Video: Sen. Jeff Sessions on Voting Rights
Washington. DC: Here is the exchange between Sen. Al Franken (D-Minnesota) and Attorney General Nominee Jeff Sessions on voting, voter fraud, and the Voting Rights Act.
NPR and Scotusblog Recap Oral Arguments in Racial Gerrymandering Case
Wash. DC - NPR's Nina Totenberg recaps Supreme Court oral arguments in , Bethune-Hill v. Virginia State Board of Elections and McCrory v. Harris; the racial gerrymandering claims arising from the Virginia state legislative and the North Carolina congressional map, which were heard on Monday. Click below for audio. Read Scotusblog's analysis here.
NPR Talks with Law Profs About Racial Gerrymandering in the Supreme Court
Wash. DC - NPR's Nina Totenberg discusses the North Carolina racial gerrymandering claim to be heard today before the U.S. Supreme Court. Totenberg chats with Stanford law professor Nathaniel Persily and Richard Hasen of University of California Irvine about the two congressional districts in dispute and how the court has dealt with similar claims in the past. Click below.
Packing Minorities Into Districts. When Is That Ever Okay?
Washington DC - The Supreme Court will tackle that question today as it hears oral arguments in two redistricting cases. Both cases are alleged racial gerrymander claims; one orginating from Virginia's state legislative map and the other from North Carolina's congressional district map. (more…)
Evenwel SCOTUS Decision News and Analysis Round Up
The first round of media, academia and policy wonks have weighed in on the somewhat surprising unanimous decision by the Supreme Court this week in the much anticipated equal population case Evenwel v. Abbott. Here is the News Analysis Round-up: How A Challenge to Legislative Redistricting Backfired. The Atlantic CVAP (Citizens of Voting Age Population) Lives to Fight Another Day. Forbes The Supreme Court upheld ‘one person, one vote.’ But don’t expect the battle over counting Americans to end. Wash. Post Analysis: In Texas Case, Supreme Court Rules Nonvoters are People, Too. Texas Tribune District Fight May…
An 8 Member Supreme Court Could Be a Boon to Minority Voting Rights
The late Justice Scalia was "no friend" to voting rights, and his absence could mean the court deadlocks on upcoming decisions regarding redistricting, voter ID, one-man one vote, and more. This just isn't about cases either, the court takes various requests for interlocutory orders, which can have significant effects on an election. Josh Gerstein of Politico explains here.
Common Cause Conference Gives Glimpse Into Post-Shelby Activity in the South
Washington, DC - On March 8 - 9, Common Cause held its Blueprint for a Great Democracy convention. This session on Race, Redistricting, and Representation gives an extensive overview of redistricting / voting issues in the South and Southwest, especially since the Supreme Court's Shelby decision. Speakers include Allison Riggs, Senior Attorney, Southern Coalition for Social Justice; Ernest Herrera, Staff Attorney, MALDEF; Kathay Feng, Executive Director, California Common Cause & National Redistricting Director. Moderator - George Cheung Program Director, Joyce Foundation’s Democracy Program. https://youtu.be/Grr8MkBbTkM
Supreme Court: Incumbent Congressman Has a Right to His District?
Washington, DC - This was congressman's Rep. Randy Forbes (R., Va.) argument Monday at the Supreme Court. In an attempt to overturn a federal court in Richmond's congressional map, congressman Forbes asserted his right as an incumbent not to have "his" district altered to his disadvantage; a novel legal argument to say the least. Read the Wall Street Journal Article here.
Voting Rights Gets A New Scholarly Institution
Voting Rights litigators, advocates, experts and practitioners have a new resource both online and off with the newly established Voting Rights Institute at Georgetown Law. The institute was formed in partnership with the American Constitution Society and the Campaign Legal Center. Many of the stalwarts working behind the scenes in voting rights litigation came together for what many would say is a much needed destination for voting rights scholarship, a subject often lost in the larger civil rights agenda. (more…)
Election Assistance Commission Back in Action
Created in 2002 as part of the Help America Vote Act, the EAC was established to help states modernize antiquated voting systems in the wake of the infamous Florida recount of Bush v. Gore. The agency also certified election systems, created technical standards and acted as a clearinghouse for election and voting information. Until this January, the commission had been leaderless with all four commissioner spots open. Three commissioners were approved by congress last December and the commission held its first public meeting just last week. View the webcast here: