Election Guide California 2016, 2016 Golden Gate University School of Law
Election Guide California 2016, California Secretary Of State
Table of Contents:
Candidate Filing Information
Pesidential Primary Election Calendar
Electors and the Electoral College
Political Party Information
Offices and Subdivisions
A First Amendment Right To Observe Elections: Fulfilling The Dream Of Richmond Newspapers By Extending It To The Polling Place, 2016 The Catholic University of America, Columbus School of Law
A First Amendment Right To Observe Elections: Fulfilling The Dream Of Richmond Newspapers By Extending It To The Polling Place, Andrew D. Howell
Catholic University Law Review
The First Amendment has long been held to protect the right of citizens to gather information. In 1980, the Supreme Court articulated a two-pronged test in Richmond Newspapers v. Virginia, which examined both the “experience” and “logic” of granting public access to criminal trials. The jurisprudence of lower courts has since extended this qualified First Amendment presumptive right of access to civil trial and administrative hearings. This Comment examines the extension of this constitutional test to the governmental process at work at polling places. This Comment argues that the public, via the powerful vehicle of the press, ultimately meets the ...
Thou Shalt Not Electioneer: Religious Nonprofit Political Activity And The Threat “God Pacs” Pose To Democracy And Religion, 2016 University of Michigan Law School
Thou Shalt Not Electioneer: Religious Nonprofit Political Activity And The Threat “God Pacs” Pose To Democracy And Religion, Jonathan Backer
Michigan Law Review
The Supreme Court’s 2010 decision in Citizens United v. FEC invalidated a longstanding restriction on corporate and union campaign spending in federal elections, freeing entities with diverse political goals to spend unlimited amounts supporting candidates for federal office. Houses of worship and other religious nonprofits, however, remain strictly prohibited from engaging in partisan political activity as a condition of tax-exempt status under Internal Revenue Code § 501(c)(3). Absent this “electioneering prohibition,” religious nonprofits would be very attractive vehicles for political activity. These 501(c)(3) organizations can attract donors with the incentive of tax deductions for contributions. Moreover ...
Measuring Political Power: Suspect Class Determinations And The Poor, 2016 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 ...
Voting Rights And Election Law, Michael R Dimino, Bradley Smith, Michael Solimine
Michael R Dimino
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.
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 S. Elmendorf, Douglas M. 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 ...
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 ...
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
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 College of 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.
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 Wood, Douglas M. Spencer
University of Southern California Legal Studies Working Paper Series
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 narrow ...
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 ...
Do Laws Have A Constitutional Shelf Life?, 2015 William & Mary Law School
Do Laws Have A Constitutional Shelf Life?, Allison Orr Larsen
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 ...
Section 3: Election Law, 2015 College of William & Mary Law School
Section 3: Election Law, Institute Of Bill Of Rights Law At The College Of William & Mary School Of Law
Supreme Court Preview
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 College 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.
El Tribunal Electoral Y La “Espontaneidad” De Los Tuits A Favor Del Partido Verde, 2015 Columbia University
El Tribunal Electoral Y La “Espontaneidad” De Los Tuits A Favor Del Partido Verde, Javier Martín Reyes, Javier Martín Reyes
Javier Martín Reyes
The Constitutionality And Legality Of Internet Voting Post-Shelby County, Logan T. Mohs
Duke Law & Technology Review
The technological and electoral landscapes have changed drastically since the turn of the century. While it once might have made sense to view voting online as unconstitutional, as opposed to merely impractical, the expanded range of Internet access for minority communities has made that argument tenuous at best. While there still may exist practical and political reasons to avoid Internet voting, the Constitution no longer stands as an effective wall against the practice. Furthermore, the primary statutory obstacle to the implementation of Internet voting on a local level, the Voting Rights Act, has been greatly weakened by the recent Supreme ...
The Price Of Corruption, 2015 University of Georgia School of Law
The Price Of Corruption, Usha Rodrigues
The Supreme Court recently held that campaign contributions under $5200 do not create a “cognizable risk of corruption.” It was wrong. This Essay describes a nexus of timely contributions and special-interest legislation. In the most noteworthy case, a CEO made a first-time $1000 donation to a member of Congress. The next day that representative introduced a securities bill tailored to the interests of the CEO’s firm.
Armed with this real-world account of how small-dollar campaign contributions coincided with favorable legislative action, the Essay reads McCutcheon v. Federal Election Commission with a critical eye. In McCutcheon the Supreme Court assumed ...
Mapping The Treasure State: What States Can Learn From Redistricting In Montana, 2015 The Alexander Blewett III School of Law
Mapping The Treasure State: What States Can Learn From Redistricting In Montana, Caitlin Boland Aarab, The Honorable Jim Regnier
Montana Law Review
No abstract provided.
The Other House: Why Legislative Councils Serve Little Purpose, 2015 National Institute of Advanced Studies