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Feb 8, 2008 -- Legal Center Weekly Report: February 8, 2008
This week, President Bush hosted a breakfast for many of the stalled nominees in an apparent effort to call attention to the fact that these nominees are still pending Senate confirmation. Campaign Legal Center Executive Director, J. Gerald Hebert, issued a statement regarding the issue of stalled nominees. In the statement, Hebert noted the continuous efforts of the Bush Administration to politicize the nation's federal law enforcement agencies, focusing on the nomination of Hans von Spakovsky to the Federal Election Commission.
Texas Voter ID Documentary Features Legal Center Executive Director
Campaign Legal Center Executive Director J. Gerald Hebert is one of the featured speakers in a new documentary on State Senator Mario Gallegos's role in preventing the Texas Legislature from forcing through an onerous Voter ID law. After a liver transplant Sen. Gallegos defied his doctors' orders and remained in the Texas Senate in a hospital bed for weeks in order to be in attendance and block passage of a bill that would have disfranchised thousands of minority voters in Texas, including many of his own constituents. The documentary was produced by the Lone Star Project. To view the documentary, click here
On February 1, 2008, a severance order was entered in Willie Ray v. State of Texas. This lawsuit was filed by plaintiffs in September 2006 with the filing of a multi-count complaint. The suit challenges several provisions of Texas law that impose burdens on the constitutional and federal statutory rights of voters and political parties. The lawsuit also alleges racially selective law enforcement of Texas election laws by the Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott. The district court granted a limited preliminary injunction which enjoined the State from prosecuting a narrow class of persons who merely possess, consensually, the absentee ballot of another voter. That injunction was stayed by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals just before the November 2006 general election; recently, the Fifth Circuit vacated the injunction and returned the case to the trial court. In the severance order, which was entered by consent of all parties, the court noted that two of the claims in that complaint, Counts V and VI, contain allegations of racial discrimination by defendants. The order severed those two counts from the remainder of the case and those counts will be held in abeyance until after the November 2008 elections. Trial on all remaining counts is now set for late May 2008.
On February 7, plaintiffs filed an amended complaint. Among other things, the amended complaint added two new plaintiffs, one a severely disabled homebound veteran who needs assistance in voting by mail.
This week, the Campaign Legal Center and other reform groups sent a letter to Speaker Pelosi regarding the House Ethics Committee's flawed guidance on parties at the national conventions. Pointing to Senate guidance issued earlier this week as an example, the reform groups urged the Speaker to ask the House Ethics Committee to reissue guidance on convention parties in keeping with the intent of the legislation. While the new ethics law clearly states that lobbyists cannot host an event honoring a specific Member, loopholes in the House rule would permit lobbyists to honor "more than one" lawmaker. The guidance also says, in effect, that lobbyists and lobbying organizations can finance parties "to honor" a single Representative by paying for the party through a conduit.
Campaign Legal Center Media Policy Director, Meredith McGehee, was among the panelists invited to participate in Free Press Action Network's week-long online forum on the role of the media and how well it is serving the public during this election year.
McGehee's blog post this week, also shed some light on how the "Media Got it Wrong" in New Hampshire and discussed the failure of the Federal Communications Commission to enact meaningful public interest obligations for broadcasters. In her response to the comments of participants, "What Viewers Can Do," McGehee also listed a few ideas for what citizens can do to start changing the way television broadcasters cover campaigns.
Reform groups, including the Campaign Legal Center, released a statement this week urging President Bush to take action to end the nomination impasse that has led to the Federal Election Commission shutdown. The organizations urged the President to either prod Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) into allowing an up-or-down vote on each of the nominees or to withdraw the highly controversial nomination of Hans von Spakovsky.
The impasse created by von Spakovsky's nomination has left the Commission without a quorum and incapable of taking any formal action since January 1, 2008. The organizations call on President Bush to break the stalemate so that the nation's campaign finance enforcement body can function during this very important election year.
Legal Center Blog Highlights
Each week, the Campaign Legal Center staff posts blog entries on its site, www.clcblog.org. Click to read this week's entries: " What Viewers Can Do, " "Super Tuesday was a Super Mess in New Mexico on Tuesday Caucus Voting" and "Broadcasters Should Accept 'Wise Use' Option" or to sign up for the blog, click here.
To read a variety of this week's editorials and articles on a variety of Campaign Legal Center issues, please click here. |
