Aug. 16 - Spending on state Supreme Court elections has more than doubled in the past decade, from $83.3 million in 1990-1999 to $206.9 million in 2000-2009, according to a report released today by the Justice at Stake Campaign, the Brennan Center, and the National Institute on Money in State Politics. For more than a decade, partisans and special interests of all stripes have grown more organized in their efforts to tilt the scales of justice their way. This surge in spending—much of it funneled through secret channels—has fundamentally transformed state Supreme Court elections. “This crisis of confidence in the judiciary is real and growing,” Justice O’Connor warns in the foreword of the report. “Left unaddressed, the perception that justice is for sale will undermine the rule of law that the courts are supposed to uphold.” Click here to read the report. Read coverage in the Washington Post and on NPR. Click here to read the press release.
Voting After You Move: A Guide
Aug. 23 -The Brennan Center just released a new resource: Voting After You Move: A Guide. Each year, an estimated 29 million voting-age Americans move. And each election season, the link between voter registration and a voter’s residential address can prove complicated and confusing – and in some instances, disenfranchising. The new resource is intended to help voters and advocates navigate the diverse patchwork of laws governing voters who move. The guide answers questions surrounding moving to a new state, a new county or town and helps with the most basic questions about changing your address within the same jurisdiction, and how that affects your voter registration. A state-by-state directory is available here.
Justice: Translators Needed
Aug. 16 - Federal law requires state courts to provide free court interpreters: so the Department of Justice told state court chief justices, in an August 16, 2010 letter. According to the letter -- and the law -- all state courts in receipt of Federal funding must provide interpreters to individuals who have limited English langugage proficiency. A Brennan Center study last year found, however, that despite the Civil Rights Act and its clear provisions, many state courts fail to provide interpretors -- even in cases in which parties face eviction, loss of custody of their children and domestic violence. DOJ's clear, firm guidance is an essential step in ensuring that all citizens have access to justice.
All New: Just Books
Aug. 11 - In an all new issue of Just Books: Laurence Tribe: Dispatch from the Department of Justice; Paul Farmer, ultimate do-gooder, on his work and new book, Partner to the Poor; Prosecute the Times for disclosing secrets? Fritz Schwarz on Gabriel Shoenfield's Necessary Secrets; Beth Greenfield: "I found my brother's killer….. on the internet"; Jesse Kornbluth on Dick Armey and The Tea Party Manifesto; Atticus Finch is 50! Austin Sarat celebrates America's most beloved lawyer; Filibusted!: A conversation with Greg Koger on Filibustering: A Political History of Obstruction; NRDC Exec Director Peter Lehner: The World According to Monsanto?; Buy My Book! by David Strauss; and suggested Reading from Frank Rich, Jill Lepore, James Tartano, and more.
- An End to Prison Gerrymandering
(The New York Times, Editorial, 08/30/10) - NY to Use Inmates’ Old Addresses for Redistricting
(The Wall Street Journal, by the Associated Press, 08/30/10) - Inmate Residency Law May Remap State Politics
(The New York Times, by Stephen Ceasar, 08/30/10) - Harry Reid’s Senate: Where Progressive Legislation Goes to Die
(Beyond Chron, 07/27/10) - One Person, No Vote?
(The New York Times, 07/06/10) - Expand Legal Services Now
(The National Law Journal , 06/28/10) - New York’s Voting Machines are Flawed, Suit Says
(The New York Times, 06/28/10) - A Chance for a Fairer Count
(Editorial, NY Times, 06/27/10) - Hispanic Apparent Winner in Unusual NY Election
(Associated Press, 06/16/10) - Redistricting reform pushed ahead of Census
(Reuters, by Edith Honan, 06/14/10)
In Counter-Terror Efforts, is the U.S. Bound by the Law of War?
By Sarah St. Vincent
Last week, civil-rights attorneys filed a complaint before the D.C. district court announcing their intention to challenge the U.S. government’s authorization of the targeted killing of an American citizen residing in Yemen.
New York Passes Two Landmark Democracy Reforms
This summer the New York legislature took decisive action to create two important policy reforms: requiring that people in prison be allocated to their home communities for redistricting purposes; and requiring criminal justice agencies to provide voting rights information to people who are again eligible to vote after a felony conviction.
This week, Congress made two important advances involving two key pieces of criminal justice legislation that are part of the Brennan Center’s criminal justice advocacy efforts.
Illustrations by Risko
Redistricting 101
April 1, 2010 is Census Day, our Constitutional snapshot of every person in the United States, every ten years.
The results are plugged into the redistricting process, which drives federal, state, and local political power. So how can you get involved to make sure your communities are represented? Here are some tools to make it all make sense:
a 90-minute “Redistricting in a Box” curriculum,
the comprehensive Citizen’s Guide to Redistricting,
a set of presentations and video lectures,
plus materials tailored to several states.
Extra Credit:
Read about efforts underway to use a new Census process to correct the longstanding skew caused by building districts on the backs of people in prison.
More Voices for a Better Overvote Procedure in New York
Elected representatives, computer scientists, chief election officials, and editorial boards join in the call for the New York City and State Boards of Elections to revise their unnecessarily complicated procedure for handling overvoted ballots.