In Valdes v. United States, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit reviewed the conviction of a police officer under the federal gratuities statute accepting cash from an undercover FBI agent in exchange for searching law enforcement databases for information.  The D.C. Circuit, sitting en...

In February 2008, the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) challenged a provision in the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act (HLOGA) that requires a lobbying coalition, such as NAM, to disclose any member organizations of the coalition that fund the coalition’s lobbying activities and...

South Carolina sought and obtained approval (preclearance) under the Voting Rights Act of a law (modified during litigation) that required voters to present a photo ID at the polls.

Petitioner, a judicial candidate for a Florida County Court, filed suit challenging the Florida Code of Judicial Conduct rule prohibiting candidates for judicial office from personally soliciting campaign funds. The Florida Supreme Court found petitioner guilty of violating the solicitation...

A small utility district near Austin unsuccessfully challenged the constitutionality of Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act, which required the Department of Justice or the United States District Court for D.C. to approve all voting changes in certain jurisdictions before those changes could go into...

A county in Alabama successfully challenged the continued constitutionality of Section 4(b) of the Voting Rights Act, which contained a formula identifying those jurisdictions that had to comply with the “preclearance” requirements of Section 5—i.e., receive approval from the Department of Justice...

The State of Texas unsuccessfully sought preclearance approval under the Voting Rights Act of its 2011 voter photo ID law (SB 14); a three-judge court found the State failed to prove the law was non-discriminatory. The Supreme Court vacated the judgment following its decision in Shelby County v...