Dec
6
Most Important Election Law Decision: It’s Not Citizens United
Posted by: Richard M. Esenberg | December 6, 2010 | 3 Comments
In late October, I had the privilege of speaking at Chapman University’s Nexus Symposium on Citizens United – article to follow. For the four of you that haven’t heard, Citizens United held that corporations may use general treasury funds to finance independent communications that expressly advocate the election or defeat of a candidate – even during [...]
Nov
3
What’s the Difference Between Grimm’s Fairy Tales and Postal 2?
Posted by: Judith G. McMullen | November 3, 2010 | 5 Comments
The question about the difference between Grimm’s Fairy Tales and Postal 2 sounds like the set-up to a corny joke. In fact, it was a subject discussed yesterday at the U.S. Supreme Court, where the justices heard oral argument on a first Amendment challenge to a California statute banning the sale of violent video games [...]
Oct
6
Heck and Esenberg: What’s Worse, Campaigning or Campaign Reform?
Posted by: Alan J. Borsuk | October 6, 2010 | 1 Comment
For Jay Heck, the disease needs a cure. For Rick Esenberg, it’s doubtful there is a disease and, even if there is, the cure is worse. If Tuesday’s “On the Issues with Mike Gousha” program at Eckstein Hall had been a meeting of foreign diplomats, the statement afterward would have described the session as “cordial [...]
Sep
30
Pickering Free Speech Rights and Cyberbullying by Public Employees
Posted by: Paul M. Secunda | September 30, 2010 | Leave a Comment
I can’t make this stuff up. From CNN and Anderson Cooper (with video): For nearly six months, Andrew Shirvell, an assistant attorney general for the state of Michigan, has waged an Internet campaign against college student Chris Armstrong, the openly gay student assembly president at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Using the online [...]
Aug
6
How Far Should Disclosure Requirements Go?
Posted by: Richard M. Esenberg | August 6, 2010 | Leave a Comment
I’ll be appearing tongight on Wisconsin Public Television’s Here and Now, discussing the Government Accountability Board’s new rule requiring groups and persons who spend more that $ 25 on something called “political communications” during a set period preceding an election to register, make certain filings and disclose the source of their funds. Joining me will be [...]
Jul
10
More Contention on the Wisconsin Supreme Court
Posted by: Richard M. Esenberg | July 10, 2010 | 1 Comment
Last Thursday, the Wisconsin Supreme Court finally issued opinions on recusal rules that it adopted earlier in the term and which essentially say that a duty to recuse cannot be be based solely on the receipt of a lawful campaign contribution or a lawful independent expenditure made on a judge’s behalf. The Court also amended a preexisting rule to [...]
Jul
8
Gableman Complaint is Dismissed
Posted by: Richard M. Esenberg | July 8, 2010 | Leave a Comment
The Judicial Commission announced today that it is discontinuing prosecution of its complaint against Justice Michael Gableman. Quite apart from the merits of the complaint, this seems like the right thing to do given the deadlock on the Court and the particular positions taken by the Abrahamson and Prosser groups. As I explained here and [...]
Jun
17
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Posted by: Richard M. Esenberg | June 17, 2010 | Leave a Comment
I’ve met Democratic Party Chair Mike Tate. Mike was nice enough to speak to my Election Law clase and was candid, informative and entertaining. I have to confess that I like the guy. I appreciate that the boys and girls that do this kind of work (on my side as well) aren’t playing beanbag. As a [...]
Jun
17
Are “Clean Election” Schemes Headed to the Supreme Court?
Posted by: Richard M. Esenberg | June 17, 2010 | Leave a Comment
In a recent piece in the Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy, I predicted the “lonely death” of public campaign financing. The point was that public financing schemes that provided what are often called “rescue funds,” i.e., additional public money for candidates who face an opponent (or independent opposition) that has spent more than [...]
Jun
3
Pickering a Fight with the Wrong Guy
Posted by: Michael M. O'Hear | June 3, 2010 | Leave a Comment
Paul Secunda has a new paper on SSRN that provides the full story of the famous First Amendment case Pickering v. Board of Education. Paul interviewed the plaintiff, Marvin Pickering (now in his 70s), and collected other historical records in order to supplement the background information supplied in the United States Supreme Court’s decision. Pickering was fired from [...]
May
31
The Reporter’s Privilege Goes Incognito in Wisconsin
Posted by: Erik Ugland | May 31, 2010 | 1 Comment
Few professional groups in our society are less popular than journalists, so it’s a rare occasion when legislators – obsessed as they are with reelection – take actions specifically designed to help the press. The Wisconsin Legislature showed some of that political bravery this month when it passed the state’s first reporter’s shield law (although [...]
May
26
Playing with Fire and an Obama Effigy
Posted by: Andrew Spillane | May 26, 2010 | Leave a Comment
People do imbecilic things when alcohol enters the mix. It is a fact of life. On one end of the spectrum, drunkenness promotes relatively harmless buffoonery, whether it is singing along to “Sweet Caroline” completely out of tune at the bars on Water Street or repeatedly professing one’s love for his or her friends and [...]
Blog Editors
- Alan Borsuk
- Bruce E. Boyden
- Edward A. Fallone
- Melissa L. Greipp
- Scott C. Idleman
- Lisa Mazzie
- Michael M. O'Hear
- Ryan Scoville
