Apr 4, 2008 -- Legal Center Weekly Report: April 4, 2008

Citizens United Appeal to Supreme Court Rejected

On March 24, 2008, the U.S. Supreme Court dismissed Citizens United's appeal in the case Citizens United v. FEC for want of jurisdiction, letting stand the decision of the district court below denying Citizens United's request for a preliminary injunction.

The case concerns a challenge to BCRA's "electioneering communications" disclosure requirements as applied to a film produced by plaintiff Citizens United entitled "Hillary: The Movie" and a series of advertisements promoting the film. Citizens United argued that although the film and advertisements might meet the definition of "electioneering communications," they should be exempted from disclosure pursuant to FEC v. Wisconsin Right to Life, which found that only communications "susceptible of no reasonable interpretation other than as an appeal to vote for or against a specific candidate" could be subject to BCRA's "electioneering communications" funding prohibition. The district court disagreed with Citizens United, and denied its request for preliminary relief. It found that the Supreme Court's decision in McConnell v. FEC upheld the disclosure requirements, and held that a lower court did not have grounds to overturn this precedent.

Legal Center Urges DOJ to Investigate Voter Intimidation

On April 4, 2008, the Campaign Legal Center sent a letter to the Justice Department requesting a full investigation of potential violations of the Voting Rights Act stemming from intimidating flyers sent anonymously to homes in predominantly black precincts during a hotly contested Texas state house race.

The flyer warning voters of potential arrest at the polls was apparently mailed only to predominantly African-American precincts in House District 102 which would constitute a clear violation of the Voting Rights Act. Project Vote brought the matter to the attention of the FBI in 2006 requesting an investigation. At the time, the FBI declined to pursue the matter, despite the fact that the flyer on its face is a clear effort to intimidate voters.

Oral Argument Set in Shays III Case

Oral argument in Shays v. Federal Election Commission ("Shays III") before the United States Court of Appeals has been set for May 5, 2008.

On February 21, the Campaign Legal Center filed an amicus brief on behalf of Senator Russell D. Feingold (D-WI) with the United States Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit. The brief was filed in support of Representative Christopher Shays' (R-CT) challenge to the Federal Election Commission (FEC) regulations to implement the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 (BCRA), pertaining to "coordinated communications," federal candidate and officeholder solicitation at state party fundraising events, and "federal election activity."

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: " Break Provides No Breakthrough on FEC Standoff," "No Clearance for von Spakovsky," 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.