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Full-Text Articles in Law
The Locked Gates To Tension City: The Commission On Presidential Debates, The Fec, And The Two-Party System, Tommy La Voy
The Locked Gates To Tension City: The Commission On Presidential Debates, The Fec, And The Two-Party System, Tommy La Voy
Michigan Journal of Environmental & Administrative Law
Since John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon walked into a Chicago television studio for the first general election presidential debate in 1960, candidate debates have been a fundamental aspect of presidential campaigns and have had broader effects on society at large. The Commission on Presidential Debates (“CPD”) has been in charge of organizing the general election debates since it was created in 1987 by the Democratic and Republican parties. In its tenure, the CPD has restricted its massive platform almost every election to the Republican and Democratic candidates through the use of criteria that seemingly follow the law’s requirement of …
In All Fairness: Using Political Broadcast Access Doctrine To Tailor Public Campaign Fund Matching, Andrew V. Moshirnia, Aaron T. Dozeman
In All Fairness: Using Political Broadcast Access Doctrine To Tailor Public Campaign Fund Matching, Andrew V. Moshirnia, Aaron T. Dozeman
University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform
Recent United States Supreme Court decisions have undermined the viability of campaign public financing systems, a vital tool for fighting political corruption. First, Citizens United v. FEC allowed privately financed candidates and independent groups to spend unlimited amounts of money on campaigning. Publicly financed candidates now risk being vastly outspent. Second, Arizona Free Enterprise Club’s Freedom PAC v. Bennett invalidated a proportional fund matching system whereby privately financed candidates’ or independent groups’ spending triggered funds to publicly funded candidates. These decisions effectuate a libertarian speech doctrine: all speakers, individual or corporate, must be absolutely unburdened. To comply with this approach, …
Citizens United And The Illusion Of Coherence, Richard L. Hasen
Citizens United And The Illusion Of Coherence, Richard L. Hasen
Michigan Law Review
The self-congratulatory tone of the majority and concurring opinions in last term's controversial Supreme Court blockbuster, Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, extended beyond the trumpeting of an absolutist vision of the First Amendment that allows corporations to spend unlimited sums independently to support or oppose candidates for office. The triumphalism extended to the majority's view that it had imposed coherence on the unwieldy body of campaign finance jurisprudence by excising an "outlier" 1990 opinion, Austin v. Michigan Chamber of Commerce, which had upheld such corporate limits, and parts of a 2003 opinion, McConnell v. FEC, extending Austin to unions …
Party On: The Right To Voluntary Blanket Primaries, Margaret P. Aisenbrey
Party On: The Right To Voluntary Blanket Primaries, Margaret P. Aisenbrey
Michigan Law Review
Political parties have unique associational rights. In party primaries, party members associate to further their common political beliefs, and more importantly, to nominate candidates. These candidate are the "standard bearer[s]" for the political party-the people who "best represent[ ] the party's ideologies and preferences." The primary represents a "crucial juncture at which the appeal to common principles may be translated into concerted action, and hence to political power in the community." Because the primary is such a critical moment for the political party, the party's asso-ciational rights are most important at this time.
Fighting Exclusion From Televised Presidential Debates: Minor-Party Candidates' Standing To Challenge Sponsoring Organizations' Tax-Exempt Status, Gregory P. Magarian
Fighting Exclusion From Televised Presidential Debates: Minor-Party Candidates' Standing To Challenge Sponsoring Organizations' Tax-Exempt Status, Gregory P. Magarian
Michigan Law Review
This Note argues that courts should recognize minor-party presidential candidates' standing to challenge the section 50l(c)(3) tax-exempt status of organizations sponsoring televised debates that exclude minor-party candidates. Part I situates the issue within the context of the Supreme Court's standing jurisprudence and concludes that the validity of a third-party tax-status challenge by an aggrieved minor-party presidential candidate remains an open question. Part II analyzes the Second and District of Columbia Circuits' decisions and concludes that the Second Circuit's approach properly interprets the Supreme Court's standing doctrine and correctly resolves the particular arguments which both courts consider. Part III first demonstrates …
Political Candidates' Loyalty Oaths, Jeffrey F. Liss
Political Candidates' Loyalty Oaths, Jeffrey F. Liss
University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform
When Washington mustered his revolutionary army, when South Carolinians called for secession, and when Senator Joseph P. McCarthy kindled fears of Communist infiltration, many people affirmed their loyalty to the nation by swearing oaths. Perhaps the oath givers hoped to subdue the anxieties of those anxious times by reducing the ambiguities in the behavior and beliefs of others. Candidates for political office have not escaped suspicion; eight states still require political candidates to swear oaths of loyalty before their names can appear on the ballot. But constitutional doctrine and changing times have diminished the loyalty oath's scope and significance. This …
Constitutional Law--Equal Protection--Minimum Age Requirement For Candidates For Detroit Common Council Violates Equal Protection Clause Of Fourteenth Amendment--Manson V. Edwards*, Michigan Law Review
Constitutional Law--Equal Protection--Minimum Age Requirement For Candidates For Detroit Common Council Violates Equal Protection Clause Of Fourteenth Amendment--Manson V. Edwards*, Michigan Law Review
Michigan Law Review
This Recent Development will discuss the validity and potential impact of the court's selection of the compelling interest test to measure the compliance of Detroit's age restriction on candidacy with the fourteenth amendment. It will also explore the possible state goals sought to be achieved by requiring a minimum age for candidates and examine whether these goals can be viewed as "compelling governmental interests."
Regulation Of Campaign Funding And Spending For Federal Office, Roscoe L. Barrow
Regulation Of Campaign Funding And Spending For Federal Office, Roscoe L. Barrow
University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform
This article will detail significant data on campaign funding and spending, describe the major laws for regulating campaign funding and spending, analyze the constitutional issues raised by these laws, and propose changes to render the laws safer from attack on grounds of unconstitutionality and more effective in achieving a viable election process.
The Constitutionality Of Candidate Filing Fees, Michigan Law Review
The Constitutionality Of Candidate Filing Fees, Michigan Law Review
Michigan Law Review
Early in the twentieth century a "progressive impulse" captured the energies of this country's burgeoning urban middle class. Sickened by the corruption and scandals of the nineteenth century and fearful of the rising influx of European immigration, the so-called Progressives began working for political reform. The emphasis of this reform was primarily structural. Rather than by a remodeling of the citizenry, reform was to be achieved by "a careful and scientific adjustment of the machinery of government for the correction of prevalent evils." Progressives pushed such reforms as initiative, recall, referendum, and frequent elections in the belief that these measures …
Are Charges Against The Moral Character Of A Candidate For An Elective Office Conditionally Privileged, Jeremiah Smith
Are Charges Against The Moral Character Of A Candidate For An Elective Office Conditionally Privileged, Jeremiah Smith
Michigan Law Review
Is candidacy for an elective office such a special occasion as to confer conditional privilege (prima facie protection) upon charges affecting the moral character of the candidate?
Are Charges Against The Moral Character Of A Candidate For An Elective Office Conditionally Privileged, Jeremiah Smith
Are Charges Against The Moral Character Of A Candidate For An Elective Office Conditionally Privileged, Jeremiah Smith
Michigan Law Review
The above specific question, upon which there is a conflict of authority, cannot be intelligently discussed without first considering some features of the general law as to conditional privilege.