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Mar 28, 2008 -- Legal Center Weekly Report: March 28, 2008 CLC Files Amici Brief Defending "Millionaire's Amendment"
On March 26, 2008, the Campaign Legal Center, joined by Democracy 21, the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law and Public Citizen, filed an amici brief with the Supreme Court in a case challenging the so-called "Millionaire's Amendment" to the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 (BCRA). The Millionaire's Amendment temporarily raises contribution limits and suspends limits on spending coordinated with political parties for candidates who run against wealthy, self-financing opponents who spend personal funds in excess of a specified monetary threshold.
Plaintiff Jack Davis, a candidate who ran two self-financed campaigns for Congress, challenged the Millionaire's Amendment on the ground that it unconstitutionally chills the speech of wealthy candidates like himself by discouraging self-financed campaigns. The Legal Center's amici brief argued the Millionaire's Amendment places no limits on Davis' right to spend as much money as he wants, and thus in no way chills or infringes upon his speech. In fact, the brief notes, the challenged provision actually "expands, and does not restrict, the opportunities for speech in the political process" by enabling non-wealthy candidates to raise the funds necessary to compete against wealthy opponents.
Legal Center Staff Updates Guidance on New Lobbying and Ethics Law
As a reference and educational tool, Campaign Legal Center staff has updated its two page summary and side-by-side of the Honest Government and Open Leadership Act (HLOGA). The documents summarize and set forth the guidance and rules issued by the ethics committees and the Federal Election Commission (FEC) on the new lobbying and ethics law. Also incorporated are interpretations of various provisions made to the final bill, as well as those provisions that still must be clarified by Congress or the FEC. Please continue to check the website as the Legal Center will be updating the documents periodically until the new law has been completely implemented and interpreted.
On March 26, 2008, Executive Director, J. Gerald Hebert issued a statement voicing the Legal Center's disappointment with the Justice Department's (DOJ) response to a January 31st inquiry.
In the January 31, 2008 letter, Hebert had asked DOJ to address the more than 900 potential violations of the Act referred to the Department of Justice by the Secretary of the Senate, which continue to remain unresolved. The response failed to address the reasons for perpetual lack of enforcement taken by DOJ prosecutors and simply stated that DOJ has in place an "appropriate" process for handling the hundreds of referrals it has received from the Secretary of the Senate. Hebert's statement observed that this kind of pro forma reply has become an unfortunate hallmark of the Justice Department under this Administration, and does little to rebuild public credibility regarding the agency's competence and nonpartisanship.
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: " A Millionaire's Quest to Silence Opponents in the Name of Free Speech," "Vermont Poised to Adopt Instant Runoff Voting," or to sign up for the blog, click here.
Week in the News
To read a variety of this week's editorials and articles on a variety of Campaign Legal Center issues, please click here. |
