Mar. 16 – The Brennan Center for Justice urged House leaders to pass the Democracy Restoration Act. The bill would restore the right to vote to nearly 4 million American citizens with a past criminal conviction, now living and working in their communities. “Congress is listening to 4 million silenced Americans,” said Erika Wood, Brennan Center attorney and author of Restoring the Right to Vote: “Excluding millions of citizens from the franchise only weakens our democracy. Congress should pass the Democracy Restoration Act because a strong, vibrant democracy requires the broadest possible base of voter participation, across all sectors of society." Read testimony by Brennan Center Legal Director Burt Neuborne.
Senate Passes Bill to End Cocaine Sentencing Disparities
Mar. 17 - Currently, low-level offenders of crack cocaine laws receive sentences that are 100 times greater than those sentenced under powder cocaine laws. Today, the Senate passed the Fair Sentencing Act, which would reduce this inequality to
18 to 1. The racial impact of the disparate sentencing laws is plain: 82% of those sentenced under federal crack cocaine laws are black -- though 62% of crack cocaine users are white. NPR has more about the bill and its intended effects.
Read Nicole Austin-Hillery's statement on the bill's passage.
The House considers “Corporate Governance after Citizens United”
Mar. 11 - The House Financial Services Committee today looks at possible reforms designed to protect corporate shareholders from corporate election expenditures. The Brennan Center submitted testimony that recommends a modification in securities law to give shareholders the power to authorize political expenditures; the Center also recommends that Congress require corporations to disclose past political spending to shareholders. Read Ciara Torres-Spelliscy’s submitted testimony. See our recent report on the topic, Corporate Campaign Spending: Giving Shareholders a Voice.
Restoring Democracy
Citizens United undercut democracy, amplifying special interests at the expense of actual voters. In this new era, public funding of elections and modernizing our voter registration process would go a long way toward stengthening our electoral system. Both Brennan Center proposals would boost participation and align candidates’ political priorities with that of ordinary Americans. Read Brennan Center Executive Director Michael Waldman on the Court's ruling in the Washington Post and NY Times. Brennan Center Senior Counsel Fritz Schwarz Jr. looks at NYC’s innovative multiple-matching system to boost the role of the small donor in Roll Call. See Brennan Center testimony at House and Senate Committee hearings in the wake of the decision.
- Criminal Defense Attorneys Build War Chest, Gain Support in New York City
(New York Law Journal, by Daniel Wise, 03/18/10) - Proposal makes voter registration easier
(Wisconsin Radio Network, by Andrew Beckett, 03/18/10) - Bill Eases Penalty For Crack Cocaine Possession
(NPR, by Ari Shapiro, 03/18/10) - A way for corporations to contribute to political campaigns and preserve democracy at the same time
(Washington Post, by Frank Ahrens, 03/18/10) - How Do You Disenfranchise 1 In 8 Black Men?
(The Huffington Post, by Dan Froomkin , 03/17/10) - House Panel Hears Pros, Cons of Re-enfranchising Felons
(Main Justice by Ryan J. Reilly , 03/17/10) - JAS Partners Support AK Merit Selection
(Gavel Grab, by Peter Hardin, 03/17/10) - Have You No Shame, Ms. Cheney?
(Chicago Tribune, opinion by Harry H. Schneider Jr. and Thomas P. Sullivan, 03/17/10) - Florida joins House debate on voting rights for felons
(Miami Herald, by Lesley Clark, 03/17/10) - Senate votes to change cocaine sentencing rules
(Associated Press, by Jim Abrams, 03/17/10)
Restoring voting rights to millions
Today Congress is listening to 4 million silenced Americans. Leaders of the House Judiciary Committee are holding a hearing on the Democracy Restoration Act, legislation that seeks to restore the right to vote to people with a criminal records who are out of prison, living in the community. This bill would eliminate the last blanket barrier to the franchise, and reverse decade of discrimination create by laws firmly rooted in our country’s Jim Crow history.
Shareholder Consent is Key in Political Spending
In a Thursday Congressional hearing, corporate law experts debated how best to improve corporate governance. Most of the experts agreed: Current laws don’t protect shareholders.
No more Witch Hunts for DOJ’s “Al Qaeda Lawyers”
Lawmakers have opened another front in their war on Obama’s war on terrorism—this time implying that political appointees in the Justice Department have their loyalties in the wrong place. Didn’t we abandon years ago the inane notion that there is something seditious about attorneys who advocate on behalf of terror detainees?
Illustrations by Risko
with Garima Malhotra
introduction by Charles Ogletree
Electoral Reform Report
The latest Carnegie Review report (pdf) charts more than a decade of nationwide voting reform efforts. “Based on the research and advocacy done in the past several years, there is now a chance to solve some of the major problems in the long run by enacting legislation that will modernize the way voter registration is done,” Brennan Center Executive Director Michael Waldman says in the report. The Carnegie Review highlights Brennan Center lawsuits and comprehensive studies which helped increase access to the vote. Learn more about our current work to modernize voter registration.
Correction: A Different Reading of Senate Rule VII § 3(e)
A revision to how the new Senate Rules are being applied in practice in the NY State Legislature.