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?
– 06/08/09
Sampson, et. al. v. Buescher
The Brennan Center filed a brief amici curiae in Sampson v. Buescher defending Colorado’s reporting and registration requirements for ballot issue committees.
– 05/05/09
Johnson v. Bredesen
The Center filed an amicus brief with the 6th Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals in support of the plaintiff’s challenge to Tennessee’s voter restoration law denying voting rights to individuals with felony convictions. Individuals are not eligible to vote until they pay child support arrears and/or restitution.
– 04/23/09
Republican National Committee v. Federal Election Commission
The Brennan Center filed a brief amici curiae in Republican National Committee v. FEC defending the limits on raising and spending “soft money” imposed by the Bi-Partisan Campaign Reform Act (BCRA).
– Ongoing
DNC v. RNC Consent Decree
In 1982, after caging in predominantly African-American and Latino neighborhoods, the Republican National Committee and New Jersey Republican State Committee entered into a consent decree with their Democratic party counterparts.
– Ongoing
Coronado v. Napolitano
The Center filed an amicus brief with the Ninth Circuit of the US Court of Appeals in support of the plaintiff's challenge to Arizona's statutory provision denying voting rights to individuals with felony convictions. Voting rights are withheld until those individuals have paid any court-ordered fees, fines, or restitution.
– 02/05/09
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
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