Law Commons^™

Changemakers: Master Of Studies In Law: "Exactly What I Needed...": John Marion, Roger Williams University School Of Law

Life of the Law School (1993- )

No abstract provided.

Baby & Bathwater: Standing In Election Cases After 2020, Steven J. Mulroy

Dickinson Law Review (2017-Present)

The current consensus among commentators is that the flood of cases challenging the 2020 presidential election results was almost completely meritless. This consensus is correct as to the ultimate result, but not as to the courts’ treatment of standing. In their (understandable) zeal to reject sometimes frivolous attempts to overturn a legitimate election and undermine public confidence in our electoral system, many courts were too quick to rule that plaintiffs lacked standing. These rulings resulted in unjustified sweeping rulings that voters were not injured even if their legal votes were diluted by states accepting illegal votes; that campaigns did not …

More Than The Vote: 16-Year-Old Voting And The Risks Of Legal Adulthood, Katharine B. Silbaugh

Faculty Scholarship

Advocates of 16-year-old voting have not grappled with two significant risks to adolescents of their agenda. First, a right to vote entails a corresponding accessibility to campaigns. Campaign speech is highly protected, and 16-year-old voting invites more unfettered access to minors by commercial, government, and political interests than current law tolerates. Opening 16-year-olds to campaign access undermines a considered legal system of managing the potential exploitation of adolescents, which sometimes includes direct regulation of entities and also gives parents authority in both law and culture to prohibit, manage, or supervise contacts with every kind of person interested in communicating with …

The Segregation Of Markets, Christian Turner

Texas A&M Law Review

Campaign-finance reformers fear that rich donors’ money can be used disproportionately to influence the content of campaign advertising and thus, perhaps, the results of elections. In European football, UEFA has attempted to ban “financial doping”—rich owners’ use of money earned in sectors other than football to pay large sums for the best football players. Campaign-finance reform efforts and “financial fair play” rules in sport may seem like bespoke solutions to different problems. In fact, they are the same solution to the same problem. Both are attempts to ensure that power accumulated in one market is not brought into another market …

Law Library Blog (January 2020): Legal Beagle's Blog Archive, Roger Williams University School Of Law

Law Library Newsletters/Blog

No abstract provided.

The (Dunkin') Donut Hole: Fixing The Llc Loophole In State Campaign Finance Laws—A New Hampshire Exemplar, Brendan O'Neill

Seattle University Law Review

The campaign finance laws of New Hampshire (and other states) permit direct contributions to gubernatorial candidates from individuals or corporations of up to $7,000 per campaign cycle. However, no state campaign finance statutes discuss, define, or even mention LLCs. Each LLC is its own individual donor for the purpose of direct campaign contributions, regardless of who controls it. Thus, a wealthy individual can max out the $7,000 direct contribution to his or her preferred candidate through every LLC under his or her control, limited only by imagination and the ability to set up as many LLCs as legally feasible. A …

Voter Primacy, Sarah C. Haan

Sarah Haan

This Article argues that Citizens United v. FEC expanded the audience for campaign finance disclosure to include a group that had never before been held relevant to campaign finance disclosure—corporate shareholders—and explores the constitutional, policy, and political consequences of this change. In part IV of Citizens United, the U.S. Supreme Court departed from more than thirty years of campaign finance disclosure analysis to treat corporate shareholders as a target audience for corporate electoral spending disclosure, holding that the governmental interest advanced by campaign finance disclosure laws includes an interest in helping corporate shareholders “determine whether their corporation’s political speech advances …

November Madness: A Proposal For Representative Democracy Brackets To Eliminate The Undue Influence Of Money On Elections, Daniel P. Valentine

Texas A&M Law Review

This Comment proposes Representative Democracy Brackets, a multi-level manner of choosing candidates in which all voters have an equal voice, but which by its structure reduces the effect of mass marketing in favor of a focus on forming and evaluating interpersonal relationships. By implementing Representative Democracy Brackets, a state or the United States can achieve the twin benefits of decreasing the undue effects of political spending and increasing the quality of the resulting decisions. The proposed brackets winnow the pool of voters until it is small enough to make an informed decision.

This Comment defines the problem by reviewing the …

Election Law And Government Ethics, Christopher R. Nolen, Jeffrey S. Palmore

University of Richmond Law Review

This article surveys developments in Virginia election and government ethics laws for 2014 and 2015, with an emphasis on legislative developments. The focus is on those statutory developments thathave significance or general applicability to the implementation of Virginia's election and ethics laws.

Election Law—Introduction, Jessica A. Levinson

Loyola of Los Angeles Law Review

No abstract provided.

Voter Primacy, Sarah C. Haan

Fordham Law Review

This Article argues that Citizens United v. FEC expanded the audience for campaign finance disclosure to include a group that had never before been held relevant to campaign finance disclosure—corporate shareholders—and explores the constitutional, policy, and political consequences of this change. In part IV of Citizens United, the U.S. Supreme Court departed from more than thirty years of campaign finance disclosure analysis to treat corporate shareholders as a target audience for corporate electoral spending disclosure, holding that the governmental interest advanced by campaign finance disclosure laws includes an interest in helping corporate shareholders “determine whether their corporation’s political speech advances …

When Rhetoric Obscures Reality: The Definition Of Corruption And Its Shortcomings, Jessica Medina

Loyola of Los Angeles Law Review

Due to public scorn after the unraveling of the Watergate scandal, the Supreme Court considered the constitutionality of the Federal Election Campaign Act’s restrictions on political contributions and expenditures. Buckley v. Valeo established that no legitimate government interest existed to justify restrictions on campaign expenditures, and only the prevention of corruption or the appearance of corruption could justify restrictions on campaign contributions. Since then, the Court has struggled to articulate a definition of corruption that balances First Amendment protections with the potential for improper influence. This Article argues that the Court’s current definition of corruption is too narrow, and proposes …

The Original Sin Of Campaign Finance Law: Why Buckley V. Valeo Is Wrong, Jessica A. Levinson

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

Election Law And Government Ethics, Christopher R. Nolen, Jeff Palmore

University of Richmond Law Review

The last two years have produced modest "tweaks" to Virginia'selection laws. Most notably, 2011 ushered in the decennial tradition of reapportionment and redistricting. This article surveys developments in Virginia election law for 2010 and 2011 and focuses on those statutory developments that have significance or general applicability to the implementation of Virginia's election laws. Consequently, not every election-related bill approved bythe General Assembly is discussed.

Election Law, Christopher R. Nolen

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

Is The Ban On Participation In Political Campaigns By Charities Essential To Their Vitality And Democracy? A Reply To Professor Tobin, Johnny Rex Buckles

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

Public Financing Of Judicial Campaigns: Practices And Prospects , Michael W. Bowers

Nevada Law Journal

No abstract provided.

The Ventilation Of The President, 1972: Political Broadcasting Under The Campaign Communications Reform Act, Michael Botein

Articles & Chapters

No abstract provided.