A Modern-Day 3/5 Compromise: The Case For Finding Prison Gerrymandering Unconstitutional Under The Thirteenth Amendment, 2023 Fordham University School of Law
A Modern-Day 3/5 Compromise: The Case For Finding Prison Gerrymandering Unconstitutional Under The Thirteenth Amendment, Shana Iden
Fordham Law Voting Rights and Democracy Forum
Vestiges of slavery and systemic disenfranchisement of people of color persist in the United States. One of these remnants is the practice of prison gerrymandering, which occurs when government officials count incarcerated individuals as part of the population of the prison’s location rather than the individual’s home district. This Article argues that prison gerrymandering functions as a badge of slavery that should be prohibited under the Thirteenth Amendment.
First, this Article provides background on prison gerrymandering and charts its impact through history, particularly on Black communities. Moreover, this Article analyzes how litigation under the Fourteenth Amendment has not yielded meaningful …
A Constitutional Right To Early Voting, 2023 Hamline University
A Constitutional Right To Early Voting, David Schultz
Fordham Law Voting Rights and Democracy Forum
Voting is a cost-benefit decision. Individuals are more likely to vote if the benefits of doing so outweigh the disadvantages. With early voting laws eased due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 election demonstrated that turnout increases when elected officials reduce voting costs. Despite all the benefits of early voting, there is no constitutional right, and it remains a privilege that state legislatures can revoke at will.
Since the 2020 election, state legislatures have proposed—and enacted—hundreds of bills to change voting rules. But with the intense partisan disagreement over voting, coupled with political polarization reaching an apex, these acts restricting …
The Looming Threat Of The Independent State Legislature Theory And The Erosion Of The Voting Rights Act: It Is Time To Enshrine The Right To Vote, 2023 Boston College Law School
The Looming Threat Of The Independent State Legislature Theory And The Erosion Of The Voting Rights Act: It Is Time To Enshrine The Right To Vote, Javon Davis
Fordham Law Voting Rights and Democracy Forum
Over the last decade, the emergence of an imperial United States Supreme Court—currently armed with the largest conservative majority since the 1930s—has radically reshaped federal voting rights protections. During the litigation surrounding the 2020 election, however, an obscure threat reemerged. The fringe independent state legislature (“ISL”) theory is a potentially revolutionary constitutional theory that could lead to widespread voter disenfranchisement. Proponents of the theory, including Supreme Court Justices, posit, in part, that the United States Constitution vests state legislatures with plenary power to construct rules for federal elections—unbound by state constitutions and free from state judicial review.
Once a refuge …
Moore V. Harper And The Consequential Effects Of The Independent State Legislature Theory, 2023 Fordham University School of Law
Moore V. Harper And The Consequential Effects Of The Independent State Legislature Theory, Chase Cooper
Fordham Law Voting Rights and Democracy Forum
In December 2022, the United States Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Moore v. Harper. The case addresses whether the North Carolina Supreme Court possesses the authority to strike down a redistricting map drawn by the state legislature. Petitioners contend that the state legislature has no such authority under the United States Constitution, citing a novel interpretation of the Elections Clause known as the “independent state legislature” (“ISL”) theory. The ISL theory is not a unified theory, but rather a constellation of related doctrinal positions that revolve around a core precept: ordinary governing principles by which state courts review …
Citizen Enforcement Laws Threaten Democracy, 2023 University of California, Berkeley School of Law
Citizen Enforcement Laws Threaten Democracy, David A. Carrillo, Stephen M. Duvernay
Fordham Law Voting Rights and Democracy Forum
No abstract provided.
Rucho In The States: Districting Cases And The Nature Of State Judicial Power, 2023 Marquette University Law School
Rucho In The States: Districting Cases And The Nature Of State Judicial Power, Chad M. Oldfather
Fordham Law Voting Rights and Democracy Forum
No abstract provided.
Defeating De Facto Disenfranchisement Of Criminal Defendants, 2023 Texas A&M University School of Law
Defeating De Facto Disenfranchisement Of Criminal Defendants, Neil Sobol
Faculty Scholarship
In a democracy, voting is not only an important civic duty but also a right that governments owe to their citizens. However, by operation of law, forty-eight states deny voting rights to individuals based on criminal convictions. Activists and scholars attack de jure disenfranchisement as an improper collateral consequence that disproportionately impacts people of color. Although recent years show substantial reforms to reenfranchise defendants, an estimated 5.17 million defendants remained ineligible to vote in 2020.
While efforts to address de jure disenfranchisement remain necessary, a problem that has received considerably less attention is the de facto disenfranchisement of criminal defendants …
Evaluating Congress's Constitutional Basis To Abolish Felony Disenfranchisement, 2023 University of Washington
Evaluating Congress's Constitutional Basis To Abolish Felony Disenfranchisement, James E. Lauerman
Washington Law Review
In the past three years, members of Congress unsuccessfully introduced a series of federal voting rights legislation, most recently the Freedom to Vote Act. One goal of the legislation is to abolish felony disenfranchisement. Felony disenfranchisement is the practice of revoking a citizen’s right to vote due to a prior felony conviction. The Freedom to Vote Act aims to restore voting rights for every citizen who has completed their prison sentence. A ban on felony disenfranchisement would be historic, as the practice stretches back to ancient Greece and Rome. Moreover, the United States Supreme Court consistently upholds the practice by …
Election Administration Concerns Meet Claims Of A Fraudulent Election: A Comprehensive Analysis Of The 2020 Presidential Election And Its Aftermath In Wisconsin, 2023 Marquette University Law School
Election Administration Concerns Meet Claims Of A Fraudulent Election: A Comprehensive Analysis Of The 2020 Presidential Election And Its Aftermath In Wisconsin, Joe Franke
Marquette Law Review
The 2020 presidential election unearthed valid questions about how the election was administered and whether various state laws were properly followed. However, President Donald Trump and his closest allies routinely fail to distinguish between questions about whether state officials correctly interpreted and applied the state’ s election code and actual fraud or malfeasance. There is a significant difference between accusing election officials of wrongly interpreting state law or incorrectly implementing election procedures, and alleging that those same officials intended to rig the outcome. Failure to make this distinction has contributed to the stolen election narrative, which continues to roil the …
Rounding Up The Three-Fifths Clause: Eradicating Prison Gerrymandering In The South, 2023 Pepperdine University
Rounding Up The Three-Fifths Clause: Eradicating Prison Gerrymandering In The South, Abigail N. Falk
Pepperdine Law Review
This Comment examines the phenomenon of prison gerrymandering, a practice that involves counting prisoners as residents of the counties where their state correctional facilities are located—rather than in their home communities—for redistricting and representational purposes. This practice of counting inflates the voting power of rural, white districts with large prison complexes and diminishes the voting power of minority communities. Prison gerrymandering has become especially pervasive across southern states while many of the South’s northern counterparts have eradicated this practice through legislative reform. This Comment proposes a solution to stop prison gerrymandering in the South, arguing a strategy to produce a …
The Threat Of Gerrymandering And Voter Suppression To American Democracy And Why Grassroots Activism Is The Most Viable Solution, 2023 Pepperdine University
The Threat Of Gerrymandering And Voter Suppression To American Democracy And Why Grassroots Activism Is The Most Viable Solution, Sabrina Pickett
Journal of the National Association of Administrative Law Judiciary
This comment examines the threat of partisan gerrymandering, voter suppression, and election subversion in American elections. Specifically, this comment details the development of federal voting legislation and acknowledges the limits of the executive branch to implement voter equity within constitutional structure. Consequently, this comment argues that grassroots activism combined with executive enforcement of current federal law through the Department of Justice is the most viable solution to strengthen civic engagement and uphold democratic principles.
The Supreme Court In Crisis, 2023 Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law
The Supreme Court In Crisis, David Rudenstine, David M. Hunt Library
Event Invitations 2023
The speakers will discuss recent decisions affecting abortion and gun rights, the public’s trust and confidence in the high court and cases the Court will decide before the summer involving LGBTQ rights, affirmative action, election law and immigration policy.
Speakers:
- Tom Gerety, former President of Amherst and Trinity Colleges, former Executive Director of the Brennan Center for Justice
- Adam Liptak, New York Times Supreme Court Correspondent
- David Rudenstine, Sheldon H. Solow Professor of Law at Cardozo and former Dean
The Politics Of The Criminal Enforcement Of The U.S. Clean Water Act, 1983-2021, 2023 Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law
The Politics Of The Criminal Enforcement Of The U.S. Clean Water Act, 1983-2021, Dr. Joshua Ozymy, Dr. Melissa Jarrell Ozymy, Dr. Danielle Mcgurrin
Villanova Environmental Law Journal
No abstract provided.
A Synthesis Of The Science And Law Relating To Eyewitness Misidentifications And Recommendations For How Police And Courts Can Reduce Wrongful Convictions Based On Them, 2023 Seattle University School of Law
A Synthesis Of The Science And Law Relating To Eyewitness Misidentifications And Recommendations For How Police And Courts Can Reduce Wrongful Convictions Based On Them, Henry F. Fradella
Seattle University Law Review
The empirical literature on perception and memory consistently demonstrates the pitfalls of eyewitness identifications. Exoneration data lend external validity to these studies. With the goal of informing law enforcement officers, prosecutors, criminal defense attorneys, judges, and judicial law clerks about what they can do to reduce wrongful convictions based on misidentifications, this Article presents a synthesis of the scientific knowledge relevant to how perception and memory affect the (un)reliability of eyewitness identifications. The Article situates that body of knowledge within the context of leading case law. The Article then summarizes the most current recommendations for how law enforcement personnel should—and …
Enhancing Rural Representation Through Electoral System Diversity, 2023 University of Richmond
Enhancing Rural Representation Through Electoral System Diversity, Henry L. Chambers Jr.
Law Faculty Publications
Rural Virginians face disparities in outcomes regarding healthcare, access to important infrastructure, and other services. Some disparities may be related to rurality. The sparseness of population in rural areas may limit the sites where people may access services, triggering the need to travel significant distances to obtain goods and services in such areas. Limited access may lead to disparities even when the quality of goods and services in rural areas is high. The disparities affect all rural Virginians, but disproportionately affect rural Virginians of color. The causes of the disparities are complex and myriad, and may be based on race, …
Save Your Rights: How Florida And Other States Have Targeted Voting Access Following The 2020 Election, 2023 FIU College of Law
Save Your Rights: How Florida And Other States Have Targeted Voting Access Following The 2020 Election, Francisco Varona
FIU Law Review
Following the 2020 general election, Florida’s Republican led legislature introduced Senate Bill 90 (“S.B. 90”), which seeks to put many restrictions on various aspects of the voting process. S.B. 90 limits ballot drop-off boxes, restricts mail-in voting, proscribes “line-warming,” increases registration difficulty, and expands identification requirements. Despite lauding Florida’s election as a gold standard for the rest of the country, Governor Ron DeSantis approved this bill in May of 2021, explaining that Florida should not become complacent despite its success. The Republican Governor approved this law against the backdrop of record voter turnout for Black and Latino voters and record …
Changemakers: Master Of Studies In Law: "Exactly What I Needed...": John Marion, 2023 Roger Williams University
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.
The Roberts Court’S Anti-Democracy Jurisprudence And The Reemergence Of State Authoritarian Enclaves, 2023 Touro University Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center
The Roberts Court’S Anti-Democracy Jurisprudence And The Reemergence Of State Authoritarian Enclaves, Reginald Oh
Journal of Race, Gender, and Ethnicity
This Essay argues that the Roberts Court has been a pivotal institutional player in destabilizing constitutional democracy. It has enabled states to freely pursue agendas that are authoritarian in nature. And because authoritarianism is contrary to core principles of the Constitution, the Roberts Court’s constitutional jurisprudence has no basis in the Constitution and must ultimately be rejected.
Instead of taking steps to block authoritarian legislation and promote a fair and open political process, the Court has issued rulings catalyzing and reinforcing the authoritarian impulses of the former Jim Crow states. The Roberts Court has engaged in judicial review reinforcing authoritarianism, …
Blood On The Tracks, 2023 Seattle University School of Law
Blood On The Tracks, Thomas D. Russell
Seattle University Law Review
Streetcars were the greatest American tortfeasors of the early twentieth century, injuring approximately one in 331 urban Americans in 1907. This empirical study presents never-before-assembled data concerning litigation involving streetcar companies in California during the early twentieth century.
This Article demonstrates the methodological folly of relying upon appellate cases to describe the world of trial court litigation. Few cases went to trial. Plaintiffs lost about half their lawsuits. When plaintiffs did win, they won very little money. Regarding the bite taken out of the street railway company, the Superior Court was a flea.
Professor Gary Schwartz and Judge Richard Posner …
Felony Financial Disenfranchisement, 2023 Georgetown University Law Center
Felony Financial Disenfranchisement, Neel U. Sukhatme, Alexander Billy, Gaurav Bagwe
Vanderbilt Law Review
Individuals with prior felony convictions often must complete all terms of their sentence before they regain voter eligibility. Many jurisdictions include legal-financial obligations (“LFOs”)-—fines, fees, and/or restitution stemming from convictions-—in the terms of the sentence. Twenty-eight states, governing over 182 million Americans, either directly or indirectly tie LFO repayment to voting privileges, a practice we call felony financial disenfranchisement.
Proponents of felony financial disenfranchisement posit that returning citizens must satisfy the financial obligations stemming from convictions to restore themselves as community equals. Moralism aside, others claim low rates of electoral participation among those with felony convictions imply such disenfranchisement is …