On October 13, 2004 Representatives Shays and Meehan filed a notice of cross appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals in the Shays et al. v. FEC suit appealed by the FEC.
On April 14, the plaintiff submitted a reply in support of its original motion for the court to consider its exhibits, defending several challenged law review articles.
On March 31, the plaintiff filed its memorandum in opposition to the defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment and statement of facts in dispute. The plaintiff reasserted that it has standing to challenge the FEC regulations, and that the issue of whether the FEC regulations violate BCRA is ripe for judicial review.
On February 27, U.S. Senators John McCain (R-AZ) and Russell Feingold (D-WI) filed an amici curiae brief with the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia in Shays v. FEC. The Senators argued that the FEC regulations implementing the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 (BCRA) which are being challenged in this case unlawfully preserve parts of the soft money system and thus should be overturned. The brief aims to underscore the importance of this case to the achievement of the purposes of BCRA. The CampaignLegalCenter served as counsel to Senators McCain and Feingold for this brief.
On December 23, 2003 , the plaintiffs and defendant in Shays v. FEC filed a joint status report in compliance with U.S. District Court Judge Colleen Kollar Kotelly's September 29, 2003 order. The parties proposed differing schedules for motion practice in this case.
In this July 24 motion, the plaintiffs urge Judge Kollar-Kotelly to set a schedule for compiling an administrative record and briefing the case to begin in September, 2003.
On January 21, Congressmen Shays and Meehan filed an amended complaint against the FEC concerning its regulations to implement the Reform Act. To claims in the original complaint targeting the FEC's soft money regulations, the amended complaint adds counts focusing on the FEC's decision to exempt 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organizations from financing and disclosure requirements for "electioneering communciations," the Commission's narrow content standard for coordination analysis, and other aspects of the Reform Act regulations.
On October 8, Congressmen Christopher Shays (R-CT) and Marty Meehan (D-MA) filed suit against the FEC to repeal the soft money regulations that the FEC adopted.
On October 8, Congressmen Christopher Shays (R-CT) and Marty Meehan (D-MA), two of the principal sponsors of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act, filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to have the soft money rules the FEC adopted to implement Title I of the Act reversed. The suit alleges that the FEC acted "arbitrarily and capriciously" in its rulemaking by opening numerous loopholes through which soft money can still be raised and spent.
