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Jul 6, 2007 -- Legal Center Weekly Report: July 6, 2007 Three-Judge Court Enters Order in Christian Civic League of Maine v. FEC
On July 3, 2007, the three-judge district court in Christian Civic League of Maine (CCLM) v. FEC issued an order directing "that the parties to this action file a suggestion on or before July 13, 2007 as to how the parties and the court should proceed on remand in light of Federal Election Commission v. Wisconsin Right to Life, Inc., 551 U.S. ___ (2007).
This lawsuit began in 2006, when CCLM sought to enjoin the "electioneering communication"' provisions of BCRA as they applied to a broadcast ad CCLM wanted to pay for with its corporate funds. The ad referenced both sitting U.S. Senators from Maine, Olympia Snowe (R) and Susan Collins (R). Senator Snowe was a candidate on the June 2006 Republican primary ballot in Maine. The three-judge federal district court denied the injunction and later panel dismissed the lawsuit.
In 2006, the Supreme Court denied a request by CCLM for an expedited review of the district court's denial of that preliminary injunction request. The appeal remained pending as the Supreme Court considered Wisconsin Right to Life v. FEC (WRTL). Following the decision in the WRTL case earlier this month, the Supreme Court vacated the three-judge court's decision in the CCLM case and remanded the case for further proceedings. The three-judge court's July 3rd order was in response to the Supreme Court's directive.
The Legal Center serves as co-counsel in the CCLM case to the defendant-interveners: Senator John McCain (R-AZ), Senator Russell Feingold (D-WI), Representative Christopher Shays (R-CT) and Representative Marty Meehan (D-MA), the principal sponsors of BCRA, and Representative Tom Allen (D-ME).
On July 7, 2007, the United States District Court for the District of Columbia (Kollar-Kotelly, J.) entered an order in Shays and Meehan v. FEC (Shays III) (DDC), directing the parties to file by July 13 a statement indicating whether they believe additional briefing on the pending motions for summary judgment is appropriate in light of the Supreme Court's decision in Wisconsin Right to Life v. FEC. Shays III is a challenge to FEC regulations pertaining to "coordinated communications," federal candidate and officeholder solicitation at state party fundraising events, and "federal election activity."
The Campaign Legal Center serves as counsel to Senators John McCain and Russell Feingold in the matter, who are participating in the case as amici curiae in the matter.
Campaign Legal Center and Democracy 21 File Comments with the FEC on AOR 2007-9 from the Kerry-Edwards Campaign
The Campaign Legal Center filed comments with the FEC this week in response to an Advisory Opinion Request from the Kerry-Edwards 2004 campaign. The campaign sought guidance from the Commission as to whether the Kerry-Edwards 2004 General Election Legal and Accounting Compliance Fund (GELAC) may reimburse Kerry-Edwards 2004, Inc. (KE04) for a portion of the $43.7 million KEO4 spent to purchase broadcast time for political advertising.
The Legal Center argued that the permissible uses of GELAC funds are exhaustive and exclusive, with the regulations making no mention of broadcast advertising costs. The Legal Center urged the Commission to advise the Kerry-Edwards Campaign that it may not treat any portion of the costs of its broadcast political advertisements as a compliance expense reimbursable by GELAC funds.
Campaign Legal Center and Democracy 21 File Comments with the FEC on AOR 2007-11 from the California Democratic and Republican Parties
The Campaign Legal Center filed comments this week in response to an Advisory Opinion Request to the FEC by the California Republican Party and the California Democratic Party seeking guidance on whether a federal officeholder or candidate may be "publicized" on materials sent by the state party committees that solicit non-federal funds for the parties.
The Legal Center recommended that the Commission advise the state parties that Federal officeholders may not solicit non-Federal funds on pre-event materials, advertisements and other communications. The Legal Center argued that the narrow exception created by rule that permits a Federal candidate or officeholder to solicit soft money extends only to the candidate or officeholder speaking at the event itself and not to the written materials, invitations or publicity that precedes the event.
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 entries: "More on Hans von Spakovsky and the EAC," and "Hans von Spakovsky's Culture of Corruption," or to sign up for the blog, click here.
To read a variety of this week's editorials and articles on a variety of Campaign Legal Center issues, please click here. Click here to view the document in its entirety. |
