Measuring Political Power: Suspect Class Determinations And The Poor, 2015 University of California - Berkeley
Measuring Political Power: Suspect Class Determinations And The Poor, Bertrall L. Ross, Su Li
Bertrall L Ross
Which classes are considered suspect under equal protection doctrine? The answer determines whether courts will defer to legislatures and other government actors when they single out a group for special burdens, or intervene to protect that group from such treatment. Laws burdening suspect classes receive the strictest scrutiny possible—and under current doctrine, whether a class is suspect turns largely on whether the court views the group as possessing political power.
But how do courts know when a class lacks political power? A liberal plurality of the Supreme Court initially suggested that political power should be measured according to a group’s …
Don’T Tread On Me…Online: The Fec Should Stay Out Of Free Internet-Based Political Speech, 2015 Catholic University of America, Columbus School of Law
Don’T Tread On Me…Online: The Fec Should Stay Out Of Free Internet-Based Political Speech, Timothy J. D’Elia
Catholic University Journal of Law and Technology
No abstract provided.
One Significant Step: How Reforms To Prison Districts Begin To Address Political Inequality, 2015 New York Law School
One Significant Step: How Reforms To Prison Districts Begin To Address Political Inequality, Erika L. Wood
University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform
Skyrocketing rates of incarceration over the last three decades have had profound and lasting effects on the political power and engagement of local communities throughout the United States. Aggressive enforcement practices and mandatory sentencing laws have an impact beyond the individuals who are arrested, convicted, and incarcerated. These policies have wide-ranging and enduring ripple effects throughout the communities that are most heavily impacted by criminal laws, predominantly urban and minority neighborhoods. Criminal justice policies broadly impact everything from voter turnout and engagement, to serving on juries, participating in popular protests, census data, and the way officials draw legislative districts. The …
Legal Storytelling: The Murder Of Voter Id, 2015 Brigham Young University Law School
Legal Storytelling: The Murder Of Voter Id, Tracy Mccants Lewis
Brigham Young University Journal of Public Law
No abstract provided.
The Unwilling Donor, 2015 University of Washington School of Law
The Unwilling Donor, Jennifer Mueller
Washington Law Review
For nearly forty years, the Supreme Court has evaluated campaign finance restrictions by weighing the First Amendment burden they place on a donor eager to engage the political process against the government’s interest in avoiding corruption of that process. Most recently, in McCutcheon v. FEC, the Court struck down aggregate contribution limits, allowing donors to give—and candidates and parties to solicit—millions of dollars directly to candidates, parties, and political action committees. Yet what should have been a significant victory for big donors was greeted with dismay by many of the same. There is growing evidence that the story we …
Administering Section 2 Of The Voting Rights Act After Shelby County, 2015 University of California - Davis
Administering Section 2 Of The Voting Rights Act After Shelby County, Christopher Elmendorf, Douglas Spencer
Douglas M. Spencer
Until the Supreme Court put an end to it in Shelby County v. Holder, Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act was widely regarded as an effective, low cost tool for blocking potentially discriminatory changes to election laws and administrative practices. The provision the Supreme Court left standing, Section 2, is generally seen as expensive, cumbersome and almost wholly ineffective at blocking changes before they take effect. This paper argues that the courts, in partnership with the Department of Justice, could reform Section 2 so that it fills much of the gap left by the Supreme Court’s evisceration of Section …
Election Law And Government Ethics, 2015 McGuirewWoods LLP, Richmond, Virginia
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.
What The Marriage Equality Cases Tell Us About Voter Id, 2015 University of Michigan Law School
What The Marriage Equality Cases Tell Us About Voter Id, Ellen D. Katz
Articles
Two years ago, United States u. Windsor tossed out the Defense of Marriage Act ("DOMA"). Thereafter, proponents of marriage equality secured dozens of notable victories in the lower courts, a smattering of setbacks, and last June, the victory they sought in Obergefell v. Hodges. During this same period, opponents of electoral restrictions such as voter identification have seen far less sustained success. Decided the day before Windsor, Shelby County v. Holder scrapped a key provision of the Voting Rights Act ("VRA") while making clear that plaintiffs might still challenge disputed voting regulations under Section 2 of the VRA and the …
Parting The Dark Money Sea: Exposing Politically Active Tax-Exempt Groups Through Fec-Irs Hybrid Enforcement, 2015 William & Mary Law School
Parting The Dark Money Sea: Exposing Politically Active Tax-Exempt Groups Through Fec-Irs Hybrid Enforcement, Carrie E. Miller
William & Mary Law Review
No abstract provided.
Death By A Thousand Cuts: How The Supreme Court Has Effectively Killed Campaign Finance Regulation By Its Limited Recognition Of Compelling State Interests, 2015 University of Miami Law School
Death By A Thousand Cuts: How The Supreme Court Has Effectively Killed Campaign Finance Regulation By Its Limited Recognition Of Compelling State Interests, Kevin R. Huguelet
University of Miami Law Review
This Article examines the current campaign finance jurisprudence in the United States, with a particular emphasis on the Court’s recognition of compelling state interests. Given the limited recognition of compelling state interests, this Article seeks to question the seemingly arbitrary rationale behind recognition and explore the implications of minimal acceptance of compelling state interests. Because the evolution of compelling state interest recognition has varied greatly, the Court’s recent insistence — that the state has merely one compelling interest — is troublesome. This Article provides a comprehensive review of the campaign finance jurisprudence, then reviews the decisions that created or argued …
The Voting Rights Act, Questions Of Deference & Legislative Facts In A Digital Age, 2015 William & Mary Law School
The Voting Rights Act, Questions Of Deference & Legislative Facts In A Digital Age, Allison Orr Larsen
Faculty Publications
AALS Constitutional Law Panel (January 5, 2015)
Do Laws Have A Constitutional Shelf Life?, 2015 William & Mary Law School
Do Laws Have A Constitutional Shelf Life?, Allison Orr Larsen
Faculty Publications
Times change. A statute passed today may seem obsolete tomorrow. Does the Constitution dictate when a law effectively expires? In Shelby County v. Holder, the 2013 decision that invalidated a provision of the Voting Rights Act, the Court seems to answer that question in the affirmative. Although rational and constitutional when written, the Court held that the coverage formula of the law grew to be irrational over time and was unconstitutional now because it bears “no logical relation to the present day.” This reason for invalidating a law is puzzling. The question answered in Shelby County was not about whether …
To Protect The Right To Vote, Look To State Courts And State Constitutions, 2015 University of Kentucky College of Law
To Protect The Right To Vote, Look To State Courts And State Constitutions, Joshua A. Douglas
Law Faculty Scholarly Articles
This Issue Brief details the scope of voting rights under state constitutions, an overlooked source of the right to vote. Part I considers both the lack of a federal constitutional right to vote and the explicit right mentioned in virtually all state constitutions. Part II describes recent state-level voter ID cases, providing a summary of how courts facing litigation over voter ID laws have employed their state constitutions. Part III contends that state courts, instead of simply following narrow federal jurisprudence in “lockstep,” should give broader, independent force to their explicit state constitutional provisions conferring the right to vote. Part …
In The Shadows Of Sunlight: The Effects Of Transparency On State Political Campaigns, 2015 University of Southern California
In The Shadows Of Sunlight: The Effects Of Transparency On State Political Campaigns, Abby K. Wood, Douglas M. Spencer
Douglas M. Spencer
In recent years, the courts have deregulated many areas of campaign finance while simultaneously upholding campaign finance disclosure requirements. Opponents of disclosure claim that it chills speech and deters political participation. We leverage state contribution data and find that the speech-chilling effects of disclosure are negligible. On average, donors to state-level campaigns are no less likely to contribute in subsequent elections in states that increase the public visibility of campaign contributions, relative to donors in states that do not change their disclosure laws or practices over the same time period – estimates are indistinguishable from zero and confidence intervals are …
Section 3: Election Law, 2015 William & Mary Law School
Section 3: Election Law, Institute Of Bill Of Rights Law, William & Mary Law School
Supreme Court Preview
No abstract provided.
Lucky To Be Singaporean, 2015 Singapore Management University
Lucky To Be Singaporean, Ee-Ing Ong
Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law
Op-ed about being Singaporean, in our historic 2015 elections.
"In the midst of our historic elections, I would like to remind Singaporeans that there remains a wider world out there. That our concerns about CPF money, high housing prices, rising income inequality, foreign workers, transportation woes, and the AHPETC saga, while important, are nonetheless First World problems. We have the luxury of arguing about them because we don’t have to worry about the fundamental problems of survival. Literally.
Thus, as we consider what we would like our country to look like in the coming years, I suggest that we first …
Why Ahpetc Is A National Issue In 2015, 2015 Singapore Management University
Why Ahpetc Is A National Issue In 2015, Tan K. B. Eugene
Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law
With tomorrow being the last day of the hustings, the battle for the hearts and minds of 2.46 million Singaporean voters takes on greater urgency and poignancy. Any misstep by the nine political parties and their candidates at this late stage might well be game changing.
Brief Of Amici Curiae Professors Joshua A. Douglas And Michael E. Solimine, Election Law Scholars, In Support Of Petitioners, 2015 University of Kentucky College of Law
Brief Of Amici Curiae Professors Joshua A. Douglas And Michael E. Solimine, Election Law Scholars, In Support Of Petitioners, Joshua A. Douglas, Michael E. Solimine
Law Faculty Advocacy
Professor Joshua A. Douglas and Professor Michael E. Solimine are election law experts who have a particular interest in the procedural aspects of election litigation. Professors Douglas and Solimine are filing this brief because they have a keen interest in ensuring that the federal courts employ the proper procedure in election law cases, as doing so helps to resolve these disputes in a manner that best comports with the unique aspects of the electoral system. This brief explains why district courts should not use the pleading standard from Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544 (2007) and Ashcroft …
The Blinding Color Of Race: Elections And Democracy In The Post-Shelby County Era, 2015 Selected Works
The Blinding Color Of Race: Elections And Democracy In The Post-Shelby County Era, Sahar F. Aziz
Sahar F. Aziz
No abstract provided.
Who Should Be Afforded More Protection In Voting – The People Or The States? The States, According To The Supreme Court In Shelby County V. Holder, 2015 Touro University Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center
Who Should Be Afforded More Protection In Voting – The People Or The States? The States, According To The Supreme Court In Shelby County V. Holder, Tara M. Darling
Touro Law Review
No abstract provided.