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Chiafalo v. Washington: Placing Faith In Faithless Electors

November 3, 2020 Leah Markbreiter 0

The Founding Fathers’ establishment of the Electoral College was an apprehensive, controversial compromise. The men sought to create a body of temporary representatives, individually appointed by the states, who would cast ballots in a presidential election for the winner of the popular vote. Though the body’s intended duty was to systematically honor the wishes of the people, the rise of a highly partisan party system has rendered this a flawed project. In a total of five elections throughout history — twice within the last five elections — the winner of the popular vote was not elected to the presidency. Many states have since taken measures to undermine “faithless electors” by enforcing electors to pledge support to the winning popular vote candidate and by sanctioning those electors who defy their pledge. The extent of state power to impose these sanctions is the issue of the Supreme Court case Chiafalo v. Washington. […]

Getting The Supreme Court Back “In Whack”

November 2, 2020 Emma Smith 0

Put simply by former Vice President and Democractic Presidential candidate Joe Biden, the Supreme Court is “out of whack.” If elected, Biden says he will convene a bipartisan commission of legal scholars to study possible ways to reform the federal judiciary and make recommendations within 180 days. If Democrats take both the White House and Senate come election day, they have a number of options to consider, each with its own set of legal and political hurdles that must be cleared. Here are four of the proposals gaining the most traction: Court Packing Google searches for the phrase “court packing” skyrocketed to their highest frequencies in five years just days after the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Court packing entails adding more judges to a court than there currently are in order to restore ideological balance to the bench. Progressive democrats have discussed the possibility of adding either […]

Fair Pay to Play Act: California Legislation Threatens NCAA Amateurism Rules

October 25, 2019 Lucy Callard 0

Summary: California’s controversial “Fair Pay to Play Act” makes NCAA rules and regulations on amateurism illegal starting in 2023. The new law has reinvigorated the debate on how the NCAA limits athletes abilities to earn compensation for their name, image, or likeness. From September 2017 to August 2018, the National Collegiate Athletic Association, known commonly as the NCAA, reported a revenue of over one billion dollars. Of the 460,000 college student-athletes who participated in NCAA sports in 2017-2018, zero received financial compensation for their athletic performances. Zion Williamson, formerly of Duke Men’s Basketball, and Tua Tagovailoa of Alabama Football are household names; their faces are plastered on posters, and their names flash across television screens around the country. Nevertheless, during their collegiate careers, these star athletes and others like them receive no money for participation in NCAA competition. As the billion-dollar sports industry continues to grow, critics have voiced their […]