Democracy & Justice | Collected Writings, 2007
Publications
Download PDF of annual.
Introduction from Executive Director.
About Democracy & Justice: Collected Writings, 2007.
Compiled at the end of 2007, the following annual includes excerpts from reports, policy proposals, and issue briefs, as well as excerpted material from public remarks, legal briefs, Congressional testimony, and op-ed pieces written by Brennan Center staff. It is arranged in five sections: The Democracy Moment, Restoring Faith in Our Elections, Liberty and National Security, Campaign Finance Reform, and Access to Justice.
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Click here for 10: Celebrating Our First Decade, published in 2006.
Introduction from the Executive Director
America is alive to the politics of possibility. We are engaged in a rare national conversation in which citizens debate not just the “who” of leadership but also the “how.”
Animated by this hunger for change, in 2007 we at the Brennan Center for Justice worked hard—and with concrete results—to bring the fundamental American values of democracy and justice back to the center of our politics. We believe that the challenges we face—from economic anxiety, to global warming to the continued threat of catastrophic terrorism—can only be solved with a meaningful renewal of our governmental system.
This volume offers a sample—just a taste—of the Brennan Center’s work. You’ll find our work to expand the right to vote, ranging from an argument advanced before the U.S. Supreme Court debunking the myth of “voter fraud,” to an agenda for federal election reform endorsed by dozens of groups. This year, as well, we issued a plan to improve access to justice for the poor. And as we continue to fight in the courts to uphold habeas corpus, we published a series of pathbreaking reports and a major book setting out concrete steps to restore checks and balances.
Today, social change comes not just only in the courtroom or even the legislature, but also in the court of public opinion. So we have included a sampling of the dozens of opinion articles we published in major newspapers and websites.
In this election year, we continue our work to knock away barriers to voter registration and accurate elections. We continue to defend campaign finance laws where they are under assault. And we are crafting a series of bold proposals, anchored in a plan for universal voter registration, that can form a key part of the nation’s evolving policy agenda in 2009. It is time to think big again.
We take our cue from a president who governed and led us toward our best impulses at our most difficult time of turmoil: “As our case is new,” said Abraham Lincoln, “so we must think anew, and act anew. We must disenthrall ourselves, and then we shall save our country.”
Michael Waldman
Executive Director
The Democracy Moment
America's Promise, America's Story
Bill Moyers
Let's Not Miss a Chance to Change Voter Laws
Michael Waldman
The Genius of America: How the Constitution Saved America, and Why It Can Again
Eric Lane & Michael Oreskes
Restoring Faith in Our Elections
An Agenda for Election Reform
Wendy R. Weiser & Jonah Goldman
Protecting Voters in an Electronic Age
Michael Waldman
Fixing the Vote: Post Election Audits, Now
Lawrence Norden
The Myth of Voter Fraud
Michael Waldman & Justin Levitt
Court Supports Modern Day Poll Tax
Erika Wood
Maintaining Voter Registration Lists
Deborah Goldberg
Voter ID: A Remedy Incommensurate with Risk
Amicus Brief Submitted by the Brennan Center in Crawford v. Marion County Board of Elections
The Truth About Voter Fraud
Justin Levitt
Liberty & National Security
Ten Things You Should Know About Habeas Corpus
Jonathan Hafetz
Where’s Congress in this Power Play?
Frederick A.O. Schwarz, Jr. & Aziz Z. Huq
Defending Freedom, At Home
Governor Thomas Kean
Release Justice’s Secrets
Nicholas deB. Katzenbach & Frederick A.O. Schwarz, Jr.
Twelve Steps to Restore Checks and Balances
Aziz Z. Huq
Campaign Finance Reform
A Testing Ground for Progress
Suzanne Novak, Bethany Foster, & Maneesh Sharma
We Need Campaign Finance Reform
Michael Waldman & Bethany Foster
Access to Justice
Opening the Courthouse Door
David Udell and Rebekah Diller
Justice at Stake
James Sample, Lauren Jones, & Rachel Weiss
Challenging the Patronage System
Frederick A. O. Schwarz, Jr.
A Fair Day in Court
Laura Abel & David Pedulla
Supreme Court Decisions Meet the Real World
Kirsten Levingston
A Civil Right to Counsel
Amicus Brief Submitted by the Brennan Center in King v. King.
Unregulated Work in the Global City
Annette Bernhardt, Siobhán McGrath & James DeFilippis
About Democracy & Justice: Collected Writings 2007
The material in this volume is excerpted from Brennan Center reports, policy proposals, and issue briefs; we’ve also excerpted material from public remarks, legal briefs, Congressional testimony, and op-ed pieces written by Brennan Center staff in 2007. For a full version of any material printed herein, complete with footnotes, please contact: Susan Lehman, Director of Communications and Strategy, Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law, susan.lehman@nyu.edu.