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Nov 9, 2007 -- Legal Center Weekly Report: November 9, 2007
This week, the Campaign Legal Center and Democracy 21 filed comments with the FEC opposing a new attempt by Members of Congress to circumvent McCain-Feingold by raising soft money for a state ballot initiative that will be on the same ballot as the Congressmen themselves.
The comments are in response to the advisory request (AOR 2007-28) submitted by U.S. Representatives Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and Devin Nunes (R-CA) which seeks the Commission's opinion as to whether the Congressmen may "freely raise funds" - i.e., solicit soft money - for committees formed to support the qualification and/or passage of a California state ballot initiative on either the June 3, 2008 primary election ballot or the November 4, 2008 general election ballot. Congressmen McCarthy and Nunes will both be candidates on the same ballot for the June primary and will likely be candidates on the November general election ballot. The Legal Center argues in its comments that the 2008 June and November elections are "federal" elections and, consequently, the McCain-Feingold soft money ban prohibits the Congressmen from engaging in their proposed fundraising activities.
S. 1946, the Public Prosecution Improvements Act of 2007 was recently reported out of the Senate Judiciary Committee with strong bipartisan support. This week, the Campaign Legal Center sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid urging him to bring the bill to a final Senate vote as soon as possible. Introduced by Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Senator John Cornyn (R-TX), this legislation is essential to restoring public confidence in government by strengthening the public corruption laws and increasing the ability of federal prosecutors to hold public officials accountable for their actions.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has set oral argument for December 4, 2007, in State of Texas v. Willie Ray. This lawsuit challenged on various statutory and constitutional grounds various provisions of Texas election law enacted in 2003. One provision enacted in 2003 made it a crime to possess the absentee ballot envelope of another person (unless a close relative or cohabitant). The Texas Attorney General has used that law to prosecute various persons, including plaintiff Ray, for merely mailing ballots of disabled, elderly seniors.
The challenge to the law charges the Texas Attorney General with racially selective law enforcement, since a grossly disproportionate percentage of the persons prosecuted have been racial and ethnic minorities. A preliminary injunction was entered by the district court in October 2006, but that decision was stayed by the Fifth Circuit. The State appealed that injunctive order and other rulings by the district court. The Campaign Legal Center's Director of Litigation, J. Gerald Hebert, serves as co-counsel to the Ray plaintiffs.
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: "CLC Files FEC Comments Opposing Soft Money Ban Exemption Request," "The Evidence Mounts for Presidential Public Financing," 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. |
