In addition to the earlier news today on the BCRA stay and injunction requests,
here more:
The Houston Chronicle reports here:
"Two losing Democratic state House candidates Thursday filed suit against
a political committee founded by U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, claiming
it violated Texas campaign finance laws." (Thanks to Jim Dedman for the link.)
The A.P. reports here:
"Over the vehement protests of Democrats, Republicans are trying to use newly
won clout in the Colorado and Texas legislatures to redraw congressional districts
that are less than two years old, part of a highly unusual tactic to strengthen
their control over the House of Representatives." (Thanks to the reader who
brought the Colorado aspect of this story to my attention).
Tom Round sends along this
report from New Orleans noting: "Absentee ballots cast by people who
die before election day are legal and should be counted, the Senate decided
Monday." I understand that in some cities, even votes cast after death have
been counted on occasion.
National Journal article on the prospects for the BCRA in the
Supreme Court Eliza Newlin Carney today has an article for today's National
Journal, "LEGAL AFFAIRS: What Next? As the Supreme Court prepares to
take up its most important campaign finance case in almost 30 years, both
camps in the bitter political money wars are forecasting victory." (The article
is available online only with a subscription.) This is the most comprehensive
journalistic effort to date to spell out the various positions of the Justices
on the Supreme Court on campaign finance issues relevant in the BCRA litigation.
The issue also features a short article by Richard E. Cohen, "LEGAL AFFAIRS:
1,638 Pages, Plenty of Head-Scratching," setting forth the basics of the lower
court decision.
I also have a post entitled "Bush v. Gore and the Democratic filibuster
of judicial nominees." It is available at the following link:
http://electionlaw.blogspot.com/2003_05_01_electionlaw_archive.html#200268628
--
Rick Hasen
Professor of Law and William M. Rains Fellow
Loyola Law School
919 South Albany Street
Los Angeles, CA 90015-1211
(213)736-1466
(213)380-3769 - fax
rick.hasen@lls.edu
http://www.lls.edu/academics/faculty/hasen.html