Brennan Center for Justice

Roberts Court’s Free Speech Double Standard

In a recent study, Brennan Center Constitutional Fellow Monica Youn challenged the view that the Roberts Court is a champion of free speech. In its first five years, the Roberts Court held that a free speech violation existed in just one-third of the 29 cases it heard. In reporting on the article for The New York Times, Adam Liptak solicited the opinion of Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of the UC-Irvine School of Law, on the study. “What really animates” the Roberts court “is a hostility to campaign finance laws much more than a commitment to expanding speech,” Chemerinsky noted.

DOJ Blocks South Carolina’s Photo ID Law

In late December, the Department of Justice rejected South Carolina's new photo ID law, charging that the law would harm the voting strength of minority voters and therefore could not be enforced under the Voting Rights Act. "The Department affirmed that federal law cannot tolerate election statutes that make it harder for minority citizens to vote," said Lawrence Norden, acting head of the Center's Democracy Program. "Now the Department should subject other state laws to similar scrutiny." Watch Norden discuss new voting laws on MSNBC's The Daily Rundown. Read our letters urging the DOJ to block the law.

Cuomo's Pledge to Clean Up Albany

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo called for voluntary public funding of campaigns in his 2012 State of the State Address — repeating his campaign pledge to rework the state’s campaign finance system. "Meaningful campaign reform would curb corruption and boost accountability. It is the single most important next step to transform Albany,” said Michael Waldman. "This exciting and vital proposal would make New York a national example of how to revitalize our democracy.” A recent poll shows 74 percent of New Yorkers support this reform. Watch Waldman discuss the speech with Liz Benjamin on Capital Tonight, and on NY1's Inside City Hall.

Presidential Candidate's Super PAC Hypocrisy

Mitt Romney recently called Super PACs a “disaster,” but Restore Our Future, the pro-Romney committee, spent millions attacking Newt Gingrich in Iowa. Recent court rulings allow these groups to raise unlimited sums from corporations and unions, but bar them from coordinating with candidates. However, candidates can attend their fundraisers. “The result is that each candidate is backed by at least one super PAC controlled by close political allies of the candidate,” writes Michael Waldman on The Daily Beast. “Now, with theoretically unlimited funds, super PACs can do the dirty work of politics.”

Promoting Fair and Impartial Courts in Tennessee

The Tennessee Supreme Court adopted a new Code of Judicial Conduct to prohibit judges from hearing cases involving campaign supporters in which “the judge’s impartiality might reasonably be questioned.” The Brennan Center, with Justice at Stake, filed comments in support of the changes, which were identified in our recent report as some of the most promising in the country. “Tennessee’s new disqualification rules are a step in the right direction that will help shore up public confidence in the judiciary,” said the Center’s Maria da Silva.

Ideas on Democracy, Justice, and the Rule of Law

On Perry v. Perez – Keesha Gaskins

• What happened in Texas’ redistricting process and how the Supreme Court may rule.

Legal Obstacles Solidified in Warrantless Wiretapping Case – Liza Goitein & Emin Akopyan

• The Ninth Circuit splits the baby in two warrantless wiretapping cases.

Montana’s Supreme Court Rebels Against Major Campaign Finance Ruling – Jonathan Backer

• In a direct rebuke of Citizens United, the Montana Supreme Court upheld the state's ban on corporate independent expenditures.

Supreme Court Preview: Future of the Voting Rights Act – Sidney Rosdeitcher

• Brennan Center Senior Advisor Sidney Rosdeitcher released his latest Supreme Court preview, analyzing the important Texas redistricting case, Perry v. Perez, which the Court heard last week.

Governor Reaffirms Commitment to Public Financing – John Travis

• Governor Andrew Cuomo reaffirmed his commitment to clean up Albany during his State of the State address.

What Would Lindsay Lohan Pay? – Roopal Patel & Meghna Philip

• A plan in California to charge inmates for their stay in local jails is short-sighted and fiscally nonsensical.

Reforming Criminal Justice Debt – Meghna Philip

• Read more about a Brennan Center panel highlighting successful efforts to lessen criminal justice debt.

What We’re Reading

• 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 Texas redistricting, the GOP presidential candidates’ views on national security, and public defenders challenging government cuts.

Read more blogs here.

• Jan. 20 – Liza Goitein speaks on a panel on transparency in the Obama administration at an American University Washington College of Law event.
• Jan. 23 – Monica Youn speaks about the second anniversary of Citizens United at an American Constitution Society panel in Washington, D.C.
• Jan. 23 – Mimi Marziani speaks on Super PAC transparency on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C.
• Jan. 25 – Michael Price participates in a Cardozo Law School panel on cyber law.
• Jan. 28 – Keesha Gaskins speaks on a redistricting panel at Stanford Law School.
• March 8 – The Brennan Center hosts former Inspector General Glenn Fine for a discussion on government oversight in New York City.

• The New York Times reported on a new study from Monica Youn challenging the view that the Roberts Court is a champion of free speech.
• Michael Waldman discussed Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s support for public financing on Capital Tonight and NY1's Inside City Hall. Also see coverage in The New York World.
• The media continue to cite our research on laws passed making it harder to vote. See stories in the Wall Street Journal and NPR, editorials in The Nation and The New York Times, and op-eds in Bloomberg, The New York Times, Washington Post, Chicago Sun-Times, and St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
• Watch Lawrence Norden discuss these laws on MSNBC's The Daily Rundown.
• Writing for Salon in advance of New Hampshire’s primary, Liza Goitein noted that the GOP presidential candidates have failed to live up to the state’s “Live Free or Die” motto, at least when it comes to national security.
• Michael Waldman wrote an op-ed for the American Prospect on fighting back against restrictive voting-rights laws and how empowering small donors can help reclaim our elections. He also wrote on Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich’s hypocrisy on Super PACs for The Daily Beast.
• The Supreme Court heard an important redistricting case out of Texas last week. Keesha Gaskins spoke to Free Speech Radio News about the case. Also see Sidney Rosdeitcher’s analysis.
• In Newsday, Mark Ladov and Roopal Patel wrote about the continued foreclosure crisis and urged New York legislators to help families stay in their homes.
• Tennessee adopted new rules on judicial disqualification. The state invited Adam Skaggs to testify in support of the rules in December.
• Keesha Gaskins urged Pennsylvania lawmakers to reject a voter ID bill.
• Wendy Weiser appeared on MSNBC to discuss ballot access and laws disenfranchising voters.
• Sundeep Iyer and Lawrence Norden wrote an op-ed on how to reduce the number of lost votes in the 2012 elections by fixing ballot design.