CMLawLibraryBlog

Restricting Issue Advocacy Near Election-Time - First Amendment Violation?

Sue Altmeyer, Electronic Services Librarian, sue.altmeyer@law.csuohio.edu | May 21, 2008 - 15:44

Those of you taking the First Amendment class this summer might be interested in this case:

Right to Life filed a complaint to strike down the Ohio law prohibiting the running of issue ads 30 days before an election, if the ads mention the name of a candidate running for office . See ORC 3517.1011(H) and other code sections referred to in the complaint. The suit was filed in federal court, Southern District of Ohio, Case No. 2:2008cv00492.

The complaint cites Federal Election Commission v. Wisconsin Right to Life, Inc . (2007), 542 U.S. 1305. The U.S. Supreme Court held that the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act could not prohibit a corporation from financing ads concerning an issue, aired near election time, when the ad could reasonably be interpreted as something other than an appeal to vote for or against a specific candidate.

Right to Life wants to air ads before the November election concerning an Ohio Senate bill banning human cloning. See SB 174 . The organization wants to mention the names of Ohio legislators who are running for office.

Source: Right to Life Files Federal Lawsuit to Overturn Ohio Law Blocking Issue Advocacy Near Election Day, Gongwer News, Volume #77, Report #98, Article #08 --Tuesday, May 20, 2008.

How Diverse Are Cleveland Law Firms?

Amy Burchfield, Access & Faculty Services Librarian amy.burchfield@law.csuohio.edu | May 21, 2008 - 15:07

The summer 2008 issue of Minority Law Journal [KF195 .M56 M56] features its 2008 Diversity Scorecard, an annual survey of minority hiring at the nation’s largest law firms [complete report online].

In preparing the Diversity Scorecard, the Minority Law Journal sent surveys to the 254 firms that are listed in the Am Law 200 or the National Law Journal’s 250 or both, representing the largest firms nationally. They received a total of 211 responses. Out of these responses, here are the rankings for five law firms with Cleveland offices.

	Baker & Hostetler	Jones Day	Littler Mendelson	Thompson Hine	Ulmer & Berne
Diversity Rank	108	132	26	162	196
Minority Percentage All U.S. Attorneys	11.6%	10.1%	18.5%	7.9%	5.6%
Minority Percentage All U.S. Partners	7.8%	6.0%	10.5%	5.0%	1.1%
Total Attorneys U.S./NonU.S.	603/-	1699/668	649/-	405/4	179/-
African American Partners / Nonpartners	7/18	13/38	16/39	4/6	1/7
Asian American Partners / Nonpartners	10/14	14/68	4/26	1/13	-/2
Hispanic American Partners / Nonpartners	7/13	8/28	14/20	4/4	-/-
Other Minority / Multiracial Partners / Nonpartners	1/-	1/1	-/1	-/-	-/-

Source: Minority Law Journal: An ALM Publication (Summer 2008)

The Green Room: CSU's Own Facebook

Amy Burchfield, Access & Faculty Services Librarian amy.burchfield@law.csuohio.edu | May 21, 2008 - 11:33

An article in The Cauldron tipped me off to the existence of The Green Room, a Facebook-like networking site launched and operated by Student Life that is only open to Cleveland State University students, faculty, staff and alumni.

Signing up is easy – I did it in about a minute. Go to https://greenroom.csuohio.edu and click “Register”. You’re required to enter your name and CSU ID number.

You can use the Green Room just like MySpace, Facebook and any other networking site to connect with friends, find out news about concerts, organizations, and other events, share photos, start a blog, you name it.

After being out in the wide wide world of Facebook, the local feel of the Green Room is kinda nice and cozy. Give it a try!

CMLawLibraryBlog

Restricting Issue Advocacy Near Election-Time - First Amendment Violation?

How Diverse Are Cleveland Law Firms?

The Green Room: CSU's Own Facebook

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