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This summer has already been busy for the Edley Center, including with new materials we published to our publications page today. First, a new white paper from Senior Fellows Molly Gaston and J.P. Cooney describes the democracy harms that follow from the U.S. Department of Justice abdication of its longstanding role, since the Watergate scandal, to enforce public corruption laws. The white paper highlights the urgent need for state and local governments to step in now to fulfill this vital role to ensure honest services in the United States. Gaston and Cooney detail the kinds of cases federal prosecutors used to pursue in states and their impact, and specify ways states and localities today can take crucial action to fill the void the federal government has left.
In addition, we posted a set of election information materials today, which provide information about relevant law to magistrate judges who may be presented with search warrants seeking election-related materials. The information is also there for journalists and the public. We worked with nonpartisan legal and election administration experts to produce these materials to further our mission to promote democracy education, civic participation, and equal treatment under law. The materials share information about the lawful scope for these search warrants, judges’ authorities to seek amicus briefing to address novel legal issues when considering proposed search warrants, and sample language to define the scope of search warrants if issued.
Following up on a white paper Senior Fellow Melissa Hooper published last February, on May 29 we cosponsored a symposium on Measuring the Rule of Law, essays from which will be included in a special issue of the American Journal of International Law Unbound. The symposium, which we cosponsored with the Miller Institute for Global Challenges and the Law, brought together scholars with expertise in democracy measurement, existing rule of law indices, and their practical policy implications. The symposium showcased empirical approaches to rule of law measurement and assessed their practical policy implications.
Following the conference we cohosted in December, Faculty co-director Dan Farber published two blog posts (found here & here) regarding a new proposed federal rule that seeks to politicize research funding across the federal government. As Professor Farber explains, the proposed rule threatens to deny funding of any project that conflicts with current administration policies, irrespective of whether the research is lawful. In addition, the proposed rule would provide political appointees control over grant funding, rather than requiring scientific merit as a basis for awarding grants.
Finally, Edley Center Executive Director Catherine Lhamon published a short article in the Stanford Social Innovation Review sharing information about schools’ need to educate as if democracy depends on it. The piece calls on educators to treat every lesson in every class as a lesson in democratic participation, incorporating democratic purpose as an explicit goal. The Executive Director highlighted these same themes in a commencement address to the Berkeley School of Education on May 21st and in a Berkeley School of Education Equity Leadership Now! podcast.
The Center has had a busy year of conferences, white papers, and outreach. Recognizing that defending democracy is work never finished, we expect to do even more in the twelve months to come. As always, we are grateful for your support for our mission.
Catherine E. Lhamon
Executive Director
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