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RNC v. FEC: free speech setback or SCOTUS opportunity?
Published on March 26, 2010 04:50 PM
Category: Contributions & Limits, Independent Speech, Jurisprudence & Litigation, Political Parties
A panel of three federal judges denied a request by the Republican National Committee to ease the restrictions on unregulated contributions to national political parties. The ruling is here. This case turned on a procedural issue: the judges viewed themselves as bound by the Supreme Court's 2003 decision in McConnell v. Federal Election Commission. The Court said that "in due course, the Supreme Court will have the opportunity to clarify or refine this aspect of McConnell as the Court see
Unity '08 Lives!
Published on March 18, 2010
Category: Contributions & Limits, Independent Speech, Political Committees & 527s, Political Parties
We're a bit late in finding some time to comment on Unity08, the non-party political party that scored a surprising victory over the Federal Election Commission in the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia earlier this month. It is an important case, because, as the Unity08 organizers had found, under the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 ("McCain-Feingold") it had been made de facto illegal to start a new national political party in the U.S. Unity08 v. FEC
Colo. Supreme Court strikes down campaign finance restrictions
Published on February 25, 2010 02:53 PM
Category: Contributions & Limits, Jurisprudence & Litigation, Pay to Play
Earlier this week the Colorado Supreme Court struck down a controversial "pay-to-play" law. The Court ruled that Amendment 54, enacted by referendum in 2008 as a state constitutional amendment, violated the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Covington & Burling LLP issued an excellent analysis of the ruling today: A diverse group of plaintiffs-including the chancellor of a state university, a board member of a nonprofit corporation, a labor union, and a local city council member-a
Hoersting on CNBC to discuss foreign corps. and Citizens United
Published on January 28, 2010 03:04 PM
Category: Contributions & Limits, Independent Speech, Jurisprudence & Litigation
Center for Competitive Politics Vice President Steve Hoersting will appear on CNBC's "Street Signs" for a 2:20 p.m. segment on the Supreme Court's ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission and its meaning for foreign corporation political activity. Josh Israel, a reporter for the Center for Public Integrity, will join Steve in a conversation with anchor Erin Burnett. President Barack Obama mischaracterized the Court's holding in Citizens United in an uncomfortable moment of last
SpeechNow.org v. FEC argument update
Published on January 27, 2010 03:32 PM
Category: Contributions & Limits, Independent Speech, Jurisprudence & Litigation, Political Committees & 527s
Lawyers for SpeechNow.org and the Federal Election Commission squared at the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals Wednesday morning, clashing over the implications of the U.S. Supreme Court's recent ruling in Citizens United v. FEC. Lyle Denniston of SCOTUS Blog has a comprehensive analysis: ... the D.C. Circuit Court appeared on Wednesday to be leaning strongly toward giving even more freedom to campaign groups that are set up to operate independently of candidates and parties. From the openin
Debunking the Citizens United Horror Stories: Episode 1: Foreign Corporations
Published on January 24, 2010 12:00 PM
Category: Contributions & Limits, Expenditure
Critics of the Jan. 21 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Citizens United v. FEC are trotting out their horror stories with increasing shrillness. In the next few days, we will be making a series of posts with the straight dope. Today's episode one discusses the biggest horror story of them all: Citizens United will allow foreign corporations — from China! From North Korea! to pour millions into our elections. Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee Chairman Bob Menendez said so this morning
The Shoddy Scholarship and Intellectual Ignorance of Ruth Marcus
Published on January 23, 2010 10:45 AM
Category: Contributions & Limits, Independent Speech, Issue Advocacy, Jurisprudence & Litigation
In today's Washington Post, under the headline "The High Court's Shoddy Scholarship," Ruth Marcus accuses the Citizens United majority of, well, "shoddy scholarship," and also "stunning... intellectual dishonesty." I won't accuse Ms. Marcus of "intellectual dishonesty" herself, because I know Ms. Marcus a bit and don't think she is intellectually dishonest. But I do attribute her column to intellectual ignorance. Let's look at her accusations, one by one, below the fold...
The Big Bopper challenges San Diego campaign finance laws
Published on January 4, 2010 04:58 PM
Category: Contributions & Limits, Coordination, Independent Speech
Campaign finance super-lawyer James Bopp, Jr. filed a federal lawsuit just before Christmas, waging a multi-pronged challenge to the campaign finance laws of the city of San Diego. Here's the release, available on the website of the James Madison Center for Free Speech: Last week, a coalition of plaintiffs asked a federal court to grant a preliminary injunction to keep San Diego from enforcing campaign finance laws that violate the First Amendment.
Study: The First Amendment is a loophole
Published on December 23, 2009 03:03 PM
Category: Contributions & Limits, Independent Speech, Taxpayer Financed Campaigns
The Associated Press published a story today detailing a study released by the Center for Governmental Studies (CGS), a Los Angeles-based organization that advocates for taxpayer financed campaigns and other campaign finance regulations. The study purports to show that, "[p]oliticians across the country keep finding ways to skirt campaign-finance laws, using ballot-measure committees and other avenues to raise millions of dollars in unregulated contributions," according to the AP lede [newspape
BREAKING SCANDAL: Candidate asks NYT's Linda Greenhouse for contribution
Published on December 18, 2009 03:48 PM
Category: Contributions & Limits, Independent Speech, Jurisprudence & Litigation
There's a campaign finance scandal brewing... Linda Greenhouse, a former New York Times Supreme Court reporter, wrote an online opinion piece for the NYT detailing a stunning series of events that "brought home ... the dimension of our campaign finance problem as no stack of legal briefs ever did." After Greenhouse donated to the campaign of a state judge, Barack Obama's presidential campaign and a congressional candidate, another candidate had the temerity to call her and ask for a campaign c
