The public law is the most important information in the United States of America. As such, it should be the easiest civic data you can find, access and understand on the Internet, not the hardest. There should be nothing that stands between a citizen of the United States of America and their laws.
But if you follow our work at The OpenGov Foundation, you know the sorry state of our union’s public access to the public law. Some of our laws are held hostage behind paywalls thrown up by private-sector companies and covered in copyright restrictions, allowing the Political Legal Industrial Complex to charge poll taxes to access what should be our most public resource. Some are locked in books and equally inaccessible paper-based formats like PDFs, which means the very people and businesses who must follow the law cannot even find it. And all of America’s laws are outrageously complex, byzantine and oozing with jargon, preventing public understanding, stifling civic action and denying all but the wealthy and well-connected their fundamental right to know the law.
Even members of the judiciary.
Sitting judges need help, especially those who adjudicate elections disputes. Thankfully, help is on the way. In advance of what is sure to be a hotly contested campaign season, our friends at The Election Law Program just released the first edition of a State Election Law eBenchbook, a web-based legal resource that not only assembles the state election laws of Virginia, Colorado and Florida in one place, but also provides in-line annotations from experts as well as definitions, links to advisory opinions, regulations and relevant case law.
“At a critical time in our democracy, the eBenchbook project marks a tremendous step forward for public access and understanding of the most important information in the United States of America: our laws and legal codes,” said Seamus Kraft, Executive Director of The OpenGov Foundation in the announcement from The Election Law Program.
We are thrilled to see the publication of eBenchbook 1.0, and have been supporting the world-class team behind it. This is, in many ways, a targeted glimpse at the future we building for all parts of the public law here at The OpenGov Foundation through the America Decoded project.
“If we want a truly just and equitable society, election laws— and all types of legal data— must be as discoverable, comprehendible and actionable as possible, with absolutely no restrictions,” continued Kraft in the release. “That’s what the eBenchbook project now delivers for the citizens and judicial officials in three key states. We look forward to supporting this great team and this important effort to bring the power of open election law to the other forty-seven.”
All 50 states absolutely need online eBenchbooks, for their elections law and all topics. We look forward to watching this important project grow, and will continue to support the innovative platform and the dedicated people behind it however we can.
Want to learn more about the eBenchbook? Check it out here, or email Austin Graham and Rebeccah Green who are leading the effort.
Seamus Kraft is the Executive Director and Co-Founder of The OpenGov Foundation.
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