It's been awhile since an update, so there's more Common Cause news than can fit here.  But as state legislatures reopen for the 2008 session, and as the country follows a much-anticipated and closely-fought presidential race, here's a sampling of some highlights from our work making our democracy function more like it should....

• More than 75% of Connecticut candidates will opt for public funding at first opportunity
• New Jersey passes National Popular Vote
• Common Cause pushes in Iowa, presidential candidates endorse full public financing
• Common Cause Rhode Island hosts two governors, wins media praise
• Poll on Judicial Public Financing in Wisconsin
• Former Congressman Jim Leach will chair the Common Cause National Governing Board

An interesting macro-level legal comment on the Jefferson indictment. -Josh

I wrote last week about the ongoing case involving bribery allegations against Louisiana Democrat William Jefferson. In the piece, I mentioned the potential Catch-22 in the case: If Jefferson is indicted based on evidence obtained in an FBI raid of his Capitol Hill office, that could encroach upon separation of powers (in that the FBI, a department of the executive branch, would be able to peruse internal documents of members of the legislative branch charged with acting as a "check" on executive overreach); if separation of powers are preserved and evidence from the raid is not used in the case, however, Jefferson might get away scot-free.

Monday, however, Jefferson was indicted, despite the fact that a Washington, D.C. Appeals Court had yet to rule on the constitutionality of the controversial FBI raid of the Congressman's office, and whether that raid in fact violated the doctrine of separation of powers.