« Ind. Gov't. - What happens with Souder's constitutents and staffers, while the office is vacant? | Main | Ind. Gov't. - "Sylvia Smith Gets Souder Exclusive Interview" »
Friday, May 21, 2010
Courts - "Republicans Push Lawsuits to Unshackle Corporate Campaign Cash"
Jonathan D. Salant reports today in Business Week, in a lengthy story -- some quotes:
May 21 (Bloomberg) -- The Republican Party and conservative advocacy groups, seeking to capitalize on the Supreme Court’s January decision throwing out a ban on corporate political spending, are urging judges across the U.S. to strike down other campaign-finance restrictions.Since the Supreme Court’s 5-4 ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, a federal appeals court in Washington has already said the FEC can’t limit donations to groups that fund advocacy campaigns independently from candidates or parties.
Campaign laws are under constitutional attack in at least four other pending lawsuits, as opponents bet that a majority of the Supreme Court now may be willing to abolish political spending regulations, said Craig Holman, who handles campaign issues for the Washington-based advocacy group Public Citizen.
“It has just spawned a wide number of challenges to just about every element of the campaign-finance law, even elements that were sacrosanct, like disclosure,” Holman said of the Citizens United case.
If lower courts expand on the Supreme Court’s decision, corporations, unions and wealthy individuals may gain added leeway to spend unlimited amounts to support or defeat candidates in November’s elections, perhaps without telling voters who bankrolled their efforts. * * *
Another independent group, the Committee for Truth in Politics, is challenging reporting and disclosure requirements in a North Carolina federal court. The group funded ads opposing Obama and the Democrats’ proposed overhaul of financial regulations. The case is awaiting trial.
James Bopp Jr., a lawyer and Republican National Committee member from Indiana, represents the Real Truth and Committee for Truth groups. Contributors fear harassment if their names are publicized, and the law shouldn’t limit contributions to organizations airing issue-oriented ads that don’t call for the election or defeat of candidates, Bopp said.
For those groups, disclosure and contribution rules are “extremely destructive” of their “ability to operate effectively,” Bopp said.
Tara Malloy, associate counsel of the Washington-based Campaign Legal Center, said that without campaign-finance restrictions, special interests will flood airwaves with anonymous attack ads.
“The goal is to scale back disclosure to the point that there is no meaningful information about the funders of ads,” Malloy said.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on May 21, 2010 10:36 AM
Posted to Courts in general