The Tap: Monday, October 31, 2016

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The Tap covered election news, public policy, and other noteworthy events from February 2016 to February 2022.

Review of the day

The excerpts below were compiled from issue #41 of The Tap, which was published on November 5, 2016. READ THE FULL VERSION HERE.

Federal

• Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R) wrote in Sen. John McCain, the 2008 Republican nominee, for president on his absentee ballot. A spokesperson said that Kasich voted straight-ticket Republican on the rest of the ballot, according to Cleveland.com. Kasich, who dropped out of the race for the Republican nomination on May 4, 2016, vowed not to vote for Donald Trump and has spoken critically of the Republican nominee. In early October, after a 2005 tape emerged showing Trump saying lewd things about women, Kasich said, “Donald Trump is a man I cannot and should not support. The actions of the last day are disgusting, but that’s not why I reached this decision, it has been an accumulation of his words and actions that many have been warning about... Our country deserves better.”
  • See also: Republican reactions to 2005 Trump tape

• Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson, commenting on the FBI’s investigations into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server while she was secretary of state, suggested that Clinton could face impeachment if elected president. Johnson said, “I think unquestionably if [Clinton] takes office she is going to be under criminal investigation, unquestionably this is going to be the nation's agenda for the entire time she is office and it may well end up in impeachment. This is Watergate kind of stuff. This is really, really deep, real stuff and all you have to say, all you have to recognize is the FBI would not have done this -- this is not political, this is anything but political, because of the fact they dropped this investigation in July, saying, to clear the decks for the election.”
  • See also: Hillary Clinton email investigation

• The U.S. Supreme Court heard argument in two cases:
• Fry v. Napoleon Community Schools presented a case about a federal law’s exhaustion requirement. The court considered whether parents/guardians must meet a requirement that they exhaust all administrative procedures under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) before they can bring a lawsuit under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) or the Rehabilitation Act, even when the particular relief sought is not available under the IDEA.
• In Star Athletica LLC v. Varsity Brands, the court reviewed a case of copyright law. Under the Copyright Act, if a copyrighted design cannot be identified separately from the functional elements of a “useful article,” then the designs cannot be copyright-protected. The Sixth Circuit adopted a new standard to determine the “separability” of design from functionality. The Supreme Court reviewed that standard.

• The editors of Financial Times endorsed Hillary Clinton, writing, "The 2016 election, more than any in recent memory, is a test for the legitimacy of the US political system, with profound implications for the liberal world order. Mrs Clinton carries enough baggage to fill a Boeing 747. She is not trusted by the majority of voters. But she is manifestly more competent than Mr Trump whose braggadocio, divisiveness and meanness are on daily display. Despite her faults, Mrs Clinton is eminently qualified to be the first woman elected to the White House."

• State Democratic parties in Ohio, Nevada, Arizona, and Pennsylvania filed lawsuits against the Republican National Committee, Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, and the independent group Stop the Steal, alleging that these organizations were involved in an effort to intimidate minority voters and suppress turnout. All of the groups denied the allegations. Roger Stone, organizer of Stop the Steal, told Roll Call, “We are not coordinating with the Trump campaign, the Republican National Committee or the individual Republican state committees. We seek only to determine if the election is honestly and fairly conducted and to provide an evidentiary basis for a challenge to the election if that is not the case.” The Huffington Post further reported that Stone’s “exit poll was just a webpage with an icon for each of the four presidential candidates, ostensibly designed for the volunteer exit pollers to click on when they get an answer from a voter.”

• CNN severed ties with commentator Donna Brazile after hacked emails revealed that the DNC chairwoman had shared questions with Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign prior to a primary election debate. Brazile reportedly passed along one question prior to a March debate in Flint, Michigan, and another potential question ahead of a CNN town hall event in March.
  • See also: WikiLeaks and Clinton’s presidential campaign

• Donovan Frank, a judge on the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota, assumed senior status, creating an Article III judicial vacancy. To fill an Article III vacancy, Judge Frank’s successor must be nominated by the president, and that nomination is subject to the advice and consent of the U.S. Senate. The court currently has two vacancies out of its seven judicial posts.

State

• Washington state Sen. Andy Hill (R) died of lung cancer. He was 54. Hill was first elected to the state senate in 2010 and served as the chief GOP budget writer. He also served for several years as chairman of the Senate Ways and Means Committee. He is survived by his wife, Molly, and their three children. The vacancy will filled by the board of commissioners in Hill’s district. The board must appoint a new Republican member to the seat within 60 days of the vacancy occurring.
• Saint Leo University published the results of its most recent poll on Florida's amendments on the ballot for November 8, 2016. Support for the solar energy measure, Amendment 1, decreased from 84 percent in the first Saint Leo University poll, conducted in September, to 59.8 percent. This 24-point drop in support was unique among Florida’s proposed amendments. According to the same polls, support for tax exemption measures Amendment 3 and Amendment 5 decreased by one percentage point and five percentage points, respectively. Support for Amendment 2, which would legalize medical marijuana in Florida, increased from 68.8 percent to 71.3 percent.
  • On October 18, 2016, an audio tape of a speech made by Sal Nuzzo, vice president for a policy think tank called the James Madison Institute, was leaked. Nuzzo spoke about how the Amendment 1 support group, Consumers for Smart Solar, approached his organization for help with the amendment campaign and indicated that it was designed to appeal to pro-solar advocates. He also referred to the group’s move of qualifying the measure for the ballot as a “savvy maneuver.” The leak lead to extensive media coverage for the weeks following the incident.
• Mark Zuckerberg, founder and CEO of Facebook, contributed $1 million to the campaign supporting California Proposition 57. According to the state’s campaign finance system, the contribution is Zuckerberg’s sole donation to a California ballot measure campaign in 2016. Proposition 57 would increase parole opportunities for felons convicted of nonviolent crimes and mandate that judges, not prosecutors, decide whether juveniles should be tried as adults. Sean Parker, former president of Facebook, has also been active in funding initiative campaigns, providing $8.6 million in support of California Proposition 64, which would legalize marijuana, and $500,00 in support of Nevada Question 1, which would require background checks for firearm transfers with exceptions.
• In Alabama, seven retired judges have been chosen to sit on the Alabama Supreme Court for Chief Justice Roy Moore’s (R) appeal of his suspension. Moore was permanently suspended from the bench in September 2016 by the Alabama Court of the Judiciary for his administrative order to Alabama probate clerks concerning same-sex marriages in the state. His appeal will argue that a permanent suspension is equivalent to removing him from the bench, which the court of the judiciary could not do without a unanimous vote for removal. While the decision for permanent suspension was unanimous, the court of the judiciary was not unanimously in favor of a decision to remove him.
  • All six of Moore’s fellow justices were recused from hearing his appeal. Moore had asked that replacement justices be chosen from among Alabama’s sitting circuit judges, but the supreme court instead chose judges randomly from a pool of retired judges. The seven retired judges chosen are Edward McFerrin, Robert Cahill, William King, John Coggin, Ralph Ferguson, Lynn Bright, and James Reid.

Preview of the day

The excerpts below were compiled from issue #40 of The Tap, which was published on October 29, 2016. READ THE FULL VERSION HERE.

Federal

• The U.S. Supreme Court will hear argument in two cases:
  • Fry v. Napoleon Community Schools presents a case about a federal law’s exhaustion requirement. The court will consider whether parents/guardians must meet a requirement that they exhaust all administrative procedures under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) before they can bring a lawsuit under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) or the Rehabilitation Act, even when the particular relief sought is not available under the IDEA.
  • In Star Athletica LLC v. Varsity Brands, the court will review a case of copyright law. Under the Copyright Act, if a copyrighted design cannot be identified separately from the functional elements of a “useful article,” then the designs cannot be copyright-protected. The Sixth Circuit adopted a new standard to determine the “separability” of design from functionality. The Supreme Court will review that standard.

State

• Voter registration deadline in Colorado (same-day registration is available).
• Voter registration deadline in Washington if registering in person.