Jocelyn Benson
Encyclopedia
Jocelyn F. Benson is an election law
professor and educator from Michigan
. She is currently a full time Associate Law Professor
at Wayne State University Law School
and was the Democratic Party's nominee for Michigan Secretary of State in the November 2, 2010, election.
. She subsequently earned her Master's in Sociology
as a Marshall Scholar at Magdalen College, Oxford
in the United Kingdom, conducting research into the sociological implications of white supremacy and neo-Nazism. She received her J.D.
from Harvard University Law School, where she was a general editor of the Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review
.
Prior to attending law school, Benson lived in Montgomery, Alabama
, where she worked for the Southern Poverty Law Center
as an investigative journalist, researching white supremacist and neo-Nazi organizations. Benson has also worked as a summer associate for voting rights and election law for the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund
, and as a legal assistant to Nina Totenberg
at National Public Radio.
, Benson was hired to develop the first nationwide Election Protection program for the Democratic National Committee
. Benson selected, recruited, and trained Voter Protection coordinators in 21 states. The program resulted in deployment of over 17,000 trained election law lawyers.
After working with the Michigan Democratic Party
's election protection effort in 2006, Benson developed and supervised two statewide nonpartisan election protection efforts in Michigan in 2007 and 2008. She worked with Michigan Democratic Party
's election protection effort in 2006. During the 2008 election, she was called to testify before the U.S. House Judiciary Committee, where she called on Secretary Terri Lynn Land
to ban the use of foreclosure lists to challenge voters' eligibility on Election Day. She is a frequent commentator on voting rights and election law on local news and radio broadcasts.
In 2007, Benson worked with several groups to successfully block the closure of a Secretary of State branch office in Buena Vista Township, Michigan. The U.S. Department of Justice concluded that the closure of the office would violate the Voting Rights Act
.
Benson is currently an Associate Law Professor at Wayne State University Law School
, where she teaches Election Law. She is also an appointed member of the American Bar Association
's Standing Committee on Election Law.
Prior to her appointment as a Professor, Benson served as a law clerk
to the Honorable Damon J. Keith on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
. From 2002-2004, she served as the Voting Rights Policy Coordinator of the Harvard Civil Rights Project, a non-profit organization that sought to link academic research to civil rights advocacy efforts, where she worked on the passage of the federal Help America Vote Act
.
In March 2010, Benson published her first book, State Secretaries of State: Guardians of the Democratic Process. The book highlights best practices of Secretaries from throughout the country and seeks to inform voters about how Secretaries of State from either side of the political spectrum can work to advance democracy and election reform.
in 2010.
With the formation of the committee, Benson began a listening tour throughout the state to discuss what can be done to improve elections and the other functions of the Secretary of State’s office. After spending several months gaining support in counties throughout the state, she made her official announcement to run for the Democratic nomination on October 6, 2009.
On April 17, 2010, the Michigan Democratic Party membership endorsed Benson to be the Democratic nominee in the November election. While it was a nonbinding vote, the endorsement cleared the way for Benson to eventually be formally nominated. The Michigan Democratic Party officially nominated Benson for Secretary of State on August 29, 2010. Benson was defeated by Ruth Johnson, winning just 45% of the vote compared to Johnson's 51%.
with her husband Ryan Friedrichs. A long-distance runner, she averages two full marathons per year, most recently completing the New York City Marathon in the fall of 2009. In May 2009, she ran the 2009 Boston Marathon
.
Election law
Election law is a discipline falling at the juncture of constitutional law and political science. It researches "the politics of law and the law of politics"...
professor and educator from 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"....
. She is currently a full time Associate Law Professor
Professor
A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...
at Wayne State University Law School
Wayne State University Law School
Wayne State University Law School is located in the City of Detroit’s Cultural Center, and is one of the schools of Wayne State University. It is one of two public law schools in the state of Michigan. The Law School has educated and trained lawyers since 1927, and its 10,000+ alumni serve as...
and was the Democratic Party's nominee for Michigan Secretary of State in the November 2, 2010, election.
Education and early career
Benson graduated magna cum laude from Wellesley College, where she founded the now-annual Women in American Political Activism conference and was the first student to be elected to serve in the governing body for the town of Wellesley, MassachusettsWellesley, Massachusetts
Wellesley is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. It is part of Greater Boston. The population was 27,982 at the time of the 2010 census.It is best known as the home of Wellesley College and Babson College...
. She subsequently earned her Master's in Sociology
Sociology
Sociology is the study of society. It is a social science—a term with which it is sometimes synonymous—which uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about human social activity...
as a Marshall Scholar at Magdalen College, Oxford
Magdalen College, Oxford
Magdalen College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. As of 2006 the college had an estimated financial endowment of £153 million. Magdalen is currently top of the Norrington Table after over half of its 2010 finalists received first-class degrees, a record...
in the United Kingdom, conducting research into the sociological implications of white supremacy and neo-Nazism. She received her J.D.
Juris Doctor
Juris Doctor is a professional doctorate and first professional graduate degree in law.The degree was first awarded by Harvard University in the United States in the late 19th century and was created as a modern version of the old European doctor of law degree Juris Doctor (see etymology and...
from Harvard University Law School, where she was a general editor of the Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review
Harvard Law Review
The Harvard Law Review is a journal of legal scholarship published by an independent student group at Harvard Law School.-Overview:According to the 2008 Journal Citation Reports, the Review is the most cited law review and has the second-highest impact factor in the category "law" after the...
.
Prior to attending law school, Benson lived in Montgomery, Alabama
Montgomery, Alabama
Montgomery is the capital of the U.S. state of Alabama, and is the county seat of Montgomery County. It is located on the Alabama River southeast of the center of the state, in the Gulf Coastal Plain. As of the 2010 census, Montgomery had a population of 205,764 making it the second-largest city...
, where she worked for the Southern Poverty Law Center
Southern Poverty Law Center
The Southern Poverty Law Center is an American nonprofit civil rights organization noted for its legal victories against white supremacist groups; legal representation for victims of hate groups; monitoring of alleged hate groups, militias and extremist organizations; and educational programs that...
as an investigative journalist, researching white supremacist and neo-Nazi organizations. Benson has also worked as a summer associate for voting rights and election law for the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund
NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund
The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. is a leading United States civil rights organization and law firm based in New York City....
, and as a legal assistant to Nina Totenberg
Nina Totenberg
Nina Totenberg is an American legal affairs correspondent for National Public Radio focusing primarily on the activities and politics of the Supreme Court of the United States. Her reports air regularly on NPR's newsmagazines All Things Considered, Morning Edition, and Weekend Edition...
at National Public Radio.
Voter Protection and Election Law
During the 2004 Presidential electionUnited States presidential election, 2004
The United States presidential election of 2004 was the United States' 55th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on Tuesday, November 2, 2004. Republican Party candidate and incumbent President George W. Bush defeated Democratic Party candidate John Kerry, the then-junior U.S. Senator...
, Benson was hired to develop the first nationwide Election Protection program for the Democratic National Committee
Democratic National Committee
The Democratic National Committee is the principal organization governing the United States Democratic Party on a day to day basis. While it is responsible for overseeing the process of writing a platform every four years, the DNC's central focus is on campaign and political activity in support...
. Benson selected, recruited, and trained Voter Protection coordinators in 21 states. The program resulted in deployment of over 17,000 trained election law lawyers.
After working with the Michigan Democratic Party
Michigan Democratic Party
The Michigan Democratic Party is the state-level party of the United States Democratic Party in Michigan. It is based in Lansing. Mark Brewer is the current Party Chair.-Current officeholders:...
's election protection effort in 2006, Benson developed and supervised two statewide nonpartisan election protection efforts in Michigan in 2007 and 2008. She worked with Michigan Democratic Party
Michigan Democratic Party
The Michigan Democratic Party is the state-level party of the United States Democratic Party in Michigan. It is based in Lansing. Mark Brewer is the current Party Chair.-Current officeholders:...
's election protection effort in 2006. During the 2008 election, she was called to testify before the U.S. House Judiciary Committee, where she called on Secretary Terri Lynn Land
Terri Lynn Land
Terri Lynn Land was the 41st secretary of the State of Michigan. Land graduated from Grandville High School, and later received a bachelor of arts in political science from Hope College in Holland, Michigan...
to ban the use of foreclosure lists to challenge voters' eligibility on Election Day. She is a frequent commentator on voting rights and election law on local news and radio broadcasts.
In 2007, Benson worked with several groups to successfully block the closure of a Secretary of State branch office in Buena Vista Township, Michigan. The U.S. Department of Justice concluded that the closure of the office would violate the Voting Rights Act
Voting Rights Act
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 is a landmark piece of national legislation in the United States that outlawed discriminatory voting practices that had been responsible for the widespread disenfranchisement of African Americans in the U.S....
.
Benson is currently an Associate Law Professor at Wayne State University Law School
Wayne State University Law School
Wayne State University Law School is located in the City of Detroit’s Cultural Center, and is one of the schools of Wayne State University. It is one of two public law schools in the state of Michigan. The Law School has educated and trained lawyers since 1927, and its 10,000+ alumni serve as...
, where she teaches Election Law. She is also an appointed member of the American Bar Association
American Bar Association
The American Bar Association , founded August 21, 1878, is a voluntary bar association of lawyers and law students, which is not specific to any jurisdiction in the United States. The ABA's most important stated activities are the setting of academic standards for law schools, and the formulation...
's Standing Committee on Election Law.
Prior to her appointment as a Professor, Benson served as a law clerk
Law clerk
A law clerk or a judicial clerk is a person who provides assistance to a judge in researching issues before the court and in writing opinions. Law clerks are not court clerks or courtroom deputies, who are administrative staff for the court. Most law clerks are recent law school graduates who...
to the Honorable Damon J. Keith on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
The United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts:* Eastern District of Kentucky* Western District of Kentucky...
. From 2002-2004, she served as the Voting Rights Policy Coordinator of the Harvard Civil Rights Project, a non-profit organization that sought to link academic research to civil rights advocacy efforts, where she worked on the passage of the federal Help America Vote Act
Help America Vote Act
The Help America Vote Act , or HAVA, is a United States federal law which passed in the House 357-48 and 92-2 in the Senate and was signed into law by President Bush on October 29, 2002. Drafted in reaction to the controversy surrounding the 2000 U.S...
.
In March 2010, Benson published her first book, State Secretaries of State: Guardians of the Democratic Process. The book highlights best practices of Secretaries from throughout the country and seeks to inform voters about how Secretaries of State from either side of the political spectrum can work to advance democracy and election reform.
2010 Secretary of State candidacy
After receiving support for her proposals for early voting and no-reason absentee voting at the Michigan Democratic Party Convention on February 21, 2009, Benson filed paperwork in March 2009, with the Secretary of State to create an exploratory committee for a campaign for Michigan Secretary of StateMichigan Secretary of State
The Secretary of State is the third-ranking official in the U.S. state of Michigan and one of four great offices of state. As the name implies, the officeholder was originally responsible for much of state government, but now the duties are similar to those of the other 47 secretaries of states...
in 2010.
With the formation of the committee, Benson began a listening tour throughout the state to discuss what can be done to improve elections and the other functions of the Secretary of State’s office. After spending several months gaining support in counties throughout the state, she made her official announcement to run for the Democratic nomination on October 6, 2009.
On April 17, 2010, the Michigan Democratic Party membership endorsed Benson to be the Democratic nominee in the November election. While it was a nonbinding vote, the endorsement cleared the way for Benson to eventually be formally nominated. The Michigan Democratic Party officially nominated Benson for Secretary of State on August 29, 2010. Benson was defeated by Ruth Johnson, winning just 45% of the vote compared to Johnson's 51%.
Family and Personal Life
Benson lives in Detroit, MichiganDetroit, Michigan
Detroit is the major city among the primary cultural, financial, and transportation centers in the Metro Detroit area, a region of 5.2 million people. As the seat of Wayne County, the city of Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and serves as a major port on the Detroit River...
with her husband Ryan Friedrichs. A long-distance runner, she averages two full marathons per year, most recently completing the New York City Marathon in the fall of 2009. In May 2009, she ran the 2009 Boston Marathon
Boston Marathon
The Boston Marathon is an annual marathon hosted by the U.S. city of Boston, Massachusetts, on Patriots' Day, the third Monday of April. Begun in 1897 and inspired by the success of the first modern-day marathon competition in the 1896 Summer Olympics, the Boston Marathon is the world's oldest...
.