problem in modern American politics.
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Posted inpolitical parties
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=25>,political polarization
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=68>
“Wary of Trump Effect, Republicans Hope for Split Tickets”
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=82364>
Posted onApril 28, 2016 8:20 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=82364>byRick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
NYT reports.
<http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/29/us/politics/republicans-ticket-splitting.html?ref=politics>
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Posted incampaigns <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>
“Top Aides To NYC Mayor De Blasio Subpoenaed Amid Campaign Finance
Probe” <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=82362>
Posted onApril 28, 2016 8:18 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=82362>byRick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
AP reports.
<http://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/de-blasio-aides-subpoenaed-campaign-finance-probe>
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Posted incampaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>,chicanery
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=12>
“Argument analysis: A good day for the governor?”
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=82360>
Posted onApril 28, 2016 8:13 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=82360>byRick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Amy Howe blogs
<http://amylhowe.com/2016/04/27/argument-analysis-a-good-day-for-the-governor/>at
… Howe on the Court.
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Posted inbribery <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=54>,Supreme Court
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=29>
“Supreme Court May Be Leaning Toward Voiding Ex-Va. Governor’s
Corruption Conviction” <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=82358>
Posted onApril 28, 2016 8:12 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=82358>byRick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Nina Totenberg reports
<http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/04/27/475898651/supreme-court-may-be-leaning-toward-voiding-ex-va-governors-corruption-convictio?utm_source=nl-politics-daily-042716>for
NPR.
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Posted inUncategorized <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>
“Hispanic voter registration spikes”
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=82356>
Posted onApril 28, 2016 8:10 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=82356>byRick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
The Hill:
<http://thehill.com/latino/277824-hispanics-in-swing-states-create-daunting-electoral-map-for-gop>
Registration among Hispanic voters is skyrocketing in a presidential
election cycle dominated by*Donald Trump
<http://thehill.com/people/donald-trump>*and loud GOP cries to close
the border.
Arturo Vargas, executive director of the National Association of
Elected and Appointed Officials, projects 13.1 million Hispanics
will vote nationwide in 2016, compared to 11.2 million in 2012 and
9.7 million in 2008.
Many of those new Hispanic voters are also expected to vote against
Trump if he is the Republican nominee, something that appears much
more likely after the front-runner’s sweeping primary victories
Tuesday in five East Coast states.
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Posted incampaigns <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>
“Constitution Check: Can the Supreme Court compromise on
corruption?” <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=82354>
Posted onApril 28, 2016 8:08 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=82354>byRick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Lyle
Denniston<http://blog.constitutioncenter.org/2016/04/constitution-check-can-the-supreme-court-compromise-on-corruption/>on
the McDonnell oral argument.
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Posted inbribery <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=54>,Supreme Court
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=29>
“NRCC launches probe on hidden camera in ’60 Minutes’ piece”
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=82352>
Posted onApril 28, 2016 8:02 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=82352>byRick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Politico:
<http://www.politico.com/story/2016/04/60-minutes-hidden-camera-nrcc-222526#ixzz474A8SrUX>
The National Republican Congressional Committee has launched an
internal probe to find out who snuck a hidden camera into its
headquarters for a “60 Minutes” piece, according to sources with
knowledge of the investigation.
The “60 Minutes” piece, which aired Sunday, had hidden-camera
footage of the NRCC’s private headquarters, including shots of rooms
from which members make fundraising calls. The piece, anchored by
Norah O’Donnell, was about Rep. David Jolly’s (R-Fla.) STOP Act,
which would prohibit lawmakers from personally soliciting political
contributions. The bill has just six cosponsors, and is extremely
unlikely to ever get a vote in the House.
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Posted incampaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>
“Koch Brothers Back New Effort To Make It Harder To Track Dark
Money” <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=82350>
Posted onApril 28, 2016 7:55 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=82350>byRick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Paul Blumenthal
<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/koch-brothers-dark-money_us_57212f1ae4b0f309baefac35>for
HuffPo.
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Posted incampaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>,tax law
and election law <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=22>
“F.E.C. Tries to Bridge a Gap Between ‘A’ and ‘The’”
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=82348>
Posted onApril 28, 2016 7:54 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=82348>byRick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
First it wasdonuts vs. bagels.
<http://www.wsj.com/articles/party-politics-fec-at-loggerheads-on-how-to-celebrate-anniversary-1429228827>
Now this
<http://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2016/04/28/f-e-c-attempts-to-bridge-a-gap-between-a-and-the/?_r=0>.
Good thing the FEC doesn’t enforce any laws essential to our democracy.
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Posted incampaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>,federal
election commission <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=24>
“Vermont Governor Signs Bipartisan Automatic Voter Registration
Bill” <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=82346>
Posted onApril 28, 2016 7:51 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=82346>byRick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Brennan Center release:
<https://www.brennancenter.org/press-release/vermont-governor-signs-bipartisan-automatic-voter-registration-bill>
Today, Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin (D) signed into law
<http://vermontbiz.com/news/april/shumlin-signs-law-automatic-voter-registration> a
bill to automatically and securely register eligible citizens to
vote when they obtain or renew a driver’s license from the DMV,
unless they opt out of registration.
Vermont’s law comes as automatic voter registration istaking off
<https://www.brennancenter.org/analysis/voting-laws-roundup-2016>across
the country. The state is the fourth in the nation to enact this
reform, and the second (after West Virginia) to pass it with strong
bipartisan support.
Nationally,28 states
<https://www.brennancenter.org/analysis/automatic-voter-registration>plus
the District of Columbia have considered measures this year to
automatically register citizens. Oregon and California passed
automatic registration in 2015, and since Oregon put its new system
in place in January, registration rates have alreadyquadrupled
<https://www.brennancenter.org/blog/automatic-voter-registration-oregon-huge-success>.
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Posted inelection administration <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>
“Bringing dark money out of the shadows: DarkMoney.org”
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=82344>
Posted onApril 28, 2016 7:50 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=82344>byRick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Center for Responsive Politics:
<http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2016/04/bringing-dark-money-out-of-the-shadows-darkmoney-org/>
Today we’re officially launching our newly redesigned Dark Money
section,DarkMoney.org <http://darkmoney.org/>, tracking the
activities of politically active nonprofits that don’t disclose
their wealthy corporate and individual donors to the voters they
seek to influence. This is the first phase of ourKnight News
Challenge <https://www.newschallenge.org/>project,Inside the 990
Treasure Trove <http://www.knightfoundation.org/grants/201551019/>,
aimed at providing the public, journalists and policymakers access
to data on dark money groups and clear information about how these
groups operate.
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Posted incampaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>,tax law
and election law <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=22>
WI Justice Accused of Choking Other Justice to Retire; Scott Walker
to Get Another Appointment to Troubled Court
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=82342>
Posted onApril 28, 2016 7:45 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=82342>byRick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel:
<http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/state-supreme-court-justice-david-prosser-to-retire-b99714975z1--377333781.html>
**Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice David Prosser announced Wednesday
that he’s retiring on July 31 after nearly 18 years on the high
court — including some of its most turbulent — and four decades in
public life.
The retirement hands GOP Gov. Scott Walker a second opportunity to
appoint a new justice and put his imprint on the state’s high court
with a jurist who could then stand for election in 2020. Prosser was
a member of the court’s conservative, 5-2 majority and Walker’s
appointment wouldn’t necessarily change that dynamic.
Prosser, 73, leaves behind a court where controversy has become as
common for justices as it is for other elected officials. His
clashes with liberal justices extended to charged language and, in
2011, a physical altercation.
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Posted inUncategorized <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>
“Justices Lean Toward Bob McDonnell, Ex-Virginia Governor, in
Corruption Case” <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=82340>
Posted onApril 27, 2016 5:19 pm
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=82340>byRick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Adam Liptak
<http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/28/us/politics/justices-weigh-corruption-case-of-bob-mcdonnell-ex-governor-ofvirginia.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=second-column-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0>for
the NYT.
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Posted inbribery <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=54>,Supreme Court
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=29>
“Tarheel Tarnish: North Carolina Court Strips Voters of Their
Rights” <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=82338>
Posted onApril 27, 2016 4:24 pm
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=82338>byRick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Allegra Chapman blogs.
<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/allegra-chapman/tarheel-tarnish-north-car_b_9789670.html>
Share
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Posted inelection administration
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>,The Voting Wars
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=60>,voter id
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=9>,Voting Rights Act
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=15>
“2 charged with voter fraud in Elizabeth school board election”
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=82336>
Posted onApril 27, 2016 4:00 pm
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=82336>byRick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
NJ.com
<http://www.nj.com/union/index.ssf/2016/04/two_charged_with_elizbeth_school_board_election_fr.html#incart_river_home>:
Two people face voter fraud charges stemming from the Elizabeth
school election last fall in which they allegedly filled out
applications for absentee ballots for voters who did not exist or
for people who were not eligible to vote, authorities said today.
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Posted inchicanery <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=12>,election
administration <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>
“Leading Advocates of “Dark Money” Previously Supported Disclosure”
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=82334>
Posted onApril 27, 2016 3:58 pm
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=82334>byRick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
The Intercept reports.
<https://theintercept.com/2016/04/26/dark-money-hypocrisy/>
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Posted incampaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>,tax law
and election law <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=22>
Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy Election Law Symposium Now
Available <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=82332>
Posted onApril 27, 2016 3:56 pm
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=82332>byRick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Here <http://www.harvard-jlpp.com/>:
Volume 39 – Issue 2
*Election Law: Rights, Remedies, and Recent Cases
*
333 Foreword
<http://www.harvard-jlpp.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/39_2-Fried_F.pdf>
/Charles Fried/
341 People ≠ Legislature
<http://www.harvard-jlpp.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/39_2-Yoo-Prakash_F.pdf>
/Saikrishna Bangalore Prakash & John Yoo
/
371 Perpetuating “One Person, One Vote” Errors
<http://www.harvard-jlpp.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/39_2-Muller_F.pdf>
/Derek T. Muller
/
397 Image is Everything: Politics, Umpiring, and the Judicial Myth
<http://www.harvard-jlpp.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/39_2-Dimino_F.pdf>
/Michael R. Dimino, Sr.
/
415 The Federalist Safeguards of Politics
<http://www.harvard-jlpp.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/39_2-Johnstone_F.pdf>
/Anthony Johnstone
/
487 De Facto Class Actions? Plaintiff- and Defendant-Orientated
Injunctions in Voting Rights, Election Law, and Other Constitutional
Cases
<http://www.harvard-jlpp.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/39_2-Morley_F.pdf>
/Michael T. Morley/
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Posted inUncategorized <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>
“Reform Groups Urge Members to Vote Against Bill to Eliminate IRS
Contribution Disclosure for Non-profit Groups”
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=82329>
Posted onApril 27, 2016 3:52 pm
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=82329>byRick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Release
<http://www.democracy21.org/legislative-action/press-releases-legislative-action/reform-groups-urge-members-to-vote-against-bill-to-eliminate-irs-contribution-disclosure-for-non-profit-groups/>:
In a letter sent
today,<http://cts.dundee.net/t/3610243/91898075/18258/4/>reform
groups urged members of the House Ways and Means Committee to vote
against Rep. Peter Roskam’s bill to eliminate the current
requirement for 501(c) groups to make non-public disclosure of their
donors to the IRS. The bill is scheduled to be marked up by the
committee on Thursday.
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Posted incampaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>,tax law
and election law <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=22>
Federalist Society Podcast on McDonnell Oral Argument
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=82327>
Posted onApril 27, 2016 3:40 pm
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=82327>byRick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Listen.
<http://www.fed-soc.org/multimedia/detail/supreme-court-to-consider-honest-services-fraud-oral-arguments-heard-in-robert-f-mcdonnell-v-united-states-podcast>
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Posted inbribery <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=54>,Supreme Court
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=29>
“Corporations Opposed To North Carolina’s Anti-LGBT Law Helped Elect
Its Supporters” <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=82325>
Posted onApril 27, 2016 3:36 pm
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=82325>byRick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Paul
Blumenthal<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/corporations-lgbt-north-carolina_us_5720f5f4e4b0b49df6a9d76d?tgexpj37xmnwv1jor>for
HuffPo.
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Posted incampaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>
“Spring Cleaning Your Voter Lists—The Legislative Role”
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=82323>
Posted onApril 27, 2016 3:34 pm
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=82323>byRick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
NCSL webinar
<http://www.ncsl.org/research/elections-and-campaigns/spring-cleaning-your-voter-lists-webinar-the-legislative-role.aspx>coming
up May 6.
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Posted inelection administration
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>,NVRA (motor voter)
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=33>
“Roberts Singles Out Former White House Counsel for ‘Extraordinary’
Brief'” <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=82321>
Posted onApril 27, 2016 3:32 pm
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=82321>byRick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
Marcia Coyle
<http://www.nationallawjournal.com/supremecourtbrief/home/id=1202756102813?kw=Roberts%20Singles%20Out%20Former%20White%20House%20Counsel%20for%20%27Extraordinary%27%20Brief&cn=20160427&pt=Supreme%20Court%20Brief&src=EMC-Email&et=editorial&bu=National%20Law%20Journal> for
NLJ:
Chief Justice John Roberts Jr. on Wednesday singled out an amicus
brief, filed by Democratic and Republican former White House
counsel, in support of former Virginia Gov. Robert McDonnell. “I
think it’s extraordinary that those people agree on anything. But to
agree on something as sensitive as this and to be willing to put
their names on something that says this—this cannot be prosecuted
conduct. I think is extraordinary,” Roberts said.
You can find the briefhere.
<http://www.scotusblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/NAI_1500882244_1_Former-Federal-Officials-Merits-Amicus-Brief.pdf>
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Posted inbribery <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=54>,Supreme Court
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=29>
Some Thoughts on Today’s Oral Argument in Gov. McDonnell Case: It’s
Not If the Governor Wins on Appeal, But How, That Matters
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=82313>
Posted onApril 27, 2016 10:11 am
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=82313>byRick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
The Supreme Court has postedthe transcript
<http://www.supremecourt.gov/oral_arguments/argument_transcripts/15-474_1bn2.pdf>of
today’s oral argument in the Gov. McDonnell case. Bob Barnes
<https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/courts_law/gifts-and-politics-supreme-court-to-hear-sides-in-former-virginia-governors-case/2016/04/27/1483fb88-0bf5-11e6-a6b6-2e6de3695b0e_story.html?hpid=hp_hp-top-table-high_court-6am%3Ahomepage%2Fstory>(who
is all over this story) says the Justices were “highly skeptical” of
McDonnell’s conviction. I agree that a reversal seems likely. But the
key question is whether the Court is going to say anything, building off
of /Citizens United/, allowing politicians to sell access to them for an
explict price. My guess is that the Court thankfully will not do so, in
part to have a unanimous opinion. The concern instead is with vague or
overbroad laws applied against politicians by sometimes overzealous and
politicized prosecutors which allows for the criminalization of
politics, a concern I’ve expressed about prosecutions ofRick Perry
<https://t.co/IQDeRhRCiZ>,Tom DeLay <https://t.co/fKkSo4chOQ>,John
Edwards
<http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/jurisprudence/2012/04/john_edwards_should_not_be_prosecuted_for_campaign_finance_violations_.html>,
andDon Seligman <https://electionlawblog.org/?p=79051>.
Justice Breyer, one of the more liberal Justices, explains his two
fundamental problems with criminalizing conduct in which an elected
official asks another government official to take a meeting with someone
who has supported the elected official or taken the elected official to
lunch on pages 31-33 of the transcript. The first problem is
vagueness–what is allowed and what is not; the second problem, which
Justice Breyer refers to as a “separation of powers” argument, is that
overzealous prosecutors can decide what every federal, state, or local
official can do in terms of arranging meetings. Breyer calls this a
“virtually uncontrollable” and “dangerous” power.
This is the key exchange. If you’ve lost Justice Breyer here, you’ve
likely lost the case.
Justice Kagan later expresses concern at the very least with the jury
instructions and how the case was handled, suggesting the possibility of
a remand with proper instructions (but I don’t think that’s likely.)
Michael Drebeen, the government’s excellent lawyer (making his 100th
Supreme Court argument, for which he was commended at the end of the
argument) had a tremendous amount of trouble with hypotheticals raised
by the Chief Justice and Justice Breyer. The exchange seemed to indicate
the point that the statute is vague and gives lots of discretion to
prosecutors as to which cases to bring (especially against state and
local officials, who do not have the more detailed federal ethics rules
to follow).
The best point for the government’s position came in the rebuttal time,
when McDonnell’s lawyer Noel Francisco faced a tough set of questions
from Justice Ginsburg (whom he inadvertently referred to as Justice
O’Connor, leading to a slightly embarrassing exchange). Justice Ginsburg
asked (at page 59), essentially: if your position is right on what an
official meeting is, why can’t a government official say, you want to
have a meeting, pay me a thousand dollars? In part Francisco’s answer
was that if it someone is paid to arrange a meeting but there’s no
indication it is to influence the outcome of a government decision, it
cannot be bribery. But he also noted, at least for federal officials,
there are other statutes that could apply here, such as laws prohibiting
government employees from taking payments for the performance of your
official duties.
There seems little question that McDonnell will win on this appeal, and
the interesting question will be what the Court says about the sale of
access and /Citizens United/. It is possible to write an opinion for
McDonnell without saying it is permissible to sell access, or at least
that the sale of access is not a criminal violation. The fact that even
Justices Breyer and Kagan expressed considerable skepticism explains why
Gov. McDonnell got his rare relief of staying out of jail pending the
Supreme Court’s resolution of this case.
As I read the transcript, I could not help thinking of Justice Scalia’s
absence. This is a case he would have loved to discuss, and I imagine
that he would have given Mr. Drebeen an even harder time than he got in
this argument (with no doubt as many “(Laughter)” references as Justice
Breyer got referring to fancy bottles of wine and french meals).
[This post has been updated.]
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Posted inbribery <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=54>,chicanery
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=12>,Supreme Court
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=29>
--
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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