How to Prevent Republican State Legislatures from Stealing the Election

AUSTIN SARAT, DANIEL B. EDELMAN

Amherst College Associate Provost Austin Sarat and attorney Daniel B. Edelman explain the important role of Democratic governors in preventing Republican state legislatures from stealing the election. Sarat and Edelman describe a “nightmare scenario” in which Republican legislatures may try to strip the electoral votes of Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan, Georgia, Arizona, and Nevada, leaving Biden with 232 electoral votes compared to Trump’s 306. The authors call upon the governors of those states to defend the integrity of their states’ election results, insist that there have been no “election failures,” and, if necessary, submit to Congress their own elector lists.

Read More

United States v. Hall

Docket: 19-5329

Opinion Date: November 10, 2020

Judge: Nalbandian

Areas of Law: Criminal Law

Hall was convicted of 11 counts of bank fraud, 18 U.S.C. 1344(1), and one count of identity theft, 18 U.S.C. 1028A(a)(1). During her trial, Hall admitted that she signed her children’s, niece’s, and sister’s names and altered her sister’s paystubs to obtain student loan money. She maintained that she thought all her actions did not violate the law and that her family members orally gave her permission to apply for the loans. The Seventh Circuit affirmed, rejecting challenges to the sufficiency of the evidence. Even if the indictment was duplicitous because it included both sections 1344(1) and (2) in each count related to one loan, rather than separating out section 1344(1) as one count for a particular loan and section 1344(2) as another count for that same loan, the government elected to rely on section 1344(1), and the district court only instructed on the elements for section 1344(1). Challenged statements made by the prosecutor were not so flagrant to merit reversal; the defense did not object to the remarks and overwhelming proof of guilt existed.