[EL] ELB News and Commentary 12/3/19

Mon Dec 2 20:27:05 PST 2019

Democrats Won’t Appeal in North Carolina Partisan Gerrymandering Case<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=108251>
Posted on December 2, 2019 8:24 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=108251> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

News and Observer:<https://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/election/article237958719.html>

The plaintiffs, in a statement Monday night, said they won’t appeal the decision, citing the timeline for candidate filing and “the nature of today’s ruling.”

“After nearly a decade of voting in some of the most gerrymandered districts in the country, courts have put new maps in place that are an improvement over the status quo, but the people still deserve better,” said former attorney general Eric Holder in a statement. He is chairman of the National Democratic Redistricting Committee<https://democraticredistricting.com/chairman/>, which is backing the lawsuit in North Carolina and similar ones in other states.

Within just two weeks, if there weren’t maps in place, the state would have had to move the primary elections for Congress. Lawyers for the Republican defendants said that would have led to lower voter turnout and extra costs for local governments, and the judges later said avoiding such a delay was their primary concern.

See my earlier coverage, North Carolina State Court Will Not Redraw Congressional Districts for 2020: Did the Judges Bluff Their Way into Getting a Lessened Partisan Gerrymander?<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=108245>
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Posted in Uncategorized<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>

“Barr disputes key inspector general finding about FBI’s Russia investigation”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=108249>
Posted on December 2, 2019 8:19 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=108249> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Barr further disgraces <https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/barr-doesnt-accept-key-inspector-general-finding-about-fbis-russia-investigation/2019/12/02/4464f018-154d-11ea-a659-7d69641c6ff7_story.html> the office of the attorney general.
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Posted in Department of Justice<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=26>

“Rep. Duncan Hunter says he will plead guilty in campaign finance scandal, leave Congress”<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=108247>
Posted on December 2, 2019 8:15 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=108247> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

LA Times:<https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2019-12-02/rep-duncan-hunter-to-abandon-not-guilty-plea-in-campaign-finance-scandal>

After years of denials and claims that he was the target of a political witch hunt<https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/politics/sd-me-hunter-statement-20180822-story.html>, Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Alpine) is scheduled to appear in federal court Tuesday morning to plead guilty in a sweeping campaign finance investigation.
The announcement was posted on the U.S. District Court docket Monday morning, then KUSI aired an interview with Hunter in which he said he would plead guilty to one of the 60 criminal charges against him. He suggested that he is likely to spend time in custody.
“The plea I accepted is misuse of my own campaign funds, of which I pled guilty to only one count,” Hunter told the station. “I think it’s important that people know that I did make mistakes. I did not properly monitor or account for my campaign money. I justify my plea with the understanding that I am responsible for my own campaign and my own campaign money.”
The reversal comes nearly six months after Hunter’s wife and former campaign manager, Margaret Hunter, admitted to<https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/watchdog/story/2019-06-13/margaret-hunter-admits-guilt-in-campaign-finance-scandal>
 her role in a widespread scheme that saw the couple allegedly spend more than $200,000 in campaign donations on family expenses like vacations<https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/watchdog/story/2019-06-13/margaret-hunter-admits-guilt-in-campaign-finance-scandal>,
 gas, groceries<https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/watchdog/sdut-hunter-groceries-2016may07-story.html>
, school lunches<https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/watchdog/sdut-hunter-school-lunch-2016jun15-story.html>
 and oral surgery<https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/watchdog/sdut-hunter-garage-door-2016apr19-story.html>. Such spending is prohibited to prevent undue influence by contributors.
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Posted in Uncategorized<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>

North Carolina State Court Will Not Redraw Congressional Districts for 2020: Did the Judges Bluff Their Way into Getting a Lessened Partisan Gerrymander?<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=108245>
Posted on December 2, 2019 11:12 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=108245> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

I explore the implications in this thread, <https://twitter.com/rickhasen/status/1201567178786557957> ending with the question whether the North Carolina Supreme Court will get involved to reverse despite the timing issue:
[cid:image002.jpg at 01D5A94E.D9EC8F80]<https://twitter.com/rickhasen>
<https://twitter.com/rickhasen>
Rick Hasen<https://twitter.com/rickhasen>
✔@rickhasen<https://twitter.com/rickhasen>

<https://twitter.com/rickhasen/status/1201567178786557957>

Breaking A North Carolina state court has refused to grant relief to those challenging congressional maps as partisan gerrymander under state Constitution, meaning new legislative maps likely will be used in 2020, rather than maps more favorable to Dems. #ncpol<https://twitter.com/hashtag/ncpol?src=hash> #ncga<https://twitter.com/hashtag/ncga?src=hash> /1 https://twitter.com/mel_bough/status/1201564169843159040 …<https://t.co/26ZhBObCvs>
<https://twitter.com/mel_bough/status/1201564169843159040>
Melissa Boughton<https://twitter.com/mel_bough/status/1201564169843159040>
✔@mel_bough<https://twitter.com/mel_bough/status/1201564169843159040>
Replying to @mel_bough<https://twitter.com/mel_bough/status/1201564169843159040>

The court’s concern over delaying election is more grave today than it was in October. It found the balancing of equities has shifted. As a practical matter, in the court’s view, there isn’t time to address the new map without serious delay to the election. #ncga #ncpol<https://twitter.com/mel_bough/status/1201564169843159040>

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10:21 AM - Dec 2, 2019<https://twitter.com/rickhasen/status/1201567178786557957>
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42 people are talking about this<https://twitter.com/rickhasen/status/1201567178786557957>

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Posted in redistricting<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=6>

--
Rick Hasen
Chancellor's Professor of Law and Political Science
UC Irvine School of Law
401 E. Peltason Dr., Suite 1000
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rhasen at law.uci.edu<mailto:rhasen at law.uci.edu>
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http://electionlawblog.org<http://electionlawblog.org/>

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