Change Coming to U.S. Commission on Civil Rights

The agency, which has been enmeshed in a controversial investigation of the New Black Panthers issue, will see some personnel changes.

Two on Koch

Politico offers Koch conference under scrutiny.

Jeff Patch of CCP blogs on a dispute between Koch and Public Citizen.

"Obama's fundraisers are rebuilding bridges to big donors for 2012 campaign"

The Washington Post offers this report.

"Earmarks Wane But Lobbying Doesn't"

Politico reports.

"A Major Ruling on the Meaning of Bush v. Gore"

Don't miss Ned Foley's analysis of the Sixth Circuit decision filed yesterday in the provisional ballots/wrong precinct case. Here's a taste:

The link, then, between Bush v. Gore and conventional Equal Protection analysis is the unacceptability of "arbitrary" distinctions among voters that results in the disenfranchisement of some but not others in the context of the same election. This linkage manifests itself in two ways. First, there is the special need to be wary of such arbitrary distinctions in the particular context of ballot-by-ballot determinations. Second, there is the increased risk that these ballot-by-ballot determinations will, in fact, be arbitrary if they are not guided by legislative policy established before the ballots were cast. The Sixth Circuit majority opinion put these two related points together in reaching its specific conclusion that in this case Hamilton County had not offered a persuasive justification for its differentiation of the two groups of provisional ballots: "the Board exercised discretion, without a uniform standard to apply, in determining whether to count miscast ballots due to poll-worker that otherwise would have been invalid under state law." (Page 27.) This key sentence, in the midst of the explanation why Hamilton County did not satisfy traditional Equal Protection scrutiny, incorporates the operative terminology of Bush v. Gore ("discretion, without a uniform standard"). In this way, the majority opinion treats Bush v. Gore, not as an outlier, but as an integral part of Equal Protection analysis for this kind of ballot-counting case.

NYT on Rahm

The newspaper offers Court Allows Emanuel on Ballot for Chicago Mayor and In Chicago Race, a Fight Over Meaning of Reside.

"Court Says Legislature Can't Write Own Ballot Language"

The Sacramento Bee reports on this important opinion of the Third Appellate District of the California Court of Appeal.