Press Releases
NY
Study: Public Financing Contributes to Greater Diversity of Participation in NYC Elections
A new report jointly released today by the Brennan Center for Justice at the NYU School of Law and the Campaign Finance Institute of Washington DC offers powerful evidence that New York City's public financing system has contributed to a fundamental change in the relationship between candidates and their donors. With the program in place, there has been a dramatic increase in the number and diversity of the city’s residents who participate in the process.
– 05/14/12
Law Ending Prison-Based Gerrymandering Stands
Plaintiffs in the Little v. LATFOR case dropped their challenge of the state law ending prison-based gerrymandering.
– 03/16/12
New York State Board of Elections Violates Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act
New York’s new electronic voting machines have the same problem that caused overvoting problems in Florida’s 2008 election, and, if not corrected, could disenfranchise 40,000 to 50,000 New York voters.
– 04/20/10
New York’s Felon Voting Bar has Deep Roots in Jim Crow
A new study of New York’s constitutional history traces the state’s current felony disenfranchisement law to a century-long effort to keep African-American citizens out of the voting booth.
– 02/12/10
Morgenthau Leads 62 Former Prosecutors in Call for Better Defense of the Indigent
62 former New York prosecutors joined an amicus brief in support of a suit, now pending before New York’s highest court, which alleges that New York State’s legal services for the poor are constitutionally inadequate.
– 02/05/10
Coalition Urges New York to End Prison-Based Gerrymandering
Today the Brennan Center for Justice urges New York State Senate and Assembly leaders to end prison-based gerrymandering. In most of New York, people in prison are counted in the Census where they are incarcerated rather than in their home communities. This policy skews the demographic characteristics in both urban and rural locales throughout the state. The campaign being launched today will urge passage of legislation that would use the 2010 Census to count people who are in prison in their home districts rather than the districts where they are incarcerated. Sponsored by Senator Eric Schneiderman and Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries, the legislation could affect the redistricting landscape in upcoming elections.
– 01/28/10
Large Number of People Who Face Foreclosures Don’t Have a Lawyer
New York - A new in-depth study by the Brennan Center for Justice released Oct. 6, 2009, shows that disturbing numbers of families face foreclosure proceedings without the aid of legal counsel.
– 10/06/09
Strengthen NYS Senate’s Proposed Rules
Coalition of organizations calls on Albany to further strengthen their rules.
– 01/12/09
Study Presents New York State Senate with First Test on Reform
In an update to reports released in 2004 and 2006, the Center’s study finds that the legislative process in Albany remains broken, and offers concrete recommendations for reform.
– 01/05/09
Ad Campaign Launched to Help NYers with Criminal Records Vote in ‘08
Manhattan, Brooklyn, Bronx buses to feature posters from voting rights groups.
– 09/10/08