Virginia U.S. House District Lines Again Invalidated by 3-Judge U.S. District Court

Posted on by June 5, 2015
Reply

On June 5, a 3-judge U.S. District Court again invalidated Virginia’s U.S. House district boundaries. Here is the decision in Page v Virginia Board of Elections, e.d., 3:13cv-678. The vote was 2-1.

The decision finds the boundaries of the Third District to be faulty, but of course the boundaries of one district can’t be altered without also altering the boundaries of other districts. The same court had invalidated the boundaries in October 2014, but then the U.S. Supreme Court had issued a somewhat similar decision from Alabama and had asked the lower court to rehear the Virginia case to take into account the reasoning of the Alabama decision. Thanks to Rick Hasen for the link.

D.C. Circuit Agrees with U.S. District Court That Fourteenth Amendment Does Not Mandate that American Samoans are Citizens

Posted on by June 5, 2015
1

On June 5, the U.S. Court of Appeals, D.C. circuit, issued an opinion in Tuala v U.S.A., 13-5272. The decision agrees with the U.S. District Court decision in this case, and concludes that the Fourteenth Amendment does not mean that persons born in American Samoa are citizens. American Samoa has been a U.S. possession since 1900.

The 14th amendment says, “All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States.” The plaintiffs, who were born in American Samoa but mostly now live in one of the fifty states, argue that they should be recognized as citizens without having to go through naturalization. The decision rules against them, partly on the basis that the territorial government of American Samoa opposes the lawsuit. The decision says that residents of American Samoa might have good reasons to not want to be considered part of the United States. Also it points out that while the Philippines were ruled by the United States 1898-1946, most of their residents weren’t citizens either. And it mentions that Native Americans were not generally recognized as citizens of the United States, before 1924 when Congress passed a law saying they are citizens. Thanks to Rick Hasen for the link.

Congressional Bill to Mandate Top-Two Primaries for Congress in All States

Posted on by June 5, 2015
6

Congressman John Delaney (D-Maryland) has introduced HR 2655, to require top-two primaries for all congressional elections. The text of the bill is not up on the congressional web page, but Delaney’s press release says the text is the same as his HR 5334 from the last session of Congress. Here is the text of the 2014 bill.

In November 2014, Delaney had two ballot-listed opponents, Republican Dan Bongino and Green Party nominee George Gluck. Delaney received 94,704 votes; Bongino received 91,930; Gluck received 3,762. If Delaney’s bill had been in effect, Gluck could not have been on the ballot.

The bill has two co-sponsors so far: Jared Polis (D-Colorado) and Scott Peters (D-California). Thanks to Shawn Griffiths for this news.

Vermont Progressive Party Joins Lawsuit Filed by Its Candidate Dean Corren on Campaign Spending

Posted on by June 5, 2015
2

The Vermont Progressive Party is joining its 2014 nominee for Lieutenant Governor, Dean Corren, concerning a campaign finance matter. The lawsuit, Corren v Sorrell was filed by Corren in U.S. District Court on March 20, 2015. Now the Progressive Party will be a co-plaintiff. Corren was told last year by the Attorney General that he broke campaign finance laws and is to be fined $72,000. The charge is that the Vermont Democratic Party sent an e-mail to its list of supporters, inviting them to a rally at which Bernie Sanders, Democratic Governor Peter Shumlin, and Corren, were speaking. The Vermont Attorney General says that was an illegal campaign contribution to Corren.

Corren accepted public funding last year. He is a member of the Progressive Party and he was the party’s nominee, but he was also the Democratic nominee. So far not much of substance has happened in Corren’s federal lawsuit, which seeks to block his fine.

North Carolina Legislature Passes Bill Eliminating Most Elections for Supreme Court Justice

Posted on by June 4, 2015
2

On June 5, the North Carolina legislature passed HB 222, which (assuming it is signed by the Governor) will end most elections for Supreme Court Justice. The bill says that if a member of the State Supreme Court who has already been elected at least once desires to continue to serve another term, he can inform state officials in the year preceding the expiration of his or her term that he wants a retention election. Then, instead of facing an opponent, he or she would simply be listed on the ballot, with the voters permitted to vote “yes” or “no” on whether to retain that judge.

Here is the text of the bill. Justices who were appointed and never elected would not be eligible for retention elections. Under the current law, State Supreme Court justices run in non-partisan elections every time their term expires.

At the beginning of the 2015 session, there were proposals to convert State Supreme Court elections to partisan elections, but that idea did not pass.