Publications
Design Deficiencies and Lost Votes
In 2010, tens of thousands of votes in New York did not count due to overvotes — the invalid selection of more than one candidate. This report demonstrates how the lack of adequate overvote protections disproportionately affected the state's poorest communities, suggests commonsense reforms, and examines national implications.
Authored by: Lawrence Norden and Sundeep Iyer
– 12/05/11
Facing Foreclosure Alone: The Continuing Crisis in Legal Representation
Recent data from state court systems show that a vast majority of homeowners facing foreclosure do not have a lawyer.
Authored by: Nabanita Pal
– 11/04/11
The New Politics of Judicial Elections: 2009-10
How special interest "Super Spenders" threatened impartial justice and emboldened unprecedented legislative attacks on America's courts.
Authored by: the Brennan Center for Justice, Justice at Stake Campaign, and the National Institute of Money in State Politics
– 10/26/11
Reducing Overclassification Through Accountability
Classification is one of the most important tools our government has to keep us safe. But many secrets “protected” by the classification system pose no danger to the nation’s safety.
Authored by: Elizabeth Goitein and David M. Shapiro
– 10/05/11
Voting Law Changes in 2012
Ahead of the 2012 elections, a wave of legislation tightening restrictions on voting has suddenly swept across the country. This Brennan Center guide details both the bills that have been proposed and the legislation that has been passed since the beginning of 2011.
Authored by: Wendy R. Weiser and Lawrence Norden
– 10/03/11
Promoting Fair and Impartial Courts through Recusal Reform
To assist state courts in responding to the need for recusal reform, the Brennan Center for Justice has collected model rules that provide a blueprint for state implementation.
Authored by: Adam Skaggs and Andrew Silver
– 08/08/11
A 50 State Guide to Redistricting
This supplement to the Brennan Center's Citizen's and Media Guides to Redistricting contains simple and accessible information on how the redistricting process is conducted in each of the 50 states.
– 05/23/11
Money, Politics, and the Constitution: Beyond Citizens United
Top Constitutional scholars launch a new jurisprudence to curb the rise of unfettered money in politics post-Citizens United. What is next for the First Amendment? And how can we advance a vision of the Constitution as a charter for a vibrant, participatory democracy?
Authored by: The Brennan Center for Justice and The Century Foundation
– 04/28/11
Know Your Lines: A Visual Redistricting Primer
The Brennan Center has teamed up with the Center for Urban Pedagogy and the talented designers at We Have Photoshop to produce Know Your Lines, an informative fold-out poster that explains with words and demonstrates with engaging graphics what the redistricting process is and why it's important.
– 04/18/11
A Report Card on New York’s Civic Literacy
Without civic literacy we cannot maintain a vigorous democracy, but as multiple national studies and our findings in this report all demonstrate, few Americans have the requisite knowledge to engage in a democratic policy discussion. Few know anything about the three branches of government, their functions, or how an idea becomes a law. We urgently need a public commitment to science and math education of the sort that propelled us to our space race victory, putting men on the moon along the way.
Authored by: Eric Lane & Meg Barnette
– 04/13/11