Source: https://news.ballotpedia.org/author/jerrick-adams/
Timestamp: 2019-04-26 08:01:54+00:00

Document:
On March 26, the Supreme Court of the United States heard oral arguments in two partisan gerrymandering cases, Rucho v. Common Cause and Lamone v. Benisek. During the course of arguments, the justices appeared divided over the issues central to both cases: are partisan gerrymandering claims justiciable under federal law, and should federal courts intervene to settle disputes over alleged partisan gerrymandering?
Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor, an Obama appointee, responded as follows to the point made by Paul Clement, counsel for Rucho, that partisan gerrymandering claims are not justiciable under federal law: “Once we decided the one person, one vote concept, we’ve been pretty much in all of our jurisprudence saying that certain acts by the legislature are unconstitutional, including race discrimination and others. It can’t be that simply because the Constitution says that a particular act is in the hands of one — one branch of government, that that deprives the courts of reviewing whether that action is constitutional or not.
The high court is expected to rule on both cases prior to the conclusion of the current term in June of this year.
The phrase partisan gerrymandering refers to the practice of drawing electoral district maps with the intention of favoring one political party over another. In contrast with racial gerrymandering, on which issue the Supreme Court of the United States has issued rulings in the past affirming that such practices violate federal law, the high court has not yet a ruling establishing clear precedent on the question of partisan gerrymandering. Although the court heard two partisan gerrymandering cases last term, it ruled on procedural and standing grounds in each, without addressing the question of justiciability.
Ellis was accused of sexually assaulting a state capitol employee in October 2015. Ellis allegedly offered to help an acquaintance after she fell down in a bar by taking her to his home, where he allegedly sexually assaulted her. The woman, who chose to remain anonymous, said she did not consent to any sexual acts. The Philadelphia Inquirer first published an account of the allegations on January 24, 2019. On January 25, 2019, House Republican leaders issued a statement calling for Ellis’ resignation.
The leaders said Ellis should focus on his family and addressing the allegations, which were under criminal investigation by the Dauphin County district attorney. They also removed Ellis from his committee leadership positions and committee assignments, pending the outcome of the investigation. Gov. Tom Wolf (D) also called for Ellis to step down.
Vacancies in the Pennsylvania General Assembly are filled by special election. The presiding officer of the House must call for the election. The state constitution does not establish a timetable for special legislative elections.
Two months into 2019, and state legislatures nationwide have taken early action on public-sector union policy in the states, responding either directly or indirectly to the Supreme Court’s decision last summer in Janus v. AFSCME. In Janus, the high court ruled that public-sector unions cannot require non-member employees to pay agency fees to cover the costs of non-political union activities.
As of March 1, legislatures in 29 states had introduced 82 bills relevant to public-sector union policy. Of these 82 bills, 45 were sponsored by Democrats and 29 by Republicans; the remainder were sponsored by bipartisan groups or committees. Of these 82 bills, two had passed lower chambers and three had died. The remainder were either in committee or awaiting a committee assignment.
More about Janus: Generally, members of an employee union pay fees to that union. These fees support the union’s activities, which can include collective bargaining and contract administration, as well as political activities, such as lobbying. Some public-sector employees do not wish to join a union, and some are opposed to unions’ political activities. In 1977, the Supreme Court ruled in Abood v. Detroit Board of Education that employees cannot be required to give financial support to a union’s political activities. However, the court found that it was not a violation of employees’ rights under the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution to require them to pay fees to support union activities from which they benefit, such as collective bargaining. It is this ruling that was overturned by Janus, which held that such fees are not constitutional.
On February 26, 2019, a three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit found that a Washington state policy granting exclusive bargaining rights to a union did not violate workers’ First Amendment rights.
In 2006, the state authorized child care providers working under a state-subsidized program to select an exclusive representative for the purposes of collective bargaining. The workers chose Service Employees International Union Local 925. Workers were not required to join the union, but SEIU Local 925 was granted the exclusive right to represent this class of workers. The plaintiff in the case, child care provider Katherine Miller, alleged that this practice, in light of Janus, violated her First Amendment rights because it authorized SEIU Local 925 to speak and negotiate on her behalf without her express consent.
The appeals court panel was comprised of Judges Susan P. Graber, M. Margaret McKeown, and Morgan Christen. President Bill Clinton (D) appointed both Graber and McKeown to the court in 1998. President Barack Obama (D) appointed Christen to the court in 2011.
How do primaries in your state work?
The first statewide primary of 2019 is approaching – here’s a rundown of five facts about primary systems.
1. An open primary is any primary election in which a voter either does not have to formally affiliate with a political party in order to vote in its primary or can declare his or her affiliation with a party at the polls on the day of the primary even if the voter was previously affiliated with a different party.
In 22 states, at least one party conducts open primaries. Is your state one of them? Click the link to find out.
2. In 39 states, a candidate needs to win only a plurality (as opposed to a majority) of all votes cast in order to be declared the winner of a primary. Is your state one of them? Click the link to find out.
3. Generally, political parties use primary elections either to narrow the field of candidates for a given elective office or to determine their nominees in advance of a general election. In seven states, however, political parties can nominate candidates for some offices for the general election directly, without conducting a primary election. Is your state one of them? Click the link to find out.
4. A closed primary is a type of primary election in which a voter must affiliate formally with a political party in advance of the election date in order to participate in that party’s primary. In 14 states, at least one political party conducts closed primaries. Is your state one of them? Click the link to find out.
5. In eight states, a candidate must win a majority of all votes cast (i.e., 50 percent plus at least one) in order to be declared the winner of a primary election. Is your state one of them? Click the link to find out.
On February 13, 2019, Judge Carlton W. Reeves, of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi, issued an order striking down the state legislative map for Mississippi State Senate District 22.
Judge Reeves ruled that the district constituted a violation of the Voting Rights Act by denying racial minorities “an equal opportunity to participate in the political processes and to elect candidates of their choice.” In the two-page order, Reeves advised the state legislature of its right to the first opportunity to draft new maps for District 22 and any adjoining districts that might be affected as part of the redistricting process. Reeves also suggested that the legislature might extend the March 1 qualification deadline for candidates in District 22 and any other affected districts. Reeves, appointed in 2010 by Pres. Barack Obama (2013), noted that a full opinion in the case, Thomas v. Bryant, would be forthcoming.
In 2015, Eugene Clarke (R) won re-election to District 22 with 53.8 percent of the vote.
The Mississippi State Senate is one of seven legislative chambers nationwide that will conduct elections in 2019. All 52 Senate seats will be up for election. The primary is scheduled to take place on August 6, 2019. The general election will take place on November 5, 2019.
According to a January 29, 2019, report by The Washington Post, Americans received approximately 26.3 billion automated phone calls in 2018, a 46 percent increase over the total number of automated calls received in 2017. The increase can be attributed in part to a federal appellate court ruling that expanded the types of equipment that can be used legally to make automated calls.
On March 16, 2018, a three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit issued its ruling in ACA International v. Federal Communications Commission, striking down a rule promulgated by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regarding the types of equipment that can be used for making automated phone calls. The Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), enacted in 1991, granted the FCC the authority to interpret and enforce the law’s restrictions against the use of certain kinds of automated dialing equipment. In 2015, the FCC issued an order that, among other things, classified devices capable of being transformed into automated dialing systems via the installation of apps as devices subject to the restrictions of the TCPA. The court found that this classification metric was overly broad.
On February 5, 2019, the New Mexico Supreme Court dismissed a challenge to the legality of closed primaries in the state. The initial suit was brought by former attorney general Paul Bardacke (D), who argued that New Mexico’s closed primary process serves private organizations (in this case, political parties) in violation of a state law prohibiting the use of public money to benefit private organizations. The state supreme court did not address this argument in its order, which summarily dismissed the challenge.
A closed primary is a type of primary election in which a voter must affiliate formally with a political party in advance of the election date in order to participate in that party’s primary. In 14 states, including New Mexico, at least one political party conducts closed primaries for congressional and state-level offices. In 11 of these states, including New Mexico, all political parties conduct closed primaries. In the 2016 presidential election cycle, political parties in 27 states utilized closed primaries and/or caucuses as part of the presidential nominating process.
In New Mexico, state supreme court justices are appointed by the governor, who selects from a list of candidates recommended by a commission. After being appointed, the justice must stand in the next partisan election in order to retain his or her seat.

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