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Mar 9, 2007 -- Legal Center Weekly Report: March 9, 2007
This week, the Campaign Legal Center joined Democracy 21, Common Cause, League of Women Voters, Public Campaign Action Fund, Public Citizen, and U.S. PIRG in a letter sent to 2008 presidential candidates urging them to make a public commitment to use the presidential public financing system in the general election if they receive their party's nomination and if their major party opponent agrees to follow suit.
The groups also called on the presidential candidates to endorse the legislation currently pending in Congress to repair the presidential public financing system for future elections.
Reform groups sent a letter this week urging Representatives to support strong, comprehensive lobbying reform legislation and to vote for a number of specific and essential provisions when the House takes up the legislation. The reform groups include the Campaign Legal Center, Common Cause, Democracy 21, the League of Women Voters, Public Citizen and U.S. PIRG.
"This is the next essential step the House needs to take to respond to the corruption, ethics and lobbying scandals in the last Congress that deeply concerned the American people," the letter states. "It follows the landmark ethics rules reforms passed by the House in January."
This week, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia (Kollar-Kotelly, J.) granted the motion to participate as amici curiae filed by Senators John McCain (R-AZ) and Russ Feingold (D-WI) in the "Shays III" lawsuit brought by Reps. Christopher Shays (R-CT) and Marty Meehan (D-MA). Shays III is a case which challenges FEC regulations pertaining to "coordinated communications," federal candidate and officeholder solicitation at state party fundraising events, and "federal election activity."
The FEC had filed an opposition to the motion stating the Senators' brief was untimely. The court agreed with Senators McCain and Feingold that their proposed brief was timely, and it ordered that the brief be filed.
The Campaign Legal Center serves as counsel to Senators McCain and Feingold in the matter.
Legal Center Blog Highlights
Each week, the Campaign Legal Center staff posts blog entries on its site, www.clcblog.org . Click to read this week's entry: " Politicians Pressuring Prosecutors: What Role for Ethics ?" or " Voting Rights for Our Vets ," or to sign up for blog updates, click here .
To read a variety of this week's editorials and articles on a variety of Campaign Legal Center issues, please click here . |
