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Sep 12, 2008 -- Legal Center Weekly Report: September 12, 2008 D.C. Circuit Hears Oral Argument in Lobbying Disclosure Case
On Friday, September 12, 2008, a three-judge panel of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals heard oral argument 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 those member organizations that fund and actively participate in the coalition's lobbying efforts.
On June 25, 2008, the Legal Center, along with Democracy 21 and Public Citizen, filed an amici brief with the Court of Appeals to defend the constitutionality of the challenged disclosure provision. Amici argued that the Court of Appeals should uphold the decision of the district court to dismiss NAM's lawsuit and to reject NAM's claims that the HLOGA provision violates the First Amendment or is unconstitutionally vague.
U.S. District Court Rejects Challenge to FEC Rules Governing Independent Groups
On September 22, 2008, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia denied a request from a 527 organization named "The Real Truth About Obama" (RTAO) for a preliminary injunction barring the enforcement of FEC regulations that govern when an organization must register as a political committee and abide by the federal contribution limits and disclosure requirements. The recently formed RTAO had wished to run ads criticizing presidential candidate Barack Obama's position on abortion in the weeks before the general election without disclosing its donors or adhering to the applicable contribution limits. The challenged regulations include the so-called "subpart (b)" definition of "expressly advocating" (11 C.F.R. § 100.22(b)), and a rule defining "contribution" as funds received in response to a solicitation that "indicates" that the funds received "will be used to support or oppose" the election of a federal candidate (11 C.F.R. § 100.57). On August 14, 2008, the Legal Center, together with Democracy 21, filed an amici brief with the district court to oppose RTAO's motion for a preliminary injunction and to defend the constitutionality of the FEC regulations.
Legal Center's Associate Counsel Speaks at American University
The Legal Center's Associate Counsel Tara Malloy spoke to students in the Washington Semester Program at American University on the subject of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (BCRA). The lecture described the principle provisions of BCRA, as well as the past loopholes in campaign finance law that BCRA was designed to address. Malloy also evaluated the success of BCRA and outlined future legal and policy challenges in the field of campaign finance regulation.
CLC Policy Director Meets with ALTER-EU
On September 11, Campaign Legal Center Policy Director, Meredith McGehee, spoke to a delegation of political leaders from all over the European Union. The delegation represented the Alliance for Lobbying Transparency and Ethics Regulation (ALTER-EU) a coalition of over 160 civil society groups concerned with the increasing influence exerted by corporate lobbyists on the political agenda in Europe. The delegation discussed the major obstacles to obtaining mandatory lobbying transparency and ethics reform in the European Union. The focus of the delegation's visit to the CLC was to gain knowledge of American strategies and tactics used for lobbying for transparency in government.
Finnish Journalists Meet with CLC Staff
Campaign Legal Center FEC Program Director Paul S. Ryan and Communications Director David Vance hosted a delegation of a dozen Finnish journalists on September 8th. Ryan and Vance outlined the history of campaign finance regulation, the ongoing legal and legislative battles and the Campaign Legal Center's work informing the public and elected officials about the role of money in politics, disclosure and transparency, and political advertising. The reporters, from the Finnish equivalent of the White House Press Corps, were taking part in a program on the "Mechanisms of U.S. Elections" sponsored by the U.S. Embassy in Helsinki.
Legal Center Blog Highlights
Each week, the Campaign Legal Center staff posts blog entries on its site, www.clcblog.org. To read this week's entry, "Soft Money Abuse By Host Committees" 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. |
