[EL] Update from the AALS Election Law Section

[Franita Tolson]

Dear Colleagues,

I write with the amazing news that the Executive Committee of the AALS has unanimously approved the Section on Election Law's petition for permanent status.  We owe a huge debt to many people who worked to make this happen, but special thanks to Josh Douglas (Kentucky) and Mike Pitts (Indiana), who chaired the section in its first two years and were integral to helping us reach this huge milestone.

We sincerely hope that you will be able to join us at the AALS annual meeting in San Diego for our first program as a permanent section, currently set for Thursday, January 4, 2018 from 10:30-12:15.  The description is as follows:

             The Legacy of Shaw v. Reno: A Twenty-Fifth Anniversary Retrospective

In Shaw v. Reno, the Supreme Court recognized a new, analytically distinct cause of action under the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to address legislative redistricting plans that impermissibly relied on racial criteria in constructing district boundaries.  Twenty-five years after the creation of the Shaw claim, the Supreme Court still struggles to clearly articulate the harm resulting from the use of race in redistricting; to establish criteria for determining when a viable Shaw claim exists; and to resolve the complex interplay of race and politics upon which the Shaw claim often rises and falls.  This session will discuss these issues and others, by focusing on the controversial legacy of Shaw v. Reno and also by charting a path forward.

                 Papers will be published in The Election Law Journal.

Our panelists currently include: Lisa Mannheim (Washington), Bertrall Ross (Berkeley), Dan Tokaji (Ohio State), J. Morgan Kousser (Cal Tech), Nick Stephanopoulos (Chicago) (tentative), and myself as moderator.  It will be a really great conversation about an important and timely topic.

The section also is soliciting submissions for the best election law article of 2017.  Authors should submit their articles, in Microsoft Word or PDF format, to ftolson at law.usc.edu by October 15, 2017.  Articles can be works in progress, or alternatively, have been accepted for publication or published during the 2017 calendar year, but please do not submit articles that have been published prior to January 2017. The Executive Committee will select the winner, who will receive an award at our section meeting at AALS in January.

I look forward to receiving your submissions!

Best,

Franita


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