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Aug 24, 2007 -- Legal Center Weekly Report: August 24, 2007
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit issued an order this week permitting the Campaign Legal Center and nine other organizations "concerned about the influence of money on judicial integrity, impartiality and independence" to file their amici curiae brief in Duke v. Leake . The case 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 et al. amici brief supports Appellee State of North Carolina and Intervenors-Appellees Common Cause of North Carolina et al., urging the Fourth Circuit to affirm the trial court decision dismissing the lawsuit.
Joining the Legal Center as amici are: 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.
The Campaign Legal Center is urging a full review and explanation of new guidelines for Justice Department prosecutors that will open the door for partisan abuses of election law enforcement. In a letter sent this week to Assistant Attorney General Alice S. Fisher, Legal Center Executive Director J. Gerald Hebert stressed the need for a full explanation of the changes to the "Federal Prosecution of Election Offenses" manual that was rewritten in the wake of an ongoing scandal involving election eve voter fraud indictments. While the former manual discouraged election eve investigations and prosecutions, the revised manual opens the door to such actions and would allow political appointees a freer hand in politicizing the Justice Department.
According to the letter, "The Legal Center urges you to begin addressing these concerns immediately by providing a full public explanation of the revisions to the manual, including both a full disclosure of all records relating to this matter." Copies of the letter were also sent to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, Ranking Member Arlen Specter, and Senator Dianne Feinstein.
With congressional lobbying and ethics reform awaiting final action by President Bush, the Campaign Legal Center distributed a side-by-side comparison of the various bills to government officials, reform groups and the media. The document compares current rules and law with the final version of S. 1, the Honest Government and Open Leadership Act of 2007, as passed by the House and the Senate, as well as with the previous versions. The chart covers provisions in the legislation relating to lobbying reform, travel and gifts rules, the revolving door, disclosure and earmarks.
To view the comparison chart, click here .
Three-Judge Court in Alabama Declares Voting Rights Act Claim Moot
On August 24, 2007, a three-judge court in Alabama dismissed as moot a claim brought by private plaintiffs against the City of Montgomery, Alabama, under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act. The suit alleged, among other things, that the City failed to obtain the requisite preclearance of a new election schedule from federal authorities. Under the new schedule, elections are set for Tuesday, August 28, 2007. Plaintiffs had sought to enjoin the upcoming elections, citing the alleged lack of preclearance under the Voting Rights Act. The City had contended that preclearance had been obtained. The three-judge court's August 24, 2007 decision was based on the fact that on August 27, 2007, the Department of Justice issued a letter stating explicitly that the new election schedule was precleared for the 2007 elections. The Legal Center's Executive Director and Director of Litigation, J. Gerald Hebert, served as co-counsel to the City of Montgomery.
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: " Spawn of Schlozman: DOJ Rewrites the Book on Voting Rights ," " Ethics and Lobbying Reform Bills Side-by-Side Comparison Chart ," and " Electoral College 'Reforms' Deserve A Failing Grade " 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 . |
