News Clips

“If the court orders additional proceedings in the district court, holding trial before the election will become virtually impossible,” said a brief supporting Mr. Smith from Common Cause, a watchdog group.

The announcement comes three days after Common Cause New York, which advocates for election and ethics reform, and New York Focus, a nonprofit newsroom, called for the state court system to make the transcripts available, noting that public access is limited as New York is one of the only state court systems that charge the media and public for courtroom transcripts. “The longstanding issue of public access to court proceedings has been thrown into sharp relief by the Trump trial,” the organizations said Friday. They added, “During such a hotly contested and deeply polarized election season, and with public trust in democratic institutions at near-historic lows, the courts have an obligation to ensure the public knows the proceedings are fair and equal for everyone-including the former President.” The court’s decision is “a major victory for New Yorkers,” Common Cause said Monday, adding that it should be applied more broadly to other proceedings. “New Yorkers deserve access to the everyday court proceedings that impact them, which is why the state must join the vast majority of other judicial systems across the country and make written transcripts of all trials available to the public, and ultimately permit proceedings to be broadcast,” the organization said.

Meanwhile, the fair election advocacy group Common Cause filed a brief supporting Mr. Smith at the Supreme Court in the D.C. case over Mr. Trump's claim of absolute immunity, saying the justices must decide the issue swiftly so the trial can take place before the November election and, ironically, so politics don't appear to be at play. "The American people deserve a trial and a verdict on these serious charges before they go to the polls in November," said Virginia Kase Solomón, president of Common Cause. "The presumptive Republican presidential nominee stands criminally charged with conspiracy and obstruction stemming from his attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 election. It is critically important that the Supreme Court rule quickly, as it has in past presidential cases, so that justice can be rendered before Americans cast their ballots."

Jay Heck, the executive director Common Cause Wisconsin, the state’s branch of the national nonpartisan government watchdog group, added that the consequences could be dire if the right mix of circumstances were to emerge on or following Election Day. “It could all explode,” he said. The April 2 primary ballot in Wisconsin will ask voters to decide on two proposed constitutional amendments that critics contend are byproducts of conspiracy theories touted by election deniers. “[Passage of these amendments] is likely to leave election clerks all over the state of Wisconsin without the resources to run elections smoothly,” Heck said.

In a statement, Aly Belknap, executive director of the nonprofit Colorado Common Cause, which filed several amicus, or friend-of-the-court, briefs in support of the Colorado plaintiffs, called the ruling “a dark day for our democracy.” “Donald Trump lied, cheated, and unleashed violence when the election did not go his way, and his ongoing incitement has led to an unprecedented rise in attacks and death threats against election workers, judges, and other public servants,” Belknap said. “By refusing to hold Trump accountable and allowing him to skirt around the pillars of our Constitution, SCOTUS has greenlit this behavior for future public officials.”

Outsiders coming to our state often notice how New Mexico is years behind similar states in terms of infrastructure, education, poverty, community well-being and just about any other statistic you use to measure the success of a society. The reputation tracks with a flawed legislative structure that is impeding progress on many levels. We are the only state where legislators do not receive a salary. Most lack professional staff to conduct policy research and constituent services, and they meet for the third-shortest amount of time in the country.