Democratic Governors Association (DGA) v Brandi: U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut Supplemental Memorandum of Amici of CLC et al.

On April 23, 2014, the Democratic Governors Association (DGA or plaintiff) filed a complaint against Connecticut’s State Elections Enforcement Commission (SEEC) seeking to have this Court declare unconstitutional § 9-601b(l) of Connecticut Public Act No. 13-180, An Act Concerning Disclosure of Independent Expenditures and Changes to Other Campaign Finance Laws and Election Laws, 2013 Conn. Acts 13-180 (Reg. Sess.) (2013 Act), and enjoin the SEEC from considering certain evidence as relevant to a determination of whether a candidate coordinated activity with the DGA. Since the filing of this action and an initial round of briefing, it appears this case has become untethered from the allegations and prayer for relief in the original complaint. What began as a challenge to SEEC opinions and staff comments regarding the 2013 Act, as interpreted by the plaintiff, has somehow been transformed into a broad constitutional attack on the Case 3:14-cv-00544-JCH Document 43 Filed 06/06/14 Page 1 of 13 2 state’s definition of political committee, the resolution of which appears to be turning on hypotheticals that nowhere appeared in the original complaint or papers.