Sara C. Benesh is Professor of Political Science and currently serves as Director of Curriculum & Governance and Secretary of the College of Letters and Science at the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee. She earned her PhD in 1999 from Michigan State University, has authored numerous studies on judicial behavior at all levels, and has been recognized as a Distinguished Undergraduate Teacher. Professor Benesh’s research currently focuses mostly on questions of institutional legitimacy. She teaches courses on the Supreme Court, law and society, law and popular culture, and civil rights and civil liberties. She loves to work with graduate and undergraduate students on research and is excited to present one such project, started while Attorney Benjamin Edelstein was her MA student.
Benjamin D. Edelstein is an associate attorney in the Madison office of Hawks Quindel, S.C., where he practices plaintiff-side labor and employment law. He frequently represents individual workers in wrongful discharge and employment discrimination claims. Attorney Edelstein is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee (B.A. 2015; M.A. 2018) and Marquette University Law School (J.D. 2022). During graduate school, Professor Benesh was his thesis advisor, and the work they began together became the basis of this CLE presentation.
- Explore the legal framework governing campaign contributions and recusal
- Understand how recusal and disclosure rules function as practical safeguards for judicial integrity
- Survey different state approaches to recusal and disclosure requirements in connection with campaign finance regulations
- Examine empirical findings on how recusal standards impact campaign fundraising and donor behavior
- Enhance your ability to assess current state practices and potential campaign finance reforms
- Election law attorneys
- Constitutional lawyers
- Civil rights lawyers
- Government lawyers
- Appellate lawyers
- Public interest lawyers