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Feb 29, 2008 -- Legal Center Weekly Report: February 29, 2008
Today, the Campaign Legal Center, along with Democracy 21 and Public Citizen, filed an amici brief with the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia in National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) v. Taylor. The case concerns a First Amendment challenge brought by NAM to a provision in the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act (HLOGA), the ethics and lobbying disclosure law recently enacted by Congress. The challenged provision requires a lobbying coalition, like NAM, to disclose its member organizations that fund and actively participate in the coalition's lobbying efforts.
The amici brief urges the Court to reject the challenge, arguing that Supreme Court precedent makes clear that HLOGA serves the governmental interest in providing full disclosure of lobbying activity and in protecting the integrity of the legislative process. Amici point out that the challenged provision was intended to prevent groups from evading disclosure by creating an umbrella lobbying coalition behind which the actual parties-in-interest can hide.
Legal Center Executive Director Testifies on Voter Suppression
On February 26th, Legal Center Executive Director, J. Gerald Hebert, testified before the House Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties. The Oversight Hearing on Voter Suppression focused on issues of voter fraud, vote caging, problems regarding implementation and the selective enforcement of the National Voting Rights Act by the Department of Justice.
The Legal Center's Paul S. Ryan spoke on two panels at the Stanford Law & Policy Review's "Lobbying & the Law" Conference Saturday, February 23. On one panel, Mr. Ryan presented a paper entitled Wisconsin Right to Life and the Resurrection of Furgatch, which will be published in the Review's forthcoming printed symposium on "Lobbying & the Law." Ryan also spoke on a panel entitled "Lobbying and Democracy: Envisioning Reform," along with Richard Briffault, Alan Morrison, William Luneburg, Tom Susman and moderator Derek Shaffer, discussing lobbying reform as well as the intersection of lobbying and electioneering.
Legal Center Executive Director J. Gerald Hebert appeared before the Austin City Council to make a presentation regarding single member district election systems. The city presently elects its council at large with numbered positions. The city is considering placing a change in the method of elections on the November 2008 ballot. Hebert has been retained as a redistricting consultant to the city of Austin.
Legal Center Blog Highlights
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