Law Commons^™

Gender, Voting Rights, And The Nineteenth Amendment, Paula A. Monopoli

Faculty Scholarship

One hundred years after the woman suffrage amendment became part of the United States Constitution, a federal court has held—for the first time—that a plaintiff must establish intentional discrimination to prevail on a direct constitutional claim under the Nineteenth Amendment. In adopting that threshold standard, the court simply reasoned by strict textual analogy to the Fifteenth Amendment and asserted that “there is no reason to read the Nineteenth Amendment differently from the Fifteenth Amendment.” This paper’s thesis is that, to the contrary, the Nineteenth Amendment is deserving of judicial analysis independent of the Fifteenth Amendment because it has a distinct …

Women, Democracy, And The Nineteenth Amendment, Paula A. Monopoli

Faculty Scholarship

This paper explores the status of women’s participation in our democracy, in response to both the commemoration of the Nineteenth Amendment’s centennial and the deep misogyny aimed at women holding formal political power during the current pandemic. The paper explores the connection between constitutional design and the level of women's participation in democratic governance. It suggests that the robust participation of women in our democracy is not only morally right, but that such parity is central to both the legitimacy of the state and its continued existence. The paper begins by describing the state of women’s participation in formal and …

Gender And The Structural Constitution, Paula A. Monopoli

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

First Amendment Freeze Play: Bennett'S Strategy For Entrenching Inequality, Frank A. Pasquale

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Citizens United And Taxable Entities: Will Taxable Entities Be The New Stealth Dark Money Campaign Organizations?, Donald B. Tobin

Faculty Scholarship

The electoral process in the United States is going through a major transition as money increasingly pours into non-candidate independent groups (“IGs”). Before 2000, IGs could engage in significant electoral advocacy without having to disclose the IG’s donors or its expenditures. Congress sought to address the lack of disclosure by requiring section 527 political organizations to disclose their contributions and expenditures. IGs quickly sought an alternative organizational form for engaging in political advocacy. The alternative organizational form of choice has been the tax-exempt section 501(c)(4) social welfare organization.

In a 2007 article, I explored whether such tax-exempt entities would be …

Defining Corruption And Constitutionalizing Democracy, Deborah Hellman

Faculty Scholarship

The central front in the battle over campaign finance laws is the definition of corruption. The Supreme Court has allowed restrictions on giving and spending money in connection with elections only when they serve to avoid corruption or its appearance. The constitutionality of such laws, therefore, depends on how the Court defines corruption. Over the years, campaign finance cases have conceived of corruption in both broad and narrow terms, with the most recent cases defining it especially narrowly. While supporters and critics of campaign finance laws have argued for and against these different formulations, both sides have missed the more …

Campaign Disclosure And Tax-Exempt Entities: A Quick Repair To The Regulatory Plumbing, Donald B. Tobin

Faculty Scholarship

This article argues that there are some quick regulatory fixes the Treasury can implement to ensure that tax-exempt organizations are operating within the rules and that aggressive tax planning is not being used as a way to obfuscate rules for political organizations requiring disclosure. The article recommends that Treasury promulgate new regulations to require disclosure by tax-exempt entities of expenditures and contributions in excess of $25,000. The article also proposes that Treasury institute procedures to require tax-exempt organizations to file for exempt status, and to provide procedures for ensuring that these organizations meet the requirements in the statute and are …

Political Advocacy And Taxable Entities: Are They The Next "Loophole"?, Donald B. Tobin

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Tax Code Section 527 Groups Not An End-Run Around Mccain-Feingold, Edward B. Foley, Donald B. Tobin

Faculty Scholarship

This article ... will analyze both the statutory and constitutional questions concerning whether 527organizations are ‘‘political committees’’ under FECA and thus subject to the $5,000 cap on the contributions they receive from each donor. The article will also consider whether other forms of tax-exempt organizations besides 527s—most notably so-called 501(c)(4) organizations—provide an alternative means of circumventing this $5,000 contribution limit.