Articles

Fifth Circuit's Texas voter ID opinion is a mixed bag

August 06, 2015 | By CHRIS KIESER

Yesterday, a Fifth Circuit panel issued its opinion in the controversial Texas voter ID case. The case involves challenges under the Voting Rights Act as well as the Fourteenth, Fifteenth, and Twenty-Fourth Amendments. Particularly at issue was whether Texas’ effort to require that voters present a valid photo ID violates Section 2 of the Vot ...

Articles

Race-based redistricting heads back to the Supreme Court

September 17, 2014 | By CHRIS KIESER

On November 12, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in a pair of legislative reapportionment cases: Alabama Legislative Black Caucus v. Alabama and Alabama Democratic Conference v. Alabama.  Plaintiffs in these cases contend that the Alabama legislature violated the Equal Protection Clause by “packing” African-American voters in ...

Articles

Can government force you to give up fundamental rights for a building permit?

April 22, 2010 | By PACIFIC LEGAL FOUNDATION

Author: Paul J. Beard II We all know that government entities across the country are facing major budget deficits. We also know that governments often prefer to avoid the sort of belt-tightening that so many American families have been forced to do in recent years, and instead prefer to find clever ways of financing their … ...