| Subject: news of the day 1/12/04 |
| From: Rick Hasen |
| Date: 1/12/2004, 7:31 AM |
| To: election-law |
See Amazon putting campaign cash a click away, which begins: "One month after the Supreme Court upheld a ban on massive political contributions from corporate America, online retailer Amazon.com plans to become the first U.S. business to unveil a way for the general public to funnel cash to presidential candidates. Amazon will create a link on its Web site this week that will permit customers to donate directly to presidential campaigns when purchasing books written by or about the candidates on the company’s virtual bookstore. "
See also the editorial, FEC Loopholes, which begins: "The Federal Election Commission is at it again, poking loopholes in the new Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act to permit federal officeholders and candidates to raise soft money, this time for so-called 527 political committees."
Both articles required paid subscription for access.
The following announcement just arrived via e-mail:
Thursday, February 5, 2004, 6-8 pm at the Fordham Law School
140 W. 62nd Street, New York, NY 10023
* What is the impact of “McCain-Feingold,” recently upheld by
the United States Supreme Court, upon the presidential election?
* What do the new rules mean for unions, businesses and advocacy
groups?
* Will privately-funded PACs (“527s”) replace political parties as the
dominant groups in American political life?
* How do federal and local elected officials and candidates comply with
the law?
* Can voters be heard in a system awash in money?
Jerry H. Goldfeder, Esq., Adjunct Professor of Election Law,
Fordham Law School, and
Special Counsel to the Minority Leader of the New York State Senate.
Moderator.
Deborah Goldberg, Esq., Democracy Program Director, Brennan Center of
Justice,
NYU Law School.
Joseph E. Sandler, Esq., Sandler Reiff & Young; General Counsel,
Democratic National
Committee.
Stanley L. Zalen, Esq., Chief Enforcement Counsel, New York State Board
of Elections.
Two CLE credits are available for a fee of $60. The program is
non-transitional, geared towards the experienced attorney, and has been
approved in accordance with the requirements of the New York State
Continuing Legal Education Board for a maximum of 2 MCLE credits in the
area of professional practice. For additional information about Fordham
Law School's financial aid policy, please visit
http://law.fordham.edu/cle.htm.
If you wish to obtain CLE credits:
Please register in advance at http://law.fordham.edu/cle.htm
The Los Angeles Times offers this
report.
Dan Borenstein offers this
column in the Contra Costa Times on California's changing
primary system.
See this article. It contains an error: It says: "For the appeal to go forward, five of the Supreme Court's nine justices would have to agree to review the case. If that happened, an injunction would be issued staying the decision by the lower court." In fact, there is no automatic stay pending appeal. Justice Scalia alone could grant the stay, or it could be referred to the whole court for a vote. And because this is an appeal, the Court would vote to note probable jurisdiction, or issue some summary order. I am not sure if this would require four votes or five votes.
-- 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 http://electionlawblog.org