Justiceline: August 13, 2012

post from ThinkProgress on 13 August 2012 08:00:03 AM. © ThinkProgress

Welcome to Justiceline, ThinkProgress Justice?s morning round-up of the latest legal news and developments. Remember to follow us on Twitter at @TPJustice

More than a year after a Supreme Court decision requiring it to relieve prison overcrowding, California’s efforts to reduce the prison population have slowed to the point that they are unlikely to be able to comply with the order. The state plans to ask the courts to allow them to house 118,000 prisoners in space designed for 81,500.
A federal judge in West Virginia struck down a law placing a $1000 cap on outside group spending to buy and sell elections. The law was enacted after coal baron Don Blankenship successfully spent $3 million to buy a seat on the West Virginia Supreme Court.
An Alabama commission is engaged in a fairly comprehensive rewrite of a state constitution that was “born in racism to help the rich and disenfranchise poor blacks and whites.”
ACLU head Anthony Romero explains the many ways that vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan wants to do to civil liberties what he’s also proposed doing to Medicare.
Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) who keeps losing lawsuits challenging his right-wing policies, now wants people to “quit filing those lawsuits” in order to save the state money. Of course, another way Scott could save the state money is to stop enacting unconstitutional policies.