A new Brennan Center report documents rising abuse of elected officials. ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

[link removed]

Violence has often scarred American politics. There was systematic terrorism from the KKK aimed at Black voters. Pinkertons versus labor unions. Unrest in cities in the 1960s. The violence aimed at the marchers in Selma. And, of course, the assassinations of presidents and other leaders.

Now we are in the middle of what seems to be another historic wave of violence. The shooting of Rep. Steve Scalise, the insurrection at the Capitol on January 6, the attack on Nancy Pelosi’s husband, the threats against Republican members of Congress for refusing to support Rep. Jim Jordan’s run for speaker of the House, and more all reflect this intense and angry moment.

Last week, the Brennan Center released an important and timely report

[link removed]

documenting the growing problem of abuse, threats, and violence directed at state and local elected officials. The top-level numbers are extremely troubling. At the state level, 43 percent of legislators have experienced threats, and 38 percent reported that the amount of abuse they experience has increased since first taking public office, while only 16 percent reported that it has decreased. The numbers for local officials are similarly worrisome.

American democracy, for all its greatness and progress over two centuries, has always had a dark thread of suppression running through it. Sometimes that is reflected in unfair rules that benefit the powerful. As Woody Guthrie sang, “some will rob you with a six gun, and some with a fountain pen.” But sometimes that intimidation is more direct. The threat of violence is the most ominous way ideas are suppressed. Not just ideas, but people. And make no mistake — that’s what this wave of violence is about.

As Washington State Rep. Kristine Reeves, a Black woman who recently introduced a bill to disqualify insurrectionists from running for office, told the Guardian, “White men have come online and told me that I need to be hanged. They have called my office and suggested that me and my family need to watch out because we’ve got what’s coming to us. It’s one thing to take those risks on for yourself; it’s completely another to do so knowing that you’re putting your family in harm’s way.”

Among local officeholders, intimidation is directed disproportionately at demographic groups that have been historically underrepresented in U.S. government, and it appears to be more specific and vicious when targeted at those people. The women and people of color who responded to our survey reported much higher levels of threats invoking their race, gender, or sexuality, and a larger share of women than men reported increases in the severity of abuse since taking office. Local officeholders of color were more likely to receive abuse directed at their families than were white officeholders.

Has our democracy survived through periods of high political violence? Of course. Compared with the years leading up to the Civil War, and obviously the war itself, or the turmoil of the 1960s, the current era is placid.

But that is cold comfort. Members of Congress aren’t beating each other bloody under the Capitol dome. But it can get much worse if we continue on this course. And it shouldn’t be forgotten that no one ever attempted to disrupt the peaceful transfer of power through violence between 1861 and 2021.

Intimidation, abuse, and violence are toxic to democracy. They deform our national conversation by censoring discussion of some topics. In the Brennan Center survey, approximately 20 percent of state officeholders and 40 percent of local officeholders said they were less willing to work on controversial topics due to abuse. That’s a sure sign of an unhealthy marketplace of ideas.

But I have been heartened by the reception our research has received. The report’s lead author, Gowri Ramachandran, has been in high demand to discuss the findings. Major publications like Reuters, Time, and USA Today have covered the report. And social media discussion has been vigorous. Posts related to the report have been viewed more than 100,000 times.

The election denier movement of recent years has been an unsettling new force. But that has produced its own form of backlash. There’s a democracy movement, broad and diverse: New poll workers are signing up for the job in places like Fulton County, Georgia, inspired by former election worker Shaye Moss and her mother Ruby Freeman, who endured vitriolic threats and harassment after the 2020 election. “We actually haven’t had to convince people,” voter education and outreach manager LaShandra Little said. “People literally have been calling, asking, ‘How can I sign up?’” My hope is that we will see a sustained, broad movement of Americans who demand a peaceful, inclusive democracy in which only our ideas are at war.





The Truth About Bail Reform

Concerns about rising crime early in the Covid-19 pandemic led New York State to repeatedly revise its 2019 law that ended the use of cash bail in most misdemeanor and nonviolent felony cases. Nevertheless, there’s no evidence that bail reform drove increases in violence. An updated Brennan Center explainer reviews what we know so far about bail reform and its impact on public safety. Read more

[link removed]

Reimagining California’s Most Infamous Prison

San Quentin, California’s most notorious prison, may soon be transformed from an example of the worst in detention facilities to one that could be held up as a model. A new independent report released by the state’s corrections department puts forth recommendations for improving the facility, such as by providing all incarcerated people with plans for rehabilitation and reentry into their communities, as well as normalizing the prison environment to mimic the outside world. The report is “an essential guide for how to improve culture and focus on human dignity in corrections . . . and it should be read by correctional leaders, policymakers, and advocates alike,” Ava Kaufman writes. READ MORE

[link removed]

Understanding Domestic Terrorism Threats

Last month, the Brennan Center sent a letter to the Justice Department urging it to improve how it collects and reports domestic terrorism data. For years, the DOJ has published incomplete and conflicting data, preventing effective policymaking on an issue the department claims to prioritize. Keeping complete and accurate data about domestic terrorism incidents is “essential to assessing threats and ensuring that resources are distributed properly to address the most serious and deadly perpetrators,” Michael German and Faiza Patel write. Read more

[link removed]

A Spending Boom in State Judicial Elections

State judicial races have received unprecedented amounts of money and attention since the Supreme Court eliminated federal abortion rights. The Brennan Center’s new Politics of Judicial Elections report highlights this trend and more. The 2021–2022 cycle of state supreme court elections broke numerous records, with total spending reaching $100.8 million — nearly twice the spending in any prior midterm cycle. Several states saw their most expensive judicial election cycles ever. Some of these high-water marks were eclipsed in 2023, with big-money races in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin “confirm[ing] that this new era of judicial politics is here to stay,” Douglas Keith writes. Read more

[link removed]

New Brennan Center Leadership

The Brennan Center announced this week that Kimberly D. Harris of the Comcast Corporation and NBCUniversal and Christine A. Varney of Cravath, Swaine & Moore have been elected as co-chairs of its board of directors. “We are extraordinarily excited to welcome Kim and Christine as the new co-chairs,” said Brennan Center President Michael Waldman. “They are national leaders in the law, business, and government, and will help strengthen our organization at a critical moment, amid new challenges to our values and our democracy.” READ MORE

[link removed]





Events

The new book, Filibustered! How to Fix the Broken Senate and Save America

[link removed]

, makes the case that Congress’s decline began 50 years ago with the introduction of the “no-talk” filibuster. The authors, Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and his former chief of staff Mike Zamore (now at the ACLU), discuss the obstacles to making Congress a properly functioning body with the Boston Globe’s Kimberly Atkins Stohr. WATCH NOW

[link removed]

Want to keep up with Brennan Center Live events? Subscribe to the events newsletter.

[link removed]





News

Bart Gellman on the threats to democracy in 2024 // NPR

[link removed]

Gowri Ramachandran on threats to state lawmakers // FORBES

[link removed]

Eliza Sweren-Becker on the myth of widespread voter fraud // LAS VEGAS WEEKLY

[link removed]

Joanna Zdanys on the power of public campaign financing // CHICAGO SUN-TIMES

[link removed]

Feedback on this newsletter? Email us at [email protected]

mailto:[email protected]







[link removed]

Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law

120 Broadway, Suite 1750 New York, NY 10271

646-292-8310

tel:646-292-8310

[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

Support Brennan Center

[link removed]

Want to change how you receive these emails or unsubscribe? Click here

[link removed]

to update your preferences.

[link removed]

[link removed]

[link removed]

[link removed]

[link removed]

[link removed]