Lies about voter fraud have been spread largely by members of one party for years. Now we know: these lies are deadly.
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Brennan Center for Justice
[INSIDER]
Photograph of rioters outside the Capitol building on Jan 6.
For about a decade and a half, the GOP has been aggressively promoting the lie that drove the invasion of the Capitol, that illegal voting is rampant. For almost as long, Republican-controlled states have used this lie to justify voter suppression laws that disenfranchise many more legitimate than illegitimate voters and usually target racial minorities. The only appropriate way to respond to this crisis is not just by holding perpetrators accountable, but also by actively strengthening our democracy, so that it’s freer, fairer, and more accessible than before, writes Brennan Center Fellow Zachary Roth. The For the People Act (H.R. 1) is the place to start.
All over the country, officers are returning to their hometowns from the insurrection in Washington. How these officers are received by their communities, colleagues, and bosses will help us tell a new chapter in an important story that has been brewing for years: dangerous links between right-wing extremists and law enforcement agencies. You cannot swear an oath to uphold the law and also share common cause with hate groups, writes Brennan Center Fellow Andrew Cohen.
Shortly after the violence at the Capitol, corporate political spenders started announcing that they would no longer financially back members of Congress who had raised objections to President-Elect Joe Biden’s Electoral College votes in key swing states. This isn’t the first time corporations have backed away from political donations during a scandal, but it still raises bigger questions about why corporations are backing any member of Congress in the first place — and how our campaign finance system works. Brennan Center Fellow Ciara Torres-Spelliscy examines these questions and the financial fallout from the sedition in Washington.
Lisa Montgomery was executed on Tuesday night, the first woman in 67 years to be killed by the federal government. She was the 10th person in the Trump administration’s accelerated execution spree, which started last July after a 17-year hiatus on federal executions. Lisa’s adolescence was filled with trauma and abuse, and her extensive history with mental illness makes her execution legally and morally questionable. Her death sentence should have been commuted, and when Biden takes office, he should put death penalty abolition at the top of his priorities.
Never has the presidential pardon power’s risk of abuse been more apparent than under Trump, who has used it to grant clemency to people convicted of crimes relating to his presidential campaign. Now, Trump is reportedly considering trying to pardon himself for a variety of crimes. Would that be constitutional? And how would a self-pardon affect state prosecutions? In this explainer, Brennan Center experts answer key questions about the presidential pardon power.

 
Virtual Events
Speaker portrait Ted Widmer, Hon. Donna F. Edwards, Jonathan Alter, and Michael Waldman
 
CRISIS: Harrowing Presidential Transitions from Lincoln to Biden
Friday, January 15 // 12:00 p.m.–1:00 p.m. ET
The peaceful transfer of power came under assault as insurrectionists heeding President Trump’s call disrupted Congress’s affirmation of the Electoral College. The turmoil only added to an already rocky transition. The nation has experienced fraught transitions before, none more so than when Southern states met Lincoln’s election with secession. Join Jonathan Alter (author, The Defining Moment: FDR’s Hundred Days and the Triumph of Hope), Hon. Donna F. Edwards (Washington Post columnist, former member of Congress), Ted Widmer (author, Lincoln on the Verge: Thirteen Days to Washington) and Michael Waldman (Brennan Center) for a discussion on why the transition period is so crucial and what Biden can learn from history. This event is produced in partnership with the Center for Brooklyn History at Brooklyn Public Library and New York University’s John Brademas Center. RSVP today.
 

 
What We’re Reading
Faiza Patel, director of the Brennan Center’s Liberty & National Security Program, recommends “After the Capitol Riots, the Last Thing We Need Is Another War on Terror.” The article reviews the history of far-right violence in the United States and the need for accountability instead of new laws that will inevitably be used against communities of color and protesters.
 
 
The Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law is a nonpartisan law and policy institute that works to reform, revitalize – and when necessary defend – our country’s systems of democracy and justice.

 
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