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Aug 12, 2006 -- Legal Center Weekly Report: August 11, 2006
On August 8, 2006, the three-judge district court heard oral argument in Christian Civic League of Maine (CCL) v. FEC, et al. This is an as-applied constitutional challenge by CCL to the electioneering communications provisions of BCRA. CCL sought to run an ad entitled "Crossroads" that would have been broadcast within 30 days of the June primary in Maine. The ad was critical of a position taken by United States Senator Olympia Snowe of Maine, who was referenced by name in the ad and was a candidate in the June primary. BCRA provides that such ads cannot be paid for with corporate funds and CCL is a corporation. In May 2006, the three-judge court denied CCL's motion for a preliminary injunction that not only would have permitted CCL to run the ad, but also would have declared BCRA unconstitutional with respect to the "Crossroads" ad.
The August 8 hearing before the three-judge court focused on whether the case was moot, and whether CCL's claim that it wants to run theoretical future ads similar to the "Crossroads" ad is ripe for review. We urged the Court to dismiss the claim regarding the future ads as unripe, and informed the Court that CCL had failed to meet it burden of showing why the case is not moot.
The Legal Center is serving as co-counsel in the case with: Democracy 21; University of Virginia law professor Dan Ortiz; and the law firms of Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr; Heller Ehrman; and Munger Tolles and Olson.
Washington v. Washington Education Association
On August 14, 2006, the Campaign Legal Center intends to file a brief as amicus curiae in Washington v. Washington Education Association. The state has petitioned the U. S. Supreme Court to issue a writ of certiorari to review a decision of the Washington Supreme Court. Washington law requires union nonmembers to affirmatively consent ("opt-in") before their funds can be used by the union for political purposes and this provision of law is the subject of the lawsuit. The Supreme Court of Washington invalidated this "opt-in" law on First Amendment grounds, even though it is less restrictive than its federal law counterpart which has been upheld by the United States Supreme Court in McConnell. Our brief supports the State of Washington and will urge the Supreme Court to grant certiorari in the case.
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