Brennan Center for Justice

How Filibuster Abuse Can Upend Checks and Balances

The Brennan Center weighed in on a major battle over checks and balances, now before the Supreme Court. An appeals panel sharply weakened the President’s ability to make “recess appointments” when the U.S. Senate is not in session. The Center’s amicus brief notes that a minority’s unprecedented use of the filibuster to block routine nominations makes the recess appointment power vitally necessary to maintain the Founders’ notion of a functioning government. Read the brief, here.

Fighting Corruption in New York State

In the midst of public hearings for the Moreland Commission to Investigate Public Corruption, Lawrence Norden and Ian Vandewalker called out in the New York Daily News the pervasive corruption in Albany as evidenced by the unscrupulous tax break renewal process. While perfectly legal, this tax-break racket not only compounds corruption, but undermines the public's trust. Read Vandewalker’s testimony to the Moreland Commission here.

This Week From Brennan Center Fellow Andrew Cohen

Wasting Their Lives Away

Andrew Cohen looks at the pervasive use of life-without-parole sentences and why they should be included in the sentencing reform discussion.

Commentary & Analysis

• Justices Should Think of Quarter Pounders in McCutcheon – Ciara Torres-Spelliscy
• Justice Department Pushes Congress Toward Criminal Justice Reform – Jessica Eaglin
• After ‘Shelby County’ Ruling, Are Voting Rights Endangered? – Jerry H. Goldfeder and Myrna Perez

Read more blog posts here. To subscribe to our RSS feed, click here.

Featured Event

The Power of Three: A Supreme Court Preview

This week, the Brennan Center hosted a Supreme Court preview featuring SCOTUSblog’s Amy Howe, The Atlantic’s Garrett Epps, and Nicole Austin-Hillery. Cohen moderated the discussion highlighting cases to watch for in the upcoming Supreme Court session. Watch the discussion here.

See more events here.

In Other News

• Last week, the Senate Judiciary Committee sponsored a hearing, “Reevaluating the Effectiveness of Federal Mandatory Minimum Sentences.” Jessica Eaglin submitted testimony supporting two pieces of pending bipartisan legislation: The Smarter Sentencing Act and The Justice Safety Valve Act. Both Acts would alleviate the negative effects of mandatory minimum sentencing and help reduce the nation’s incarcerated population.

Read more Brennan Center in the news here.