Most Important Election Law Decision: It’s Not Citizens United

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 times proximate to the election.

The response to Citizens United has been, in my view, overstated. 

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Erwin Chemerinsky to Speak in Milwaukee December 8

Erwin Chemerinsky — Dean of the University of California, Irvine School of Law and a noted constitutional law scholar — will speak in Milwaukee on December 8 at the Pfister Hotel.  The event is sponsored by the Milwaukee Lawyer Chapter of the American Constitution Society (ACS).  Doors open at 5 pm. 

Dean Chemerinsky is expected to speak on the impact of the Roberts Court and on the future of constitutional law.  More information is available at the website of the American Constitution Society: http://www.acslaw.org/node/17692.

Continue ReadingErwin Chemerinsky to Speak in Milwaukee December 8

Indigent Defense and the Private Bar Rate Debate

The Wisconsin State Public Defender (SPD) currently pays $40 per hour to private bar attorneys who represent indigent citizens accused of crimes.  This rate has been unchanged for decades, and lawyers are lobbying for an increase.  However, aside from horrible timing—this latest plea for more money coincides with Wisconsin’s $2.5 billion budget deficit—some of the arguments in support of the rate increase aren’t terribly persuasive, and should be abandoned.  But more significantly, the fact that lawyers have to make these arguments in the first place is merely a symptom of a larger problem: We live in a culture that misunderstands and undervalues our Constitutional rights.

But first, let’s review and grade a few of the more popular arguments:

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