"Time to rescue political speech"

The Rocky Mountain News offers this editorial on the WRTL case pending at the Supreme Court.

"New Orleans Elections and the Civil War"

Thad Hall has this interesting post at "Election Updates."

"Ohio Equal Voting Case Survives"

Dan Tokaji has posted this interesting item on his "Equal Vote" blog.

Thernstrom on Alito and One Person, One Vote

See this Wall Street Journal oped (paid subscription required). A snippet: "The reapportionment decisions are now what Sen. Specter calls 'super-precedents': There is literally zero chance that the court will revisit population equality in legislative districts. Judge Alito himself has called one person, one vote a 'bedrock principle.' But the unfinished business of the apportionment cases remains unfinished. No one should profess shock or horror if, in 1985, Samuel Alito joined Justices Frankfurter and Harlan -- and might today express the concerns of Justice Thomas over race-based districting." My own views on this topic are here.

"The Number One Reform"

The NY Times ran this editorial in its NY editions on New York redistricting reform.

"Time to Reform the Presidential Primary System"

Jimmy Carter and James Baker offer this Roll Call oped (paid subscription required). A snippet:

The Carter-Baker Commission has endorsed the proposal of the National Association of Secretaries of State to create four regional primaries, held after the Iowa caucus and the New Hampshire primary at one-month intervals from March to June. The regions would rotate their position on the calendar every four years. The NASS plan would substantially expand participation in the selection of presidential nominees and give voters the chance to evaluate presidential candidates over a period of three to four months. The commission’s recommendation seeks the change for the 2008 primaries.

We believe that it is important for the parties to maintain control of their own primaries. Therefore, we would encourage the two parties to make the needed changes in their primary schedule. If the parties don’t take action, they risk losing that power to Congress, which should make the desired change through federal legislation if the parties remain unwilling to do so.

"Fixing the Game"

The NY Times offers this editorial on the leaked DOJ memos regarding Texas redistricting. On that topic, see also this Roll Call report (paid subscription required). A snippet:

Tim Storey, redistricting analyst for the National Conference of State Legislatures, said it is difficult to predict the short-term or long-term fallout from the Post's revelations about the Justice Department.

Storey said the timing of the article is "an extraordinary coincidence," considering that Congress is beginning to consider whether to renew Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act, which requires 16 states to have their Congressional boundaries pre-cleared by the Justice Department.

But Storey noted that as a practical matter, the revelations change nothing unless the Supreme Court decides to hear appeals to the Texas redraw.

"The re-redistricting in Texas has been litigated in numerous courts and on numerous grounds and so far has withstood the litigation," he said.

-- 
Rick Hasen
William H. Hannon Distinguished Professor of Law
Loyola Law School
919 South Albany Street
Los Angeles, CA  90015-0019
(213)736-1466 - voice
(213)380-3769 - fax
rick.hasen@lls.edu
http://www.lls.edu/academics/faculty/hasen.html
http://electionlawblog.org