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Last Updated: April 29, 2013 at 10:15 AM

Brown v. Detzner

Case Information

Date Filed: July 27, 2012
State: Florida
Issue: Early Voting
Current Court: U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida (Case 3:12-cv-00852)

Issue:

Whether Florida's 2011 changes to state election law, specifically beginning early voting 10 days before an election (as opposed to 15) and eliminating early voting on the Sunday before an election, are legal under the 14th Amendment, the Voting Rights Act and Florida's Constitution.

Status:

Complaint filed 7/27/12. Answer filed 8/20/12. Court order denying motion for preliminary injunction filed 9/24/12.

District Court Documents

Complaint (filed 7/27/12)
Notice to Court of Information from Plaintiff's Counsel (filed 8/7/12)
Scheduling Order (filed 8/13/12)
Answer (filed 8/20/12)
Motion for Preliminary Injunction (filed 8/21/12)
- Memorandum of Law in Support of Motion for Preliminary Injunction (filed 8/21/12)
Exhibit Index to Plaintiff's Memorandum (filed 8/21/12)
Plaintiff's Proposed Order Granting Preliminary Injunction (filed 8/21/12)
Notice of Supplemental Authority (filed 8/31/12)
Scheduling Order (filed 9/6/12)
County Parties' Motion for Leave to Intervene (filed 9/10/12)
Plaintiff's Response to Motion for Leave to Intervene (filed 9/11/12)
Court Order Requiring Filing of Early Voting Plans (filed 9/12/12)
Response of Defendant Holland to Plaintiff's Motion for Preliminary Injunction (filed 9/12/12)
Secretary's Response to Plaintiff's Motion for Preliminary Injunction (filed 9/12/12)
Notice of Florida's Submission of Early Voting Plan for Administrative Preclearance (filed 9/13/12)
Notice of Administrative Preclearance (filed 9/13/12)
Notice of County Early Voting Plans (filed 9/14/12)
Republican Party of Highlands County's Motion to Intervene (filed 9/14/12)
Opposition of County Party Intervenors to Plaintiff's Motion for Preliminary Injunction (filed 9/14/12)
Intervenor-Defendant's Answer to Complaint (filed 9/14/12)
Detzner's Notice of Correction (filed 9/18/12)
Order Granting Motion for Intervention (filed 9/19/12)
Court Order Denying Motion for Preliminary Injunction (filed 9/24/12)
Certificate of Interested Persons (filed 11/30/12)
The Secretary's Motion to Stay Proceedings Pending the Legislative Session (filed 12/13/12)
Joint Notice on Further Proceedings (filed 12/14/12)
Plaintiff's Memorandum of Law in Opposition to Secretary's Motion to Stay Proceedings (filed 1/8/13)
Order Denying Motion for Stay and Setting Schedule (filed 1/31/13)
Defendant's Rule 26 Disclosures (filed 2/21/13)
Certificate of Interested Parties (filed 2/22/13)
Order Striking Defendant's Rule 26 Disclosures (filed 2/25/13)
Answer of Defendant Jerry Holland (filed 4/8/13)
Intervenors' Unopposed Motion to Withdraw as Party Defendants (filed 4/8/13)
Order Granting Intervenors' Motion to Withdraw as Party Defendants (filed 4/29/13)

Commentary

FAQ on social welfare organizations

Donald B. Tobin

The Frank E. and Virginia H. Bazler Designated Professor in Business Law and a senior fellow at Election Law @ Moritz explains the nuances of social welfare organizations and federal regulations related to them.

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In the News

How Did The IRS Get The Job Of Vetting Political Activity?

Professor Donald Tobin was interviewed by the Boston NPR station on its show Here & Now about the Internal Revenue Service's investigation into groups classified as social welfare organizations (marked by the 501(c)(4) tax classification). The IRS was in search of groups that are not focusing primarly on the social welfare of the country, but have a strong political advocacy facet. Political advocacy groups might want to be classified as 501(c)(4) organizations because under that classification they do not have to disclose their donors.

"The key is if you going to be engaged in candidate-type advocacy, and if you're going to intervene in elections and engage in election advocacy, we want disclosure of who your donors are," Tobin said.

“What groups are trying to do here is avoid having to disclose,” Tobin continued. “By earning the classification of social welfare, they’re avoiding the campaign disclosure that’s required for political organizations. So that’s really the underpinning of why we have this mess of the IRS having to get in and investigate and figure out whether an organization is political or not.”

more EL@M in the news...

Info & Analysis

Ohio House Committee Recommends Upholding Landis' Election Victory

Yesterday, an Ohio House of Representatives committee recommended 5-4 that the Ohio House uphold the election victory of Republican State Representative Al Landis over Democratic challenger Josh O'Farrell. In February, the Ohio Supreme Court sent the O'Farrell v. Landis record to the House for consideration. According to an article in the Canton Repository, committee chairman and State Representative Matt Huffman said he expects a vote by the full House later this month.

more info & analysis...

Major Pending Cases

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