Election Law

Reformers seek to change Ferguson-area traffic courts, school electoral system

Reformers who want to address the black community’s anger in Ferguson, Missouri, hope to reform area traffic courts and the system for school board elections. Some public-interest lawyers say the municipal courts in St. Louis County impose fines and fees on poor drivers that could eventually lead to jail time…

Dec 19, 2014 5:45 AM CST

Cozen can write off $448K election-case bill without having it count as a campaign contribution

Cozen O’Connor can write off $448,468 in legal work for a would-be Philadelphia mayor without having the money characterized as a political campaign contribution, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court says. Under the city’s campaign finance law, the forgiven debt doesn’t count as a campaign contribution because the money wasn’t expended “for…

Dec 16, 2014 3:10 PM CST

County clerk fined $500 for using government Wi-Fi during his re-election campaign

A longtime court clerk in suburban Chicago used personal electronic devices when he was attending to matters related to his re-election campaign. But County Clerk Jack Cunningham did some campaign work on those devices while using the Kane County’s Wi-Fi system, leading to an investigation of Cunningham by a special…

Nov 21, 2014 5:45 AM CST

SCOTUS mulls redistricting plan that packs blacks into districts, diluting voting strength elsewhere

The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday considered an Alabama redistricting plan said to pack black voters in minority districts, diluting their voting strength elsewhere. Elected black and Democratic politicians had contended the 2012 plan improperly used “rigid racial quotas” to maintain high concentrations of black voters in districts they already…

Nov 13, 2014 10:39 AM CST

Judge wins re-election but is now too old to serve on bench

The longest-serving judge in Louisiana won election Tuesday to another term of office. But Orleans Parish Criminal Court Judge Frank Marullo is now too old to serve on the bench, under state law. Voters defeated a ballot measure that would have eliminated a state constitution requirement that judges retire by…

Nov 7, 2014 3:35 PM CST

Are courts for sale? Study sees influence of judicial campaign ads in criminal appeals

Two columnists are blaming Citizens United for the influx of outside money into judicial races and are raising questions about the impact. Their question: Are courts for sale? Columns in the New York Times and Mother Jones assert that outside money is pouring into judicial elections since the U.S. Supreme…

Oct 28, 2014 9:14 AM CDT

Ballot measures seek to enshrine already-protected rights; do they show mistrust of judges?

Ballot measures that would add already protected rights to state constitutions appear to follow the maxim, “Better safe than sorry.” The measures “are based in a deep distrust of the judiciary,” according to a Bloomberg View article by Francis Barry, a onetime chief speechwriter for former New York City Mayor…

Oct 27, 2014 5:45 AM CDT

Political groups ready their legal teams in preparation for contentious midterm elections

Armies of lawyers monitoring and working the upcoming midterm elections are gearing up for potential legal battles, Bloomberg reports. The reason: unusually tight races around the country and battles over voting laws. Recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings may also have set the stage for more legal wrangling, including disputes over…

Oct 23, 2014 1:44 PM CDT

Ginsburg reveals a mistake in her voter ID dissent; corrected opinion is posted

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has corrected her dissent in a voter ID case after a blogging law professor pointed out an error. The U.S. Supreme Court announced the revision on Wednesday, a change from the common practice in which corrections are quietly made. Legal Times and SCOTUSblog have stories on…

Oct 23, 2014 9:52 AM CDT

In 5 AM order, SCOTUS allows Texas voter ID law to take effect; holdup apparently due to dissent

Updated: The U.S. Supreme Court apparently pulled an all-nighter before issuing an order at 5 a.m. Saturday allowing Texas’ voter ID law to take effect for early voting beginning on Monday. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s six-page dissent (PDF) was the apparent cause of the holdup, Slate reports in a column…

Oct 20, 2014 7:23 AM CDT

5th Circuit reinstates strict Texas voter ID law

A federal appeals court has temporarily reinstated a voter ID law in Texas that requires voters to produce one of seven specified forms of photo identification. The New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the law may be enforced to avoid confusion before early voting begins on Oct.…

Oct 15, 2014 8:22 AM CDT

7th Circuit won’t rehear voter ID case; Posner dissent cites ‘goofy, if not paranoid’ fraud evidence

The fight over Wisconsin’s voter ID law has ricocheted back to the Chicago-based 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which refused on Friday to grant en banc review of an Oct. 6 panel decision upholding the law. Judge Richard Posner called the refusal to rehear the case on the merits…

Oct 10, 2014 2:31 PM CDT

Appeals court says councilman ousted for letting homeless pal stay at city hall must be reinstated

Corrected: A Prairie Village councilman who was removed from office because he allowed a homeless friend to stay overnight at city hall during 2012 must be reinstated, a Kansas appeals court has ruled. A district court judge removed David Morrison from office a year ago, after the council voted to…

Oct 10, 2014 11:10 AM CDT

Two state voter ID laws are blocked, one by SCOTUS and the other by a federal judge

The U.S. Supreme Court blocked Wisconsin’s voter ID requirement Thursday evening, a turnabout from its orders in the last two weeks allowing election laws to take effect in Ohio and North Carolina that had been challenged for their potential impact on minority voters. The Supreme Court’s latest action came the…

Oct 10, 2014 7:18 AM CDT

Supreme Court reinstates another election law challenged for impact on black voters

The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday allowed provisions of a North Carolina election law to take effect that had been stayed by a federal appeals court because of the potential impact on voting opportunities for African Americans. As a result of the Supreme Court’s action, North Carolina will ban same-day…

Oct 9, 2014 7:20 AM CDT