Your weekly source for analysis and insight from experts at the Brennan Center for Justice
The Briefing
Tomorrow at noon, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will take the oath at the very spot where, just two weeks ago, an insurrectionary mob egged on by the outgoing president stormed the Capitol to stop the counting of the people’s votes. Not since Abraham Lincoln in 1861 has the ceremony been so fraught. They take office, too, as the country mourns 400,000 dead from the pandemic. We all cheer and pray for them to meet the moment.
At the Brennan Center we believe that the best way to defend democracy is to strengthen democracy. Coming months can usher in a time of reform and change — and, yes, we know that the Senate is evenly divided. But there is wide hunger for a renewal of our systems of self-government.
What goals should the new administration push? Today we’ve published a policy agenda for the administration’s first few months. It includes a number of key changes — from criminal justice reform to ending racial and religious profiling — many of which can be done by executive action.
Most notably, in the drive to protect and improve our democracy, today marked a big moment.
The new Senate leaders have said they will introduce the For the People Act as the first bill in the session. It will be S. 1 as well as H.R. 1. That’s a big deal. It’s significant, too, that the lead sponsors of the bill are incoming Majority Leader Charles Schumer and Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Jeff Merkley. This responds to twin crises facing our country: the attack on democracy reflected in the assault on the Capitol and the demand for racial justice.
The For the People Act would be the most significant democracy reform in more than half a century. It incorporates the key measures that are urgently needed. Automatic voter registration to modernize our elections. A national guarantee of free and fair elections without voter suppression. Small donor public financing to curb the corrupting role of big money. An end to partisan gerrymandering. A restoration of ethics throughout government. A commitment to restore the strength of the Voting Rights Act.
Racial justice cannot be fully achieved in this country without a system in which all Americans can advocate for themselves and exercise political power — and that requires voting rights, fair access to the ballot, fair redistricting, and an equitable campaign finance system. The For the People Act creates such a system.
This election showed the passionate commitment to our democracy reflected in the highest voter turnout in over a century, despite the pandemic, voter suppression, and presidential lies. We've known for a long time that the democracy we cherish needs renewal and reform.
This is a historic moment. By tomorrow afternoon, we will have a new president and vice president (the first woman — and the first Black and South Asian person) who can effectively lead. We have a lot to recover from, and it may take decades. But Congress is right to start with the For the People Act.

 
Democracy
Trump Abandons Attempts to Rush Census and Use Citizenship Data Improperly
In a win for the integrity of the census, the Trump administration on Friday agreed not to release population numbers or any citizenship data before Biden takes over. The agreement came in a lawsuit challenging the administration’s efforts to rush the count to a close before Trump leaves office, which would have opened the door for him to illegally manipulate the count. “The administration’s attempts to politicize and interfere with the census brought years of chaos, threatening the accuracy and integrity of the count,” write Kelly Percival and Thomas Wolf. The extra time “is essential to increase the likelihood of getting a full, fair, and accurate count.” // Read More
Harrowing Presidential Transitions from Lincoln to Biden
The peaceful transfer of power, a bedrock condition of democracy, came under assault this year. While this circumstance is unique, the country has experienced fraught transitions before. Last week, a distinguished panel of historians and journalists including Jonathan Alter, Hon. Donna F. Edwards, Ted Widmer, and Michael Waldman discussed why the transition period is so crucial and what Biden can learn from history. // Watch Now

 
Constitution
The Law Enforcement Fallout from the Capitol Riot
The insurrection at the Capitol has raised questions about the FBI’s intelligence failures in the run-up to the attack and the possibility of deeper collusion between law enforcement personnel within the Capitol Police and the FBI itself. Brennan Center Fellow Michael German spoke with Truthout about the FBI’s failures in preventing the attack, its investigatory process, and double standards in how agents treat left-wing activists versus far-right militants. // TruthOut
Evaluating the Privacy of Covid-19 At-Home Tests
The Food and Drug Administration recently authorized the first few at-home rapid Covid-19 tests. Like so much else about the Covid-19 response, how well test providers handle the sensitive health data of their customers will impact Americans’ trust in this tool — and thus its usefulness. Kaylana Mueller-Hsia and Laura Hecht-Felella compare the tests on privacy and make recommendations for how the test providers can best protect sensitive information. // Read More

 
News
  • Michael German on how the FBI has ignored right-wing extremists // New Yorker
  • Rachel Levinson-Waldman on school districts monitoring staff social media accounts // Education Week
  • Faiza Patel on deplatforming right-wing extremists // NBC News
  • Michael Waldman on impeachment // MetroFocus
  • Wendy Weiser on the voter fraud lie // Guardian
  • Thomas Wolf on the future of the 2020 census count // Washington Post
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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