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Interview with Jessica Amunson, Symposium Panelist and Redistricting Expert

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http://stateofelections.pages.wm.edu/files/2010/03/tbl_s26Attorneys_Photo192_1773_Amunson_Jessica_Ring.jpg
Jessica Amunson

On Thursday, William and Mary will be hosting a Symposium entitled “Back to the Drawing Board: The 2010 Census and the Politics of Redistricting“. One of the panelists is Jessica Amunson, associate at the Washington, D.C., based firm Jenner & Block, where she is a member of the Election Law and Redistricting practice. Ms. Amunson agreed to speak with State of Elections regarding redistricting reform.

In your opinion, what is the biggest issue for the 2010 redistricting effort? What issue should states, legislators, and politicians be most attuned to?

The biggest issue is always who is going to control the process. For an idea of what is at stake, take a look at Karl Rove’s piece in the Wall Street Journal on March 4th, in which he describes how the Republican party is targeting certain state legislative seats in an attempt to ensure that Republicans will control the legislatures that will then redraw the lines.  According to Rove’s piece, “Republican strategists are focused on 107 seats in 16 states. Winning these seats would give them control of drawing district lines for nearly 190 congressional seats. Six of these states are projected to pick up a total of nine seats, and five are expected to lose a combined six seats.”  So right now, the issue that everyone is focused on are the state legislative races this fall. [Read more…] about Interview with Jessica Amunson, Symposium Panelist and Redistricting Expert

Election Law Symposium this Thursday!

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The William & Mary Election Law Symposium is this Thursday, March 18th.  The Symposium is titled “Back to the Drawing Board: The 2010 Census and the Politics of Redistricting” and our expert panel will be discussing various topics related to the upcoming nationwide redistricting efforts.

The panelists include:

– Trevor Potter, John McCain’s General Counsel for the 2000 and 2008 campaigns, founding President and General Counsel of the Campaign Legal Center, and member of the Washington, D.C., based firm Caplin & Drysdale.

– J. Gerald Hebert,  Executive Director and Director of Litigation at the Campaign Legal Center, and former adjunct professor at Georgetown University Law Center where he taught courses on voting rights, election law, and campaign finance regulation.

– Jessica Amunson, associate at the Washington, D.C., based firm Jenner & Block where she is a member of the Election Law and Redistricting practice.

The discussion will be moderated by John Hardin Young, noted election lawyer featured in the movie “Recount,” Adjunct Professor at William & Mary Law School, and member of the Advisory Committee to the William & Mary Election Law Program.

The Symposium is set for March 18 at 3:30 PM at William & Mary Law School in Room 124 with a reception to follow at 5:00 PM.  The event is free and open to the public.

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State of Elections Gets a New Look!

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State of Elections has made a few changes to the appearance of the site. We have a brand new logo, a new search feature in the right column, and a crisper look overall. Our popular “CU and the States” feature has been moved to the top right of the page, under the new logo. It can also be found under the “Pages” category in the left column.

The transition to the new look has been relatively seamless, but if you experience any technical difficulties with the site, please email editor@stateofelections.com.

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Election Law Society Symposium!

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Every year, the William & Mary Election Law Society holds a Symposium to discuss a pressing election law issue.  This year is no different.  The Election Law Society is proud to announce its fourth annual Election Law Symposium, “Back to the Drawing Board: The 2010 Census and the Politics of Redistricting.”  Here’s the official blurb:

Symposium

Speakers at previous Election Law Symposiums have included Robert Bauer, President Obama’s personal attorney, longtime chief election lawyer for the Democratic Party, and current White House Counsel; Benjamin Ginsberg, previously chief counsel for the Bush-Cheney Presidential Campaigns and current partner at Patton Boggs LLP; Michael Toner, former Chairman of the Federal Election Commission and current head of the Election Law and Government Ethics Practice at Bryan Cave LLP, and numerous other distinguished speakers.

If you’re interested in coming or have questions you’d like asked to the panelists, please email us for more information at editor@stateofelections.com

http://stateofelections.pages.wm.edu/2010/02/17/election-law-society-symposium/

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Citizens United and Voluntary Associations

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This article was originally posted as a comment to this post on The Volokh Conspiracy. It is reposted here with the permission of the author, William Van Alstyne.

Despite the cogency of observations by several who have commented on the 5/4 decision in this past week’s SCOTUS case, voiding the century-old act of Congress forbidding ordinary business corporations from spending treasury funds to endorse or oppose candidates for national elective office, my own view is that the dissenting opinion by Justice Stevens on balance had the better of the First Amendment argument. The existing restrictions on campaign finance have been even-handed, insofar as (for example) the United Auto Workers (the UAW) is subject to the same limitation as General Motors itself. Each, in turn, is equally free to establish Political Action Committees (PACS) which may indeed solicit contributions from willing parties (shareholders in the one case, workers in the other) whether to be spent directly to advance the candidacies of particular favored candidates or to advertise for the defeat of others. Funds raised by PACS (whether corporate or labor union PACS) are provided willingly, as are funds contributed by members of the ACLU, Young Socialists, Vegetarians, NARAL, or the Moral Majority. Each of these organizations is properly treated as a First Amendment voluntary association, even as is the NAACP.

But, there has been no reason to regard a GM shareholder likewise, whether individually or institutionally, nor a GM employee likewise – insofar as his or her UAW dues payments to the union are not voluntary but, instead, made as a condition of being employed by GM (pursuant to a collective bargaining contract secured by the UAW via the National Labor Relations Act). I frankly thought that the dissent in this case had the better of it, consistent with pre-existing First Amendment principles (as well as century-old case law as well). The Court’s 5/4 decision is certainly no great calamity (nor is its likely extension in the current Supreme Court term to the states via the Fourteenth Amendment). I think, however, there is more to regret than celebrate in the undoing of the “balance” previously struck.

William Van Alstyne is a noted First Amendment scholar and professor at William and Mary Law School.

Permalink: http://stateofelections.pages.wm.edu/2010/01/29/citizens-united-and-voluntary-associations

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