Brennan Center for Justice

Welcome to the Brennan Center’s newsletter, a comprehensive digest of the latest news and developments involving the Center’s programmatic work and staff. See all these stories in full on the Brennan Center’s website and stay informed by signing up for other Center updates.

Latest News

New Trends in Judicial Primary Spending

Judicial candidates in primaries spent more than $4.6 million in television advertisements this election cycle, topping the previous record of $3.8 million set in 2004, according to early data compiled by the Brennan Center and the Justice at Stake Campaign. The data also reveals some surprising trends. Expenditures in some historically high-spending states — such as Alabama and Ohio — are likely to decline this year due to single party “capture” of the states’ courts. The GOP, for example, holds all nine of Alabama’s Supreme Court seats. Low-cost retention elections will likely see high levels of spending as interest groups pour money into unseating judges. Super PACs are also likely to play a role, although it is not clear in how many states they will operate. Read more about judicial elections here and here and a New York Times editorial here.

Pennsylvania Supreme Court Tosses Voter ID Back to Lower Court

Pennsylvania voters scored a clear victory Tuesday when the state Supreme Court returned a voter ID law to a lower court. “The Court was right to express skepticism that this sweeping new voter ID law can be implemented so close to an election,” said the Center’s Wendy Weiser. “It is wrong for politicians to try to manipulate the system for their own benefit by rushing through new voting requirements at the last minute.” The lower court must now determine whether voters will be disenfranchised by the implementation of the law’s ID requirement. If they do, the state Supreme Court directed it to issue an injunction against the law. The Pennsylvania case is just one in a series of legal battles that could determine who can and cannot vote this November. Wendy Weiser and Lawrence Norden discuss the court’s decision on MSNBC.

Brennan Center Launches Justice Update

The Brennan Center launched the Justice Update, an email newsletter that provides the latest news about the Center’s criminal justice work and civil justice matters. The approach in these areas is to use data-driven evidence to produce innovative reform proposals to achieve two goals: ending unnecessary incarceration and closing the “justice gap” for low-income and middle class Americans. Read the Justice Update and sign up for future updates.

A Chronicle of The Voting Wars

Richard Hasen, a professor at the University of California Irvine School of Law, visited the Brennan Center this month to discuss his latest book, The Voting Wars. Hasen is one of the nation’s leading election law experts—his Election Law Blog is considered require reading. “Our elections are only as good and as valid as the people’s confidence in them,” Hasen said. As election administration has become increasingly partisan, Hasen fears that confidence could erode. Hasen also believes that professionalism is necessary for fair election administration. Watch Hasen discuss his take on voting and elections.

From the Brennan Center Blog

The Nearly Non-Citizen Purges - Diana Kasdan

• Florida and Colorado recently rolled back attempts to purge alleged non-citizens from their voter rolls. Unfortunately, as Diana Kasdan points out, that’s not the end of the story.

Banks Not Doing Enough on Foreclosure Crisis - Mark Ladov

• To help ease the foreclosure crisis, President Obama announced a program that promised to keep three to four million families in their homes. A new study reveals, however, that the program lacks the critical oversight necessary for the initiative to achieve its goals.

I am the Tribunal President. That is All You Need to Know - Rachel Levinson-Waldman

• The Brennan Center filed an amicus brief this past spring urging the Supreme Court to hear the case of Adnan Latif, a detainee at Guantanamo whose confinement may have been the result of botched paperwork. We learned that Mr. Latif was found dead at Guantanamo this month.

Bail Fail Highlights Broken System - Thomas Giovanni

• A new report highlights the inequities of a bail system in which freedom from incarceration is dependent on one’s finances. Although the accused are not guilty according to the law, they are treated as if they’ve already been convicted.

Baptized to Strict Party Platform Ties – Jonathan Backer

• If campaign contributions can alter something as inconsequential as a platform, one can only imagine its effect on actual legislation. Jonathan Backer looks at how far parties can and do bend to the influence of money in politics.

Study: Black Defendants More Likely To Be Imprisoned Than White Defendants – Inimai Chettiar

• Racial bias is at work in almost all courtrooms – and in all parts of the criminal justice system. A new study drives home how that is happening, its unfairness, and why we urgently need reform.

Read more blog posts here. To have the blog in your RSS feed, click here.

• Michael Waldman discusses Pennsylvania’s law on MSNBC’s Alex Wagner as does Keesha Gaskins on The Big Picture.

• Mother Jones used Brennan Center data to highlight the proliferation of restrictive voter ID laws to craft a map showing where each state stands on the matter.

• “There’s no question that we’ve won many more of the lawsuits than we’ve lost,” Lawrence Norden said in a story in The Washington Post about restrictive voting laws. Norden told The New York Times that there exists a real potential for disaster come election day for states with restrictive laws. Norden issued a similar warning in Roll Call. He also spoke the problems of electronic voting machines in The Wall Street Journal.

• Diana Kasdan spoke to the Daily Beast about the recent legal backlash against restrictive voter laws in Ohio, Florida, Texas, South Carolina, and Wisconsin.

• "People will get out of prison, but they're not being helped to reenter society," Inimai Chettiar told the Huffington Post, which highlighted a recent GAO report on the impact of overcrowded prisons.

• The Associated Press used Brennan Center analysis in a story on the effect of voter id laws on young minority voters, as did Bloomberg News in a story on votersuppression.

• Adam Skaggs spoke to The Tampa Tribune about financing judicial elections. When it comes to raising money for campaigns, Skaggs said, "These justices have decided they're not going to be sitting ducks."

• NPR’s Ari Shapiro interviewed Michael Waldman about preparing candidates for presidential debates.

• Myrna Perez spoke to Politico about a federal court decision to reject Texas voter law. Perez also appeared on the CNN’s Melissa Harris-Perry to discuss recent voting rights victories.

• The Rachel Maddow Show recently interviewed Wendy Weiser about the problems with self-appointed poll watchers.

To read more Brennan Center In The News, click here.

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