United States District Court for the District of Montana Judge Charles Lovell yesterday struck down three state laws that violated First Amendment rights to political speech: a ban on corporate donations to independent expenditure PACs; a political-civil libel statute; and a vote reporting disclaimer requirement. “This ruling is a solid win for the First Amendment,” [...]
Federal Court Strikes Down Three Montana “Clean” Election Laws
Published on May 17, 2012
Filed Under: Blog, Featured Content, First Amendment, Independent Speech, Super PACs, corporate contributions, free speech, Montana, District Of Columbia, Montana
The Ubiquitous Corporations Targeted by The People’s Rights Amendment
Published on May 9, 2012
The stupid idea de jour is brought to us today in the form of the People’s Rights Amendment, courtesy of Congressman Jim McGovern. Catering to the wacky paranoia of the Occupy movement and (less likely) his Massachusetts constituents, McGovern seeks to deny constitutional rights to any corporation, for profit, nonprofit, tribal, foreign, sole proprietorship – you [...]
Filed Under: Blog, Citizens United, Featured Content, First Amendment, corporations, free speech, McGovern, People's Rights Amendment, District Of Columbia
John Edwards guilty of worse things than campaign finance violations
Published on May 4, 2012
Center for Competitive Politics’ Legal Director Allen Dickerson has authored another fine piece for Campaigns and Elections Magazine on why charging John Edwards with a campaign finance violation may have been a mistake with negative consequences for free campaign speech going forward. I understand the desire to make an example of Edwards. The fact that [...]
Filed Under: Blog, Featured Content, First Amendment, bribery, campaign finance, John Edwards, District Of Columbia, North Carolina
The Next Free Speech Frontier: The Internet
Published on April 20, 2012
An interesting piece from yesterday’s LA Times blog seems to coalesce all recent calls for disclosure of political funding for campaign ads onto the new frontier for all things media: the internet. According to the Times blog piece, the California “State Ethics Czar” Ann Ravel is initially calling for voluntary disclosure of funding to bloggers [...]
Filed Under: Blog, Featured Content, First Amendment, Internet Regulation, bloggers, California, Disclosure, internet, political funding, California
Public Broadcasting Must Also Follow the First Amendment
Published on April 13, 2012
Yesterday, the 9th Circuit Court struck down a ban on political and issue advertising in public broadcasts. The opinion, which targets the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) ban on non-profit and political advertising, leaves intact bans on commercial advertisements. The opinion concluded that the ban on political and issue advertising violated the First Amendment’s free speech clause. Although the [...]
Filed Under: Blog, First Amendment, Independent Speech, Uncategorized, ban on advertising, free speech, PBS, District Of Columbia
Dickerson: Non-profits Should be Wary of DISCLOSE Act
Published on March 30, 2012
CCP Legal Director Allen Dickerson recently penned an op-ed in Campaigns & Elections on the danger that passage of the DISCLOSE Act poses to non-profits. The problem with this legislation is that in its zeal for disclosure, it would impose enormous requirements on precisely the sort of traditional, widely favored actions nonprofit advocacy groups have been [...]
Filed Under: Blog, Disclosure, Featured Content, First Amendment, Independent Speech, Campaigns & Elections, Dickerson, Disclose Act, District Of Columbia
Money in Politics is Only Dangerous to Incumbents
Published on March 29, 2012
Today CCP President David Keating testified before the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration (video included). The hearing, which discussed S. 2219, is the most recent effort by the reform community to expand non-profit disclosure requirements. This latest effort comes on the heels of a number of previous attempts to dramatically expand the amount of information [...]
Filed Under: Blog, Coordination, Disclosure, Expenditure, First Amendment, Independent Speech, Political Parties, Super PACs, Chuck Schumer, DISCLOSE, Lamar Alexander, Senate Rules Hearing, District Of Columbia
Senate hears witness testimony on “DISCLOSE” Act Thursday
Published on March 28, 2012
DATELINE: Wednesday, March 28, 2012 CONTACT: Sarah Lee, Communications Director, Center for Competitive Politics 770.598.7961 ALEXANDRIA, Va. – CCP President David Keating will present testimony tomorrow morning before the Senate Committee on Rules & Administration concerning S. 2219, the “Democracy Is Strengthened by Casting Light on Spending in Elections Act of 2012” (DISCLOSE Act [...]
Filed Under: Disclosure, First Amendment, In the News, Independent Speech, Newsroom, Press Releases, DISCLOSE, Hasen, Keating, Senate hearing, Wertheimer, District Of Columbia