John Bonifaz
Encyclopedia
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
-based attorney and political activist specializing in constitutional law and voting rights, and founder of the National Voting Rights Institute
National Voting Rights Institute
The National Voting Rights Institute was a non-partisan, non-profit advocacy organization based in Boston, which described itself as committed to making real the promise of American democracy that meaningful political participation and power should be accessible to all regardless of economic or...
. He is also a former candidate for Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth. He is currently a board member at the Access Strategies Fund, a Massachusetts foundation promoting electoral reforms to increase the participation of underserved communities in politics. He received a MacArthur Fellowship, popularly known as the "genius award", in 1999.
Constitutional challenge and hearings on US invasion of Iraq
In February and March 2003, Mr. Bonifaz served as lead counsel for a coalition of US soldiers, parents of US soldiers, and Members of CongressUnited States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
in John Doe I v. President Bush, a constitutional challenge to President Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
’s authority to wage war against Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
absent a congressional declaration of war
Declaration of war
A declaration of war is a formal act by which one nation goes to war against another. The declaration is a performative speech act by an authorized party of a national government in order to create a state of war between two or more states.The legality of who is competent to declare war varies...
or equivalent action. He argued that the President’s planned first-strike invasion of Iraq violated the War Powers Clause
War Powers Clause
Article I, Section 8, Clause 11 of the United States Constitution, sometimes referred to as the War Powers Clause, vests in the Congress the power to declare war, in the following wording:...
of the US Constitution. The lawsuit was initially dismissed in February 2003 and in March 2003 the dismissal was upheld on appeal. Regarding the initial dismissal, Attorney Bonifaz said "They’re not supposed to sideline... Courts cannot shirk from responsibility when it looks like a political battle." Regarding the affirmation of the dismissal, the appeals court held "...the text of the October Resolution itself spells out justifications for a war and frames itself as an 'authorization' of such a war."
Bonifaz wrote the 2004 book Warrior-King: The Case for Impeaching George W. Bush, which chronicles that case and its meaning for the United States Constitution
United States Constitution
The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It is the framework for the organization of the United States government and for the relationship of the federal government with the states, citizens, and all people within the United States.The first three...
. The book argues that the Iraq War was illegal.
In the aftermath of the release of the Downing Street Memo
Downing Street memo
The "Downing Street memo" , sometimes described by critics of the Iraq War as the "smoking gun memo", is the note of a secret 23 July 2002, meeting of senior British Labour government, defence and intelligence figures discussing the build-up to the war, which included direct reference to classified...
in 2005, Bonifaz co-founded After Downing Street
After Downing Street
WarIsACrime.org is an organization that describes itself as "a coalition working to expose the lies that launched the war and to hold accountable its architects, including through censure and impeachment"...
and wrote a memo to Congressman John Conyers
John Conyers
John Conyers, Jr. is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 1965 . He is a member of the Democratic Party...
of Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
, the Ranking Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, urging him to introduce a Resolution of Inquiry directing the House Judiciary Committee to launch a formal investigation into whether sufficient grounds exist for the House to impeach President George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
. Bonifaz participated in a discussion with former CIA Analyst Ray McGovern
Ray McGovern
Raymond McGovern is a retired CIA officer turned political activist. McGovern was a Federal employee under seven U.S. presidents over 27 years, presenting the morning intelligence briefings at the White House for many of them.-Early life:...
led by Rep. Conyers, advocating Bush's impeachment for misrepresenting the case for the Iraq war.
National Voting Rights Institute
Mr. Bonifaz is also the founder of the National Voting Rights InstituteNational Voting Rights Institute
The National Voting Rights Institute was a non-partisan, non-profit advocacy organization based in Boston, which described itself as committed to making real the promise of American democracy that meaningful political participation and power should be accessible to all regardless of economic or...
(NVRI), where he most recently served as General Counsel. In 2006, NVRI formed a partnership with Demos (US think tank), and as of January 1, 2007, Bonifaz signed on as Senior Legal Fellow with Demos. Founded in 1994, NVRI serves as a prominent legal and public education center dedicated to protecting the right of all citizens to vote and to participate in the electoral process on an equal and meaningful basis.
For his work with NVRI, he is a 1999 recipient of a MacArthur Foundation
MacArthur Foundation
The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation is one of the largest private foundations in the United States. Based in Chicago but supporting non-profit organizations that work in 60 countries, MacArthur has awarded more than US$4 billion since its inception in 1978...
Fellowship, also known as a "genius" award. In awarding the five-year fellowship, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation stated:
Bonifaz, a public interest lawyer, uses innovative litigation to reexamine campaign finance reform arguments typically debated on first amendmentFirst Amendment to the United States ConstitutionThe First Amendment to the United States Constitution is part of the Bill of Rights. The amendment prohibits the making of any law respecting an establishment of religion, impeding the free exercise of religion, abridging the freedom of speech, infringing on the freedom of the press, interfering...
grounds. Through the National Voting Rights Institute, an organization he founded, Bonifaz recasts the legal arguments to focus on fourteenth amendmentFourteenth Amendment to the United States ConstitutionThe Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution was adopted on July 9, 1868, as one of the Reconstruction Amendments.Its Citizenship Clause provides a broad definition of citizenship that overruled the Dred Scott v...
protections, challenging the relationship between money and politics.
Massachusetts Clean Elections Law
In 2002, the Massachusetts legislatureMassachusetts General Court
The Massachusetts General Court is the state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The name "General Court" is a hold-over from the Colonial Era, when this body also sat in judgment of judicial appeals cases...
declined to fund the clean elections law, a public financing measure passed by voters in 1998. Bonifaz and the NVRI sued Massachusetts on behalf of Warren Tolman
Warren Tolman
Warren E. Tolman is a Massachusetts lawyer and former member of the Massachusetts General Court, serving in both of the Court's houses...
, a candidate for governor who had qualified for public financing and was not receiving the money. The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court is the highest court in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The SJC has the distinction of being the oldest continuously functioning appellate court in the Western Hemisphere.-History:...
ruled that the legislature must fund a law passed by the voters that it has not repealed. When the legislature persisted in not releasing the necessary funds to pay Tolman and other candidates, Bonifaz went to court again, and secured a ruling allowing his coalition to force the sale of state property. The legislature repealed the clean elections law after the 2002 elections.
Campaign for Secretary
In 2006, John Bonifaz ran for the DemocraticDemocratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
nomination to be Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in 2006 against incumbent William F. Galvin
William F. Galvin
William Francis Galvin is the 27th and current Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth .-Early life and career:...
. He declared his candidacy on December 1, 2005, before it was known whether Galvin would run for re-election or for Governor. Galvin won the primary election, which was held on September 19, 2006.
During the campaign, Bonifaz was linked to the Green Party
Green Party (United States)
The Green Party of the United States is a nationally recognized political party which officially formed in 1991. It is a voluntary association of state green parties. Prior to national formation, many state affiliates had already formed and were recognized by other state parties...
by his opponent, because he voted for Green Party presidential candidate Ralph Nader
Ralph Nader
Ralph Nader is an American political activist, as well as an author, lecturer, and attorney. Areas of particular concern to Nader include consumer protection, humanitarianism, environmentalism, and democratic government....
in Massachusetts in 2000, and because received a campaign contribution from Jill Stein
Jill Stein
Jill Stein is an American physician, activist, co-chair of the Green-Rainbow Party and candidate for President of the United States in 2012. Stein was a candidate for Governor of Massachusetts in the 2002 and the 2010 gubernatorial elections. Stein is a resident of Lexington, Massachusetts and a...
, the Green-Rainbow Party
Green-Rainbow Party
The Green-Rainbow Party is a political party in Massachusetts. It is the Massachusetts state affiliate of the Green Party of the United States.-Establishment of official party status:...
candidate for Secretary of State. Jill Stein was one of the clients he represented in the Clean Elections lawsuit, and other clients from that case donated to his campaign, including Warren Tolman, a Democratic candidate for Governor in 2002. After unenrolling from the Democratic Party prior to the 2000 election, Bonifaz later re-registered as a Democrat and has never been registered as a Green.
Bonifaz's campaign focused on election reform, promoting clean elections
Clean elections
"Clean Elections" is a term used to describe a particular system of government financing of political campaigns, in which the government provides a grant to candidates who agree to limit their and private fundraising efforts and limit their campaign-spending.- In the United States :Clean Election...
, same day registration, voting rights for minorities, and opposition to privately owned voting machines with proprietary software.
Background
Bonifaz maintains a private practice in Amherst, Mass. with his father, Cristobal Bonifaz. The office specializes in international human rights and environmental law cases, and has litigated against Chevron CorporationChevron Corporation
Chevron Corporation is an American multinational energy corporation headquartered in San Ramon, California, United States and active in more than 180 countries. It is engaged in every aspect of the oil, gas, and geothermal energy industries, including exploration and production; refining,...
regarding pollution in the Lago Agrio oil field
Lago Agrio oil field
The Lago Agrio oil field is an oil-rich area in the Ecuadorian province of Sucumbíos, discovered in the 1960s. The Lago Agrio field is known internationally for the serious ecological problems that oil development has created there, including water pollution, soil contamination, deforestation and...
in the Ecuadorian Amazon. (Cristobal Bonifaz is a native of Ecuador.)
A graduate of Brown University
Brown University
Brown University is a private, Ivy League university located in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1764 prior to American independence from the British Empire as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations early in the reign of King George III ,...
in 1987 and Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School is one of the professional graduate schools of Harvard University. Located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, it is the oldest continually-operating law school in the United States and is home to the largest academic law library in the world. The school is routinely ranked by the U.S...
cum laude in 1992, Bonifaz and his wife, Lissa Pierce Bonifaz, live in the Jamaica Plain neighborhood of Boston with their one year old daughter. Lissa holds a doctorate in bilingual education and works as a professor at Lesley University
Lesley University
Lesley University is a private, coeducational university in Boston, Massachusetts and Cambridge, Massachusetts.The university is a member of the New England Association of Schools and Colleges, National Association of Schools of Art and Design, and New England Collegiate Conference.-History:The...
in Cambridge, where she teaches in the Language and Literacy Division of Lesley's School of Education.
External links
- John Bonifaz for Secretary of State 2006 campaign web site
- John Bonifaz campaign videos (posted by the campaign)
- National Voting Rights Institute
- After Downing Street
- The Wealth Primary