February 21, 2020
After Michigan voters used the ballot initiative process to enact several measures to which the state legislature was opposed, legislators enacted a statute in 2018 making it more difficult for their constituents to engage in direct democracy. Recently, in League of Women Voters of Michigan v. Secretary of State, the Michigan Court of Appeals held…
February 7, 2020
The Au Pair Program is a Department of State exchange visitor program that involves three parties: au pairs who are foreign citizens between the ages of 18 and 26; 15 sponsor organizations, which are private placement agencies that must be officially designated and authorized by the State Department; and host families. Au pairs come to…
Constitutional Law, First Amendment, Supreme Court
February 4, 2020
The Supreme Court has just heard oral argument in Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue, a high-profile case involving a Montana private school voucher program that a number of families used to enroll their children in religious schools. The Montana Supreme Court struck down the program, ruling that it violates a Montana constitutional provision that forbids any public funding to be…
Civil Rights, Constitutional Law, Election and Voting Law, General
January 30, 2020
In November 2018, Florida amended its state constitution to restore voting rights to nearly 1.5 million ex-felons “upon completion of all terms of [their] sentence including parole or probation.” The ballot initiative, known as “Amendment 4,” was organized by Floridians for a Fair Democracy and spearheaded by Desmond Meade, an Orlandoan who overcame a felony…
January 29, 2020
On Monday night, Alan Dershowitz addressed the Senate on behalf of President Donald Trump. At one point, Dershowitz asserted that “the key point in this impeachment case . . . is that purely non-criminal conduct, including abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, are outside the range of impeachable offenses.” However, elsewhere in his presentation…
January 24, 2020
Professor Stephen I. Vladeck’s recent essay in the Harvard Law Review entitled “The Solicitor General and the Shadow Docket” critiques the Solicitor General’s “unprecedented number of requests for emergency or extraordinary relief from the Justices,” including stays, mandamus, and certiorari before final judgment. For example, he notes that the current administration has sought certiorari before…
Ciara Torres-Spelliscy is a Professor at Stetson Law, a fellow at the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law, and the author of Political Brands.
Juliet Sorensen is the Harry R. Horrow Professor in International Law and the Director of the Bluhm Legal Clinic at Northwestern Pritzker School of Law, where her interests include corruption,…
Noah Kazis is an Assistant Corporation Counsel in the New York City Law Department's Legal Counsel division. He graduated from Yale Law School and writes about local government law, land…
