Court Cases
Democracy
Caperton v. Massey
Justice Brent Benjamin of the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia refused to recuse himself from the appeal of a $50 million jury verdict in this case, even though the CEO of the lead defendant spent $3 million supporting his campaign. Did Benjamin’s failure to recuse violate the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment?
– 01/05/09
Legal Services for Prisoners with Children v. Bowen
This is case is class action Equal Protection challenge to California’s disenfranchisement law, which bars persons with felony convictions from voting while they are in prison and on parole.
– 12/09/08
Duke v. Leake
The Brennan Center is intervening to help defend the nation’s first voluntary full public financing program for judicial elections.
– 11/05/08
Common Cause of Colorado, et al. v. Coffman
A coalition of voting rights groups sued the Colorado Secretary of State Mike Coffman claiming he illegally removed over 27,000 voters from the rolls. They filed a temporary restraining order to get those names reinstated and to ensure additional names cannot be removed before Election Day.
– 10/24/08
Van Hollen v. Government Accountability Board
Wisconsin AG, J.B. Van Hollen, claims the state’s Government Accountability Board(GAB) is incompliant with HAVA by not retroactively running database matches and purging voters from registration rolls.
– 10/23/08
Florida NAACP v. Browning
A lawsuit filled by the Brennan Center and other voting rights advocates challenging Florida’s requirement that the driver’s license or Social Security number on a registration form be verified before a voter can be registered to vote.
– 10/23/08
Republican Party of Ohio v. Secretary Brunner
The Ohio Republican Party sued Ohio’s Secretary of State alleging that various policies adopted by the Secretary violated federal and state law. Among the claims was that Ohio was not in compliance with provisions of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 ("HAVA").
– 10/13/08
Green Party of Connecticut v. Jeffrey Garfield
In 2005, the Connecticut General Assembly became the first state legislature in the nation to pass a full public financing law that applies to its own campaigns. The Brennan Center is helping to defend this system and Connecticut’s ban on campaign contributions from lobbyists and state contractors.
– Ongoing
State of Ohio ex rel. Myles v. Brunner
Brennan Center filed an amicus brief in a case challenging Ohio’s rejection of absentee ballot request forms created by the McCain campaign.
– 10/02/08