John C. Bonifaz (born 22, June 1966, in Wilmington, DE) is an Amherst-based attorney and political activist specializing in constitutional law and voting rights.
Bonifaz participated in a discussion with former CIA Analyst Ray McGovern led by Rep. Conyers, advocating Bush's impeachment for misrepresenting the case for the Iraq war.
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.
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 amendment grounds.
Through the National Voting Rights Institute, an organization he founded, Bonifaz recasts the legal arguments to focus on fourteenth amendment protections, challenging the relationship between money and politics.In 2002, the Massachusetts legislature 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, a candidate for governor who had qualified for public financing and was not receiving the money.
[9] 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.