Prof. Painter Quoted in Alabama Newspaper on Hatch Act

Professor Richard Painter was quoted in a story in Mobile, Alabama's Press-Register on whether the federal Hatch Act may prevent a local district attorney in Alabama from running in a partisan election for state court judge because he supervises other state prosecutors whose jobs are paid for in part with federal funds. The article reports that Painter "said he believes that the current enforcement goes beyond the original intent of the law. Congress passed the statute, he said, amid concern that President Franklin D. Roosevelt was using the Works Progress Administration to influence elections. But federal funds have become widespread in local government, and political opponents can game the system to their own advantage, Painter said." "'I think it's excessively broad,' Painter said. 'Literally, every state agency is digging into federal funds in one way or the other. It's a problem.'"