Democracy Happy Hour – May 31, 2023

Democracy Happy Hour, May 31, 2023 - Meeting Recordings & Chat File:

• Speaker View Recording: https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/play/UjLwqAk_wv-qIhHl47TpvqkotwTuE7AY48u8BBP12afUkY4Y2wphOZYCqHjYJTpcODYtb96Vu8QeLkuA.YqPJZZ1fuxxVu4FT
• Gallery View Recording:  https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/play/6_PHLbWJCWoLXQLHmJNPjPTmMJeREFoNpesAwPCk212iEh3gEgHkaAsbxvpYMnMHe-U2lgyXE5AUIaPK.U_2lrVfypCt1hvTY

Fix Democracy First Links:

• FDF Donation Page @ fixdemocracyfirst.org/donate

• Fix Democracy First 20^th Anniversary Celebration - SAVE THE DATE! – Saturday, September 9, 2023 – Bloedel Hall @ St. Mark’s in Seattle - More details to come!
• You can view past Democracy Happy Hour recordings on our Past Events page @ https://www.fixdemocracyfirst.org/events#past-events

Democracy Happy Hour Upcoming Topics/Schedule:

• June 7th - CANCELED - No Democracy Happy Hour this week
• June 14th - Fighting Back Against Authoritarianism with Vinay Orekondy  
• June 21st - Declaration for American Democracy Coalition with Christine Wood, Co-Director
• June 28, July 5 & July 12 - CANCELED - There are NO Democracy Happy Hour these weeks, as Cindy will be on vacation.
• July 19th - The Future of AI & Its Impact on Democracy
• July 26th - Requiring Truthful Content in Political Speech with Tim Love & Bob Viney  

ACTIONS & EVENTS:

Sign and send the petition to corporate executives: Stop donating to pro-insurrectionist members of Congress! - https://actionnetwork.org/letters/sign-and-send-the-petition-demand-corporations-stop-donating-to-pro-insurrectionist-members-of-congress-3?source=direct_link&referrer=group-fixdemocracyfirst

Voting Rights & Registration Training for New or Returning Volunteers with Seattle/King Coalition on Homelessness – June 7^th @ 6 pm - https://homelessinfo.salsalabs.org/20230607VotingRightsRegistrationVolunteerTraining/index.html

A conversation w/Gigi Sohn: "How giant media companies & dark money sabotage the FCC and democracy". Tuesday, June 6^th @ 4 pm PT - https://www.mobilize.us/mediademocracyproject/event/562995/

Citizen Connect - https://citizenconnect.us/

14Point3 Campaign - https://freespeechforpeople.org/the-14point3-campaign/

·      Campaign to disqualify Trump from 2024 ballot - https://freespeechforpeople.org/trump-is-disqualified-from-the-ballot/

People Powered Elections Washington - https://www.peoplepoweredelections.org/

·      People Powered Elections Washington: Email Sign Up - https://secure.everyaction.com/Kvt4e-0DY0yyLf_1C7y-og2

What is the Federalist Society and what does it want from our courts? Links:

Becoming a Citizen Activist – Nick Licata’s website - https://www.becomingacitizenactivist.org/

Nick Licata's Citizenship Politics Newsletter sign-up - https://mailchi.mp/becomingacitizenactivist.org/nicks-newsletter-signup

Nick Licata’s books - https://www.becomingacitizenactivist.org/order-now/

The Federalist Society website - https://fedsoc.org/

What Is The Federalist Society And How Does It Affect Supreme Court Picks? - https://www.npr.org/2018/06/28/624416666/what-is-the-federalist-society-and-how-does-it-affect-supreme-court-picks

Leonard Leo used Federalist Society contact to obtain $1.6B donation - https://www.politico.com/news/2023/05/02/leonard-leo-federalist-society-00094761

How the Federalist Society Won - https://www.newyorker.com/news/annals-of-education/how-the-federalist-society-won

Donald Trump's legacy - six policy takeaways - https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-legacy-factbox/factbox-donald-trumps-legacy-six-policy-takeaways-idUSKBN27F1GK

THE THIRD FEDERALIST SOCIETY - https://www.whitehouse.senate.gov/news/speeches/the-third-federalist-society

Banning Abortion Pills – Choosing between secularism and moralism - https://www.becomingacitizenactivist.org/banning-abortion-pills-choosing-between-secularism-and-moralism/

American Constitution Society for Law and Policy - https://www.influencewatch.org/non-profit/american-constitution-society-for-law-and-policy/#easy-footnote-bottom-14-293

No Liberal Equivalent of the Federalist Society? Please. - https://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2019/01/no-liberal-equivalent-of-the-federalist-society-please/

Split Definitive: How Party Polarization Turned the Supreme Court into a Partisan Court - https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2432111

The Scheme - How the Right Wing Used Dark Money to Capture the Supreme Court - https://thenewpress.com/books/scheme

Democracy in the News Links

Oath Keepers leader Rhodes gets 18 years for Jan. 6 seditious conspiracy - https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2023/05/25/oath-keepers-sentencing-seditious-conspiracy-jan6

2 more Oath Keepers sentenced to prison terms for Jan. 6 Capitol attack - https://apnews.com/article/oath-keepers-seditious-conspiracy-sentencing-watkins-harrelson-73dcb93b0bcb6c33c88a812e6d7d811f

Jan. 6 rioters are raking in thousands in donations. Now the US is coming after their haul - https://apnews.com/article/capitol-riot-fundraisers-fines-clawback-justice-department-3490da93a6bea505e76bd249eeab72ba

EXCLUSIVE: Trump captured on tape talking about classified document he kept after leaving the White House - https://www.cnn.com/2023/05/31/politics/trump-tape-classified-document-iran-milley/index.html

Evidence grows that Trump hoarded documents — and showed them to people - https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/05/26/trump-classified-documents-mar-a-lago/

Trump workers moved Mar-a-Lago boxes a day before FBI came for documents - https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/05/25/trump-classified-documents-mar-a-lago/

Trial date set in Trump’s N.Y. criminal case, judge issues contempt warning - https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/05/23/trump-court-hearing-share-evidence/

Trump’s Potential Summer Indictment in Georgia Raises Security Concerns - https://www.wsj.com/articles/trumps-potential-summer-indictment-in-georgia-raises-security-concerns-89efef20

Trump’s latest liability: Refusing to remain silent - https://www.politico.com/news/2023/05/24/trump-court-test-remain-silent-00098500

The status of key investigations involving Donald Trump - https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/04/29/trump-investigations-litigation/

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis launches 2024 presidential bid on Twitter with Elon Musk - https://www.cnn.com/2023/05/24/politics/ron-desantis-fec-filing-2024/index.html

States are Making it Harder for Ballot Initiatives to Pass - https://campaignlegal.org/update/states-are-making-it-harder-ballot-initiatives-pass

GOP-led states plan new voter data systems to replace one they rejected. Good luck with that. - https://coloradonewsline.com/2023/05/28/gop-states-new-voter-data-systems/

Arizona Governor Vetoes Bill That Would Force State To Leave ERIC - https://www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/arizona-governor-vetoes-bill-that-would-force-state-to-leave-eric/

Federal Court Slaps Down Claim That Arkansas Congressional Maps Were Racially Gerrymandered - https://www.shorenewsnetwork.com/2023/05/26/federal-court-slaps-down-claim-that-arkansas-congressional-maps-were-racially-gerrymandered/

DeSantis signs bill that makes his presidential run easier - https://www.politico.com/news/2023/05/24/desantis-makes-presidential-run-easier-00098681

DeSantis’ signature on voting bill draws lawsuit from League of Women Voters of FL - https://floridaphoenix.com/2023/05/25/desantis-signature-on-voting-bill-draws-lawsuit-from-league-of-women-voters-of-fl/

Nevada becomes latest to enhance penalties for election worker intimidation after statewide exodus - https://apnews.com/article/elections-nevada-cisco-aguilar-secretary-of-state-d006acb17b60b46057a2884458a807b4

GOP state lawmakers set on keeping North Carolina out of voter list maintenance compact - https://www.wunc.org/politics/2023-05-25/republican-lawmakers-north-carolina-voter-compact-eric

Ohio election officials scramble ahead of August vote on state constitution changes - https://www.npr.org/2023/05/25/1177921697/ohio-august-special-election-constitution-abortion-amendment

Oregon voters could decide on ranked-choice voting soon - https://www.opb.org/article/2023/05/28/oregon-statewide-ranked-choice-voting-proposal/

Texas Republicans pass voting bills targeting large Democratic county - https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/05/28/texas-republicans-pass-voting-bills-targeting-large-democratic-county/

Texas Senate again approves increasing penalty for illegal voting to a felony, regardless of intent - https://www.texastribune.org/2023/05/24/texas-felony-illegal-voting/

Texas lawmakers approve bill to allow school districts to replace counselors with chaplains - https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2023/05/24/chaplain-texas-commandments-christianity/

Texas House impeaches Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton - https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2023/05/27/texas-impeachment-paxton-attorney-general-vote/

Washington's $849 Million Capital Gains Windfall Shows 'Taxing the Rich Is a Really Good Idea' - https://www.commondreams.org/news/tax-the-rich

Voter confidence ticks up in 2022 — but deep partisan divides remain - https://www.politico.com/news/2023/05/24/voter-confidence-ticks-up-in-2022-but-deep-partisan-divides-remain-00098543

Tracking Supreme Court decisions in this term’s major cases - https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/05/11/supreme-court-decisions/

South Carolina gerrymandering case could further erode the Voting Rights Act - https://www.facingsouth.org/2023/05/south-carolina-gerrymandering-case-could-further-erode-voting-rights-act

Roberts says Supreme Court will address ethics issues - https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/05/23/supreme-court-ethics-roberts/

Congress ‘absolutely’ can impose ethics reform on supreme court, senator says - https://www.theguardian.com/law/2023/may/28/supreme-court-sheldon-whitehouse-ethics-reform

Pro-Ron DeSantis super PAC to inherit state-level PAC war chest to support presidential run - https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2023/05/pro-ron-desantis-super-pac-to-inherit-state-level-pac-war-chest-to-support-presidential-run/

DeSantis campaign will receive $500K raised by super PAC, a source says. Campaign finance experts call it "unprecedented" - https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ron-desantis-campaign-super-pac-never-back-down-money-fundraising/

DeSantis campaign fundraising draws FEC complaint; improper ‘soft money’ alleged - https://floridaphoenix.com/2023/05/30/desantis-campaign-fundraising-draws-fec-complaint-improper-soft-money-alleged/

Gusher of cash reshapes GOP presidential contest - https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/gusher-cash-reshapes-gop-presidential-contest-rcna85866

States and localities take on foreign-influenced political spending - https://www.reuters.com/legal/legalindustry/states-localities-take-foreign-influenced-political-spending-2023-05-30/

AI could sway the 2024 elections, campaign pros say — but not like you think - https://rollcall.com/2023/05/25/ai-could-sway-the-2024-elections-campaign-pros-say-but-not-like-you-think/

AI poses ‘risk of extinction’ on par with nukes, tech leaders say - https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2023/05/30/ai-poses-risk-extinction-industry-leaders-warn/

We hit rock bottom on civics education. Can we turn it around? - https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/05/23/civics-education-democracy-danielle-allen/

Education for American Democracy - https://www.educatingforamericandemocracy.org/