Latest News from the Brennan Center
New Florida Voting Law Is ‘A Mess’
That’s what Lee Rowland, Brennan Center counsel, argued in federal district court in Tallahassee last week. Seeking to block a state law restricting voter registration drives, Rowland represents the Florida League of Women Voters, Rock the Vote and the Florida PIRG. “It's devastating the work of my clients," Rowland told the court Thursday. Although lawyers for the state maintained the new law is merely designed to make voter registration more orderly, U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle was skeptical. “The state doesn't have an interest in making it hard to vote,” Hinkle said. “That's not a permissible goal.” The Justice Department also announced it would oppose Florida's law regulating voter registration and early voting.
Read more about the case here. For updates on the suit, sign up for our new voting newsletter. And for a comprehensive, in-depth look at voting law changes nationwide, read this study.
As the presidential election unfolds, the Supreme Court could revisit Citizens United later this year, and the Brennan Center is taking a lead role in the case. Last month, the Court froze a Montana Court decision upholding the state’s century-old law barring corporate campaign spending. Already, Justices Ginsburg and Breyer urged the Court to take the case, saying that “in light of the huge sums currently deployed to buy candidates’ allegiance,” it is “difficult to maintain that independent expenditures by corporations ‘do not give rise to corruption or the appearance of corruption.’”
At a time when billionaires are sponsoring presidential candidates like racehorses, the Center will urge the court to overturn, or at least narrow, Citizens United. Read our statement from Senior Counsel Adam Skaggs and this insightful article on how the case could unfold.
Most Justice Department Inspectors General toil in obscurity, rarely making waves. Not so for Glenn Fine (right). In his time as DOJ’s internal watchdog, Fine conducted an audit of the expanded surveillance powers granted the FBI in the wake of 9/11 and the Bureau’s widespread misuse of “national security letters,” a form of subpoena that requires entities such as phone companies to disclose personal records. This Thursday, March 8, 2012, Fine will appear at a Brennan Center and New York City Bar Association event discussing oversight of domestic counterterrorism operations. To learn about more about the discussion, click here.
With the election only eight months away, the voting rules in many states are in turmoil. The best way to keep up with these critical developments is to subscribe to the Brennan Center’s new voting newsletter. Appearing bi-weekly, the newsletter gives you the most up-to-date news about voting law changes nationwide. These laws govern how our democracy works. Sign up to receive these timely updates. Read our comprehensive study detailing restrictive voting laws, which could make it harder for up to 5 million Americans to vote.
Federal Agencies Can Reform Money in Politics
Last year, the Brennan Center discussed ways to push regulatory agencies, like the FEC, to increase accountability in elections. Now, in the age of super PACs, reformers are heeding our call, bombarding federal agencies “with letters from lawmakers, lobbyists and activists” urging disclosure, Roll Call reports. Read our recent comments to several federal agencies supporting more transparency in political spending.
Brennan Center Blog
Shareholder Protection in the Age of Super PACs – Jonathan Backer
- Neither our economy nor our democracy will function in the interest of all Americans if corporate political activity occurs in secret, with shareholders — and voters — kept in the dark.
Wisconsin’s Unjustified Toll on Student Registration – Elisabeth Genn
- As Wisconsinites went to the polls for the first election under the state's new voter ID law, the state Senate passed a bill making it harder for students to register to vote.
Ash Wednesday: Restoring the Right to Vote – Myrna Pérez
- As we begin this Holy Season, we must consider restoring the right to vote for people with past criminal convictions.
Foreclosure Dispatches: Views from Around the Country – Nabanita Pal
- Advocates from Queens Legal Services discuss New York's foreclosure crisis. See previous Q&A’s here, here, and here.
“Robo-signing” Criminal Justice Debt in Philadelphia – Meghna Philip
- Philadelphia launched an aggressive drive to collect criminal justice debt from its residents, including from some who may not owe anything.
- See what the Brennan Center’s reading in this daily round-up of quick hits, clips, and opinion pieces touching on key issues of democracy, justice, liberty and national security. Includes stories on Florida’s restrictive voting law, NYPD surveillance, and the ongoing foreclosure crisis.
Read more blog posts here. To have the blog in your RSS feed, click here.
Events
Facing the Foreclosure Fallout
On February 29th, leading foreclosure experts and advocates discussed the effects of New York’s foreclosure avalanche. The provocative and wide-ranging conversation addressed issues as what the recent national foreclosure settlement means for New Yorkers and how the state’s already burdened court system is handling foreclosure matters. See video of the event. Read more about our foreclosure work.
Upcoming
- March 8 – The Brennan Center hosts former Inspector General Glenn Fine, who will discuss his experience overseeing the FBI and lessons learned about oversight of intelligence operations.
- March 20 – The Brennan Center and the Government Accountability Project present a discussion on national security whistleblowers at NYU School of Law. Features former National Security Agency official Thomas Drake and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Barton Gellman.
- March 22 – Counsel Roopal Patel is a panelist at a Fordham Law School discussion on career options after law school.
- March 29 – The Brennan Center hosts a discussion on the benefits of public financing in New York State. Panelists include Michael Malbin, executive director of the Campaign Finance Institute and a professor of political science at SUNY Albany, and Leo Hindery, managing partner of InterMedia Partners, LP, a private equity investment fund, political donor, and campaign finance reform advocate.
- Eliza Newlin Carney wrote a CQ Weekly cover story on the wave of restrictive voting laws, quoting the Brennan Center’s Lawrence Norden.
- The Brennan Center’s Lee Rowland challenged Florida’s restrictive voting law at a hearing last week. Read coverage by the Associated Press, Tampa Bay Times, and Florida Independent.
- The New York Times’ Andrew Rosenthal also wrote about the Florida case on his Loyal Opposition blog. Read more about challenges to Florida’s law at TPM.
- Ms. Magazine wrote a cover story on efforts to block the vote, specifically in Florida, and cited extensively from Brennan Center research.
- In an editorial, the Los Angeles Times applauded the Brennan Center’s proposal to modernize voting.
- Other editorials citing Brennan Center voting research appeared in the Boston Globe and Baltimore Sun.
- The NYPD’s surveillance of Muslims continues to make news. Faiza Patel spoke to ProPublica and Al Jazeera about the story. See more from the Associated Press and The Record.
- Mark Ladov wrote an op-ed for the New York Law Journal on how lawyers can help alleviate the foreclosure problem.
- Bertina Jones, one of the subject’s in the Fighting Foreclosure video series, has won her fight to keep her home, the Huffington Post reports.
- USA Today detailed voter ID laws — and the lawsuits challenging them.
- New American Media covered a recent event on restrictive voting laws, quoting the Center’s Nicole Austin-Hillery.
- On Democracy Now, former Sen. Russ Feingold mentioned the Brennan Center while discussing how to reform money in politics.
- At Sojourners, Myrna Pérez blogged about restoring the right to vote for those with past criminal convictions.
- Former Rep. Scott Murphy spoke to Capital Tonight about NY LEAD, a new coalition of business and civic leaders urging Gov. Andrew Cuomo to pass public financing in New York.
- Brennan Center Senior Fellow Eric Lane was named Interim Dean of Hofstra Law School.
