The Shareholder Protection Act Wins Key Vote
July 29 – The House Financial Services Committee today approved the Shareholder Protection Act of 2010. Based on a Brennan Center policy proposal, the bill was introduced earlier this year by Rep. Capuano to mitigate the effects of unlimited corporate spending in elections post-Citizens United. The bill would give shareholders the ability to vote on corporate spending in elections and increase overall transparency by requiring corporate managers to report to shareholders past political financing. Ciara Torres-Spelliscy, author of the policy proposal and report, Corporate Campaign Spending: Giving Shareholders A Voice, gave congressional testimony on the bill before House Financial Services Committee and the Committee on House Administration.Netroots Nation on Filibuster Reform
Jul. 26 –Brennan Center attorney Mimi Marziani appeared on a panel last week at the Netroots Nation conference in Las Vegas with Senator Udall and addressed the constitutional underpinnings that often surround the filibuster debate: “The text of the Constitution says nothing about the filibuster, nor about preserving the rights of Senators with minority-held viewpoints. In short, there is no express or implicit constitutional right to filibuster. The filibuster actually takes the Senate far from its consitutional ideal." Senator Udall's proposal to curb the use and abuse of the rule was also well received at the conference and writers “detect some momentum gathering” for movement on it early January. Click here to read Marziani's remarks and click here to read the Brennan Center's recent testimony.
Community Oriented Defender Network
July 21 – This week, the Brennan Center hosts “Our Principles in Action,” this year’s Community Oriented Defender (COD) Network conference. Dan Olmos -- senior counsel in Laurence Tribe’s Access to Justice Initiative at the DOJ -- will lead the conversation and hone in on indigent defense reform and how the network can improve the criminal justice system. This year’s conversation will also be guided in part by the release of our new report, Community Oriented Defense: Stronger Public Defenders, which offers a blueprint of the COD model to help secure better public policies for communities. The Brennan Center founded the COD network to bring together a group of advocates committed to a unified, holistic approach to various problems facing indigent Americans, who all too often cycle through the justice system. Click here to learn more about the COD Network and our conference.
- 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) - Trying to Make History, With 6 Votes Per Person
(NY Times, by Kirk Semple , 06/11/10) - For Virginia’s ex-cons, more aid with rebuilding their lives
(The Washington Post, Editorial , 05/25/10) - Elections not for sale
(Boston Herald, by Michael Capuano, 05/17/10)
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.
Why can 41 senators crush popular will to temper money in politics?
Yesterday the threat of filibuster in the Senate killed — at least for the moment — a transparency bill the country both needs and wants. This is another example of how the continual threat — and use — of the filibuster is bringing our democracy to a halt. Tuesday’s victim? Americans who might want to know who is funding political ads in our elections.
Brennan Center Urges Department of Homeland Security to Clarify Language Assistance Obligations
Police, Detention Centers and other Government Agencies Need More Guidance in Serving Individuals with Limited English Speaking Skills
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.