Your weekly source for analysis and insight from experts at the Brennan Center for Justice

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The Briefing

When it comes to the integrity of government research, we are now “at a crisis point, with almost weekly violations of previously respected safeguards,” according to a new report ([link removed]) released last Thursday by the bipartisan National Task Force on Rule of Law & Democracy. The task force’s report outlines how two critical functions of the federal government are under attack: objective scientific research and the appointments process for filling senior administration positions. The Task Force calls on Congress to protect government research from politicization and to fix the process for filling senior government positions to prevent future administrations from further degrading these standards of honest and effective government.

The report was covered in the New York Times ([link removed]) and the Guardian ([link removed]), while Task Force co-chairs Preet Bharara and Christie Todd Whitman took to the op-ed pages of the Washington Post ([link removed]) to urge Congress to pass legislation to protect the integrity of government scientific research, no matter who occupies the White House.

Democracy

Trump’s Ukraine Call Might Violate Election Laws, but No One’s Enforcing Them

As Congress moves forward with an impeachment inquiry into President Trump’s phone call soliciting help from the president of Ukraine to investigate his political rival Joe Biden, Trump’s action raises another question: Did the president’s requests violate campaign finance law? Daniel Weiner, senior counsel with the Brennan Center and previously a counsel with the Federal Election Counsel (FEC), says that it is “crucial” for the FEC to get an answer to this question because the agency is responsible for interpreting and administering federal campaign finance law. The FEC, however, currently lacks a quorum and cannot take up new investigations. // NPR ([link removed])

Restoring Felon Voting Rights a 'Mess' in Battleground Florida

The Brennan Center is participating in a hearing this week challenging a new Florida law that threatens the voting rights of people with past criminal convictions based on unpaid court-ordered fines and fees. But the state of Florida has no consolidated system for determining what a formerly incarcerated citizen still owes or for certifying that they have paid up — making it virtually impossible for them to prove they are eligible to vote. // REUTERS ([link removed])

Pastor Clifford Tyson, a plaintiff in the lawsuit filed by the Brennan Center and other groups, had his voting rights restored in 2018 after Florida citizens approved Amendment 4, which restored voting rights to residents with a past felony conviction. But those voting rights are now in doubt due to the new law. In a Q&A with the Brennan Center, Tyson discusses why he is concerned about voting in light of the state’s new voting law. // READ MORE ([link removed])

Constitution

New Domestic Terrorism Laws Are Unnecessary for Fighting White Nationalists

In the aftermath of the El Paso shooting in August, lawmakers in Congress have introduced two separate bills that would create a new crime of domestic terrorism, citing lethal white nationalist crimes as the justification. But such legislation is both unnecessary and creates serious risks of abuse, according to Faiza Patel, codirector of the Brennan Center’s Liberty & National Security Program.

“The proposed bills would give the Justice Department and FBI access to broad additional charges that could be used to target minorities and activists,” writes Patel. “Instead of giving the FBI new domestic terrorism authorities it doesn’t need, members of Congress can ensure that the bureau allocates its resources appropriately to properly address white nationalist violence.” // READ MORE ([link removed])

The Historical Case for Impeachment

Historically, Congress has only seriously considered impeaching a president three times. Now President Donald Trump is the fourth after pressuring the Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden, in return for U.S. military aid. “The framers included impeachment in the Constitution to ensure that presidents would not abuse their power or break the law,” said Brennan Center President Michael Waldman.

There are echoes of that in what Donald Trump is being accused of: using the power of the presidency to try to push a foreign leader to smear domestic opponents and then trying to cover it up. For the framers, a “foreign government interfering in our elections” and “an American president reaching out for foreign help for political advantage is exactly the thing they designed impeachment for,” said Waldman. // WATCH ([link removed])

Why We Need a Code of Ethics for the Supreme Court

Ethics codes govern the vast majority of U.S. courts, as well as corporations, universities, and other institutions. But not the Supreme Court. In fact, the nine justices are the only judges in the United States who are not governed by a code of ethical conduct — although the justices themselves have the ability to draft and adopt such a code.

“It’s an egregious gap, particularly at a moment when public trust in our democratic institutions is falling,” write the Brennan Center’s Alicia Bannon and Johanna Kalb. “The justices must act. Our highest court should model accountability, not dodge it.” // TIME ([link removed])

Justice

New FBI Data: Violent Crime Still Falling

The FBI released data last Monday showing that the violent crime rate in the United States fell by 3.9 percent in 2018, consistent with a decades-long downward trend. Overall, the violent crime rate has dropped by more than 50 percent since its peak in the early 1990s. The 2018 numbers are welcome news for crime researchers, who closely monitored an uptick in violence in 2015 and 2016.

“That's a really good sign that the long-term trend towards greater safety is not in fact reversed, and that we’re moving past whatever happened in 2015 and 2016,” said Ames Grawert, senior counsel with the Brennan Center’s Justice Program. “It’s a reminder that two years isn’t a trend, and two years doesn’t break a trend.” // THE MARSHALL PROJECT ([link removed])

Coming Up

- On Thursday in New York City, the Brennan Center hosts a panel on the state of racial, ethnic, and gender diversity in the judicial branch at both state and federal levels. // RSVP ([link removed])


News

- Alicia Bannon on why state supreme courts should use a publicly accountable appointment process instead of judicial elections // MLIVE.COM ([link removed])

- Ángel Díaz on how police could use surveillance technology to monitor historically marginalized groups // QUARTZ ([link removed])

- Michael German on the validity of the recent CIA whistleblower complaint // WASHINGTON POST ([link removed])

- Elizabeth Goitein on the overclassification of information by government officials in the name of national security // THE ATLANTIC ([link removed])

- Wendy Weiser on the Supreme Court’s role in weakening a core protection of the Voting Rights Act // SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN ([link removed])

- The Brennan Center launched a redesigned website last week. Check it out and learn about how you can join us in building an America that is democratic, just, and free — for all. // BRENNAN CENTER ([link removed])


Have an issue you'd like us to cover? Feedback on this newsletter? Email us at [email protected]
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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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