[EL] ELB News and Commentary 3/26/19

Tue Mar 26 07:20:29 PDT 2019

"Florida agreed to let felons vote. Now Republicans are trying to limit who is eligible."<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=104349>
Posted on March 26, 2019 7:15 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=104349> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

WaPo reports.<https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/florida-agreed-to-let-felons-vote-now-republicans-are-trying-to-limit-who-is-eligible/2019/03/25/5b1f9674-4cd9-11e9-93d0-64dbcf38ba41_story.html?utm_term=.ed47dfe1c6f1>
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Posted in felon voting<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=66>

"55 Years Later, Lawyer Will Again Argue Over Redistricting Before Supreme Court"<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=104346>
Posted on March 26, 2019 7:01 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=104346> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

What a story from NPR:<https://www.npr.org/2019/03/24/705472431/55-years-later-lawyer-will-again-argue-over-redistricting-before-supreme-court>

Emmet Jopling Bondurant II knew about the civil rights movement when he was a student at the University of Georgia in the 1950s, but he didn't join it.

"I was trying to get through college," the burly, white-haired 82-year-old said in an interview. "And I'm embarrassed to say I was not involved. I should have been involved much sooner."

But, as a 26-year-old lawyer, he soon took part in one of the most important voting rights cases before the Supreme Court in the 1960s - one that ultimately required states to put equal numbers of people in congressional districts.

55 years later, in a case that bookends his legal career, Bondurant is returning to argue before the high court in a case that asks whether politicians can draw political boundaries to benefit their own political party at the expense of the other party.
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Posted in election law biz<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=51>, Supreme Court<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=29>

"Opinion: The Supreme Court Has A Chance To Push Back On Gerrymandering Today"<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=104344>
Posted on March 26, 2019 6:59 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=104344> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

David Gans <https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/davidgans/opinion-gerrymandering-rigs-democracy-supreme-court> Buzzfeed oped.
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Posted in redistricting<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=6>, Supreme Court<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=29>

Bob Bauer on What A Presidential Candidate Can Now Do to Encourage Foreign Interference in U.S. Elections<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=104341>
Posted on March 25, 2019 12:47 pm<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=104341> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Must read:<https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/25/opinion/trump-mueller-barr-letter.html?action=click&module=Opinion&pgtype=Homepage>

These process norms fared well. But the Mueller report marked a low point for more substantive norms of presidential conduct. It shows that a demagogic president like Donald Trump can devalue or even depart radically from key norms, just short of committing chargeable crimes, so long as he operates mostly and brazenly in full public view. For a demagogue, shamelessness is its own reward.

Such a president can have openly, actively encouraged and welcomed foreign government support for his political campaigns, and his campaign can reinforce the point in direct communications with that government's representatives. The Barr summary reveals that the special counsel uncovered not just a couple but "multiple offers" of support from the Russians, and yet neither Mr. Trump nor his campaign reported them to counterintelligence or law enforcement authorities. Mr. Trump went further still - while in office, he dictated a statement for his son and campaign aide, Donald Trump Jr., that falsely represented the purposes of the June 2016 Trump Tower meeting between senior campaign representatives and a Kremlin-connected representative (and others) offering assistance in the 2016 election.
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Posted in Uncategorized<https://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>

5th Circuit Panel Explains Earlier Rejection of Stay in Mississippi Redistricting Voting Rights Act Case; Judge Clement in Dissent Troublingly Refers to "Majority Minority" Panel Made Up 2 Democratic Appointed Judges<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=104338>
Posted on March 25, 2019 10:53 am<https://electionlawblog.org/?p=104338> by Rick Hasen<https://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Judge Costa gives a long and scholarly explanation<http://www.ca5.uscourts.gov/opinions/pub/19/19-60133-CV0.pdf> for the earlier denial of a stay in this order. Judge Clement gives a lengthy and scholarly reply.

But this (h/t Steve Klepper<https://twitter.com/MDAppeal/status/1110233724527017985>) at the end of Judge Clement's dissent is jarring:

This case presents several extraordinary issues. Unfortunately, this court's usual procedures do not appear to permit en banc review of this denial of a stay even if a majority of the active judges would otherwise grant it. I am afraid defendants have simply had the poor luck of drawing a majority-minority panel. I trust that in light of this, the State will pursue a stay in the Supreme Court because of the injustice that results from the joint efforts of the district judge and the motions panel majority. I also encourage the Stat to move for an expedited appellate process before this court, preferably seeking an April or May sitting-it might yet be possible for this court to undo its own mistake.

The term "majority-minority" usually refers to districts with racial or ethnic minorities drawn to avoid or solve Voting Rights Act issues. All the judges here are white, but the two in the majority (Costa and Dennis) were appointed by Democratic presidents.

Judge Clement seems to be lamenting the fact that because stays cannot be referred to the full 5th Circuit, where Republican-appointed judges outweigh Democratic-appointed ones, the random judicial draw has given the state of Mississippi the short end of the stick.

It might be right as a matter of politics that the party of the appointing judges matters a lot in these political cases, but it is surprising to see a 5th Circuit judge make this point so directly.
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Posted in Uncategorized<https://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
rhasen at law.uci.edu<mailto:rhasen at law.uci.edu>
http://www.law.uci.edu/faculty/full-time/hasen/
http://electionlawblog.org<http://electionlawblog.org/>
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