Document Type

Brief

Case Name

Eugene Mazo v. New Jersey Secretary of State

Publication Date

5-25-2023

Abstract

No. 22-1033
Eugene Mazo v. New Jersey Secretary of State

On Petition for Writ of Certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit

From the Summary of Argument

This Court has expressly held that the Anderson-Burdick balancing test for evaluating certain kinds of election laws does not extend to cases of pure political speech. McIntyre v. Ohio Elections Commission, 514 U.S. 334, 344 (1995). Laws restricting political speech are subject to strict scrutiny. Nevertheless, lower courts—including the Third Circuit in this case— continue to defy this Court’s guidance.

This case presents an important opportunity to restrict application of the well-known Anderson-Burdick test to a more limited domain. The Anderson-Burdick balancing test has received its fair share of criticism and questions in recent years, and this case provides an important vehicle to limits its misuse in the lower courts.

Comments

Derek T. Muller is the Ben V. Willie Professor in Excellence and Professor of Law at University of Iowa College of Law. He teaches and writes about election law and federal courts, and he has an interest in the resolution of this case within the appropriate legal framework. He filed an amicus brief in the Third Circuit on this case, which was alluded to in the opinion. Mazo v. New Jersey Secretary of State, 54 F.4th 124, 144 (3d Cir. 2022). Portions of this argument are drawn from Professor Muller’s preexisting scholarship, including Ballot Speech, 58 ARIZ. L. REV. 693 (2016).

Table of Authorities includes:

Derek T. Muller, Ballot Speech, 58 ARIZ. L. REV. 693 (2016).

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