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Aug 17, 2007 -- Legal Center Weekly Report: August 17, 2007
This week, the Legal Center and the Benton Foundation were joined by 26 other organizations in filing comments at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) as part of the third periodic review of the rules and policies affecting the conversion to digital television (DTV). The comments stressed that over the past 12 years, the FCC has repeatedly failed to redefine broadcasters' public interest obligations in light of the nation's ongoing transition to digital television.
"The Commission has the opportunity and the statutory obligation to create an important and lasting legacy to benefit the citizens of our nation as we enter the digital age," stated Meredith McGehee, Policy Director of the Campaign Legal Center. "Despite the fact that most broadcasters have come to treat the public airwaves as their personal property, that incredibly valuable spectrum is still owned by the American public. It is the Commission's job to remind broadcasters of that fact and to demand substantive public interest efforts in return."
Joining the Legal Center and the Benton Foundation in the filing were: Alliance For Community Media, Center for Digital Democracy, Chicago Media Action, Citizen Advocacy Center, Common Cause, Common Cause Illinois, Common Cause Michigan, Common Cause Ohio, Common Cause Wisconsin, Communication Service For The Deaf, Consumer Action, Democracy Now, Free Press, Hearing Loss Association Of America - New York State, Illinois Campaign For Political Reform, Illinois PIRG, League Of Women Voters Of Minnesota, League Of Women Voters Of Wisconsin, Michigan Campaign Finance Network, National Hispanic Media Coalition, Northern Virginia Resource Center For Deaf And Hard Of Hearing Persons, Ohio Citizen Action Education Fund, Sunshine Project -- University Of Illinois At Springfield, Take Action Minnesota, United States Conference Of Catholic Bishops, Wisconsin Democracy Campaign.
The Campaign Legal Center filed an amici brief this week with the Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit in Duke v. Leake (No. 07-1454) on behalf of itself and nine other organizations "concerned about the influence of money on judicial integrity, impartiality and independence."
Duke v. Leake involves a constitutional challenge to several provisions of North Carolina's judicial election public financing program, including the matching "rescue funds" provision, reporting requirements for nonparticipating candidates and independent spenders, and a 21-day pre-election contribution restriction. The trial court dismissed the lawsuit and the plaintiffs appealed to the Fourth Circuit.
The CLC's. amici brief supports Appellee State of North Carolina and Intervenors-Appellees Common Cause of North Carolina, urging the Fourth Circuit to affirm the trial court decision dismissing the lawsuit. Amici detail a national trend of skyrocketing judicial campaign costs and the threat of actual and apparent corruption of judicial systems nationwide resulting from large campaign contributions to judicial candidates. Amici argue that North Carolina's judicial public financing system directly advances the state's interest in deterring actual and apparent corruption while furthering the state's interest in open and robust campaigns.
Joining the Legal Center as amici were: the American Judges Association; the Center for Civic Policy; Demos: A Network for Ideas and Action; the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform; the League of Women Voters of the United States; the League of Women Voters of North Carolina; Progressive Maryland; Public Citizen, Inc.; and the Reform Institute.
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: " DTV, FCC, NAB and FEC: An Unhealthy Recipe for Alphabet Soup? ," and " CLC Files Amici Brief in Judicial Public Financing Case ," 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 . |
