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On Thursday, January 15, oral arguments were made before the California State Appeals Court in San Francisco in the case Rubin v. Bowen. Third parties continue to challenge the nonpartisan, top-two open primary in the state, claiming that the system violates the association rights of political parties and disenfranchises third-party voters in the general election. Richard Winger, who runs the site Ballot-Access.org, wrote a post on the oral arguments, implying that third parties were poorly re

Although the midterm election fever has largely subsided, the courts are heating up over the issue of redistricting and gerrymandering lawsuits. For the 2014 term, the U.S. Supreme Court is set to hear three cases on redistricting commissions, and the Florida Supreme Court has also heard its own case over redistricting. Elections are contentious contests and at the heart of these arguments is who has the power to draw district lines that influence the outcomes on Election Day. All of these case

The announcement this week that the officer who killed Eric Garner would not be tried for homicide has further fueled public debate as to the appropriate level of force police officers use while in perceived danger. In 2014 alone, over 496 individuals have died in incidents with law enforcement officers, some of whom did not posses a weapon. As the year comes to a close, instances of possible excessive force on the part of law enforcement officers have shocked the country one after the other. V

Redistricting is a process that occurs once every ten years, where census data is utilized to redraw the boundaries of each congressional district, so as to keep the representational power of each district relatively even. The underlying rationale for redistricting is to ensure that the "one man, one vote" ethos stays meaningful. Yet a political party can redraw districts in a way that favors itself at the expense of the others. By packing voters from other parties in a small number of district

As the protests in Ferguson, Missouri continue, the U.S. Congress recently blocked a vote on a bipartisan bill that would have restricted the transfer of military-grade weapons and vehicles to local police. The August killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson sparked outrage not only in Missouri, but across the country. Even among many who believed Officer Wilson's actions were justified, the presence of a militarized police force may have helped turn public opinion against the police. Introduced d

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4PZoCyjZd4A grand jury found there was not enough evidence to indict officer Darren Wilson for the August 9 shooting of Michael Brown. The prosecuting attorney for St. Louis County, Bob McCulloch, announced Wilson would not be indicted at a press conference held at the St. Louis County Justice Center Monday. From McCulloch's statement: "After their exhaustive review of the evidence, the grand jury deliberated over two days making their final decision. They det

Right now, all eyes in the nation are on Ferguson, Missouri, anticipating the results of the grand jury investigation into the killing of Michael Brown by police officer Darren Wilson. Businesses are being shuttered and gun sales are up -- the town is fearful of more rioting when the results are announced. In moments of civil tension and passion like these, it is a good idea to reflect on our Founders, and look at what they did when faced with similar injustice and public uncertainty. Boston

As we wrap up Suicide Prevention and Awareness Month, and as the VA health care problems linger on, it has become tragically apparent that more and more veterans are feeling like they have nowhere to go and can't get the help they need. So, they choose to end their lives. In some cases, those suicides can be attributed to veterans being ignored by the VA. There have been many accounts of veterans committing suicide outside of VA clinics, not only to end the pain and suffering that seemed endles

"And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor." - Declaration of Independence The 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence knew they were committing high treason against the British Crown, and that if caught, they would have been tortured and then killed in one of the gruesomest manners possible. Their assets would have been seized, leaving their widows and

Kris Kobach, the Republican secretary of state in Kansas, has spent a good portion of his political career defending the "purity" of the election process. Kobach has been involved in numerous voting reform schemes, defending his ideas as making it “easy to vote but hard to cheat." This past week's events in the U.S. Senate race in Kansas call into question Kobach's commitment to eliminating "cheating" from the electoral process. On September 18, the Kansas Supreme court ruled that Chad Taylor