Public Citizen v. FEC

This evening, the Campaign Legal Center, Common Cause and the Sunlight Foundation filed a complaint at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) alleging violations of long-standing rules and law by WJLA, an ABC-affiliated broadcast station in Washington, D.C.  The complaint notes that WJLA continues to refuse to disclose the "true identity" of the sponsor of political ads being run by NextGen Climate Action Committee and asks for expedited action given that Election Day is just a few weeks away.

“Despite being warned that it was in violation of the law, WJLA continues to ignore the requirements to disclose on-air the ‘true identity’ of the funders of the political ads that the station is running.  The FCC must hold this station accountable for these knowing and wilful violations,” said Meredith McGehee, Campaign Legal Center Policy Director.  “WJLA is more than happy to receive top dollar to air these ads, but they do a great disservice to their viewers by refusing to reveal the donor behind them when his name is readily available and has even been provided to them by our organizations.  This is not ‘seven on your side;’ it’s ‘seven on the billionaires side.’” 

The groups filed a similar complaint earlier this month noting that WJLA was running ads with the on-air sponsorship disclaimer identifying the sponsor as "NextGen Climate Action Committee."  As the earlier "application for review" pointed out, substantial evidence showed that Tom Steyer has provided almost all of the funding for this organization, yet he was not identified on-air as the true sponsor of the commercials.

The Media Bureau of the FCC dismissed the October 2 complaint by saying that the groups had not shown that WJLA necessarily knew that Tom Steyer was the true sponsor and that the groups should have approached the station directly to furnish it with evidence calling the identity of the true sponsor into question.

Today's new complaint notes that WJLA filed an opposition in response to the earlier complaint and thus demonstrated its awareness that Tom Steyer provided, and continues to provide, substantially all of NextGen's funding.  Today's complaint requests the FCC to declare that, for its failure to include the true identity of the sponsor of the ad, WJLA is not in compliance with Section 317 of the Communications Act and 47 CFR Section 73.1212.  If a violation is found, the FCC can assess a forfeiture for WJLA's willful noncompliance with the law and grant other relief at its discretion.

To read the complaint, click here.

This morning, in Veasey v. Perry, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to stop a Texas photo voter ID (SB 14) law from being used in the upcoming election, despite the fact that one week earlier a U.S. District Court ruled the law unconstitutionally racially discriminatory and a poll tax.  The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit had subsequently stayed that ruling, leaving SB 14 in effect due to concerns that striking down the law now would disturb the upcoming election. The Campaign Legal Center is part of the legal team representing voters and elected officials adversely impacted by the law, and has argued that permitting the photo ID law to remain in effect will cause more confusion for voters and election officials.

“Today’s inaction by the Supreme Court is a bitter disappointment and a travesty of justice for hundreds of thousands of validly registered Texas voters who will be unable to exercise their right to vote in the November elections,” said J. Gerald Hebert, Executive Director of The Campaign Legal Center.  “It is appalling that the Supreme Court could not muster five votes to protect the rights of all Texas registered voters to cast ballots on Election Day, especially since a lower court, after a year of factual discovery and a two week trial, had found the law intentionally racially discriminatory and deemed it a ‘poll tax.’  The conservative majority on the High Court mistakenly decreed in Shelby County that racially discriminatory voting practices were rare, but to the extent such discrimination continued, victims of such discrimination could obtain injunctive relief.  That was a false promise to the American people.”

Justice Ginsburg issued a scathing dissent criticizing the court’s failure to protect the rights of Texas voters:

“The greatest threat to public confidence in elections in this case is the prospect of enforcing a purposefully discriminatory law, one that likely imposes an unconstitutional poll tax and risks denying the right to vote to hundreds of thousands of eligible voters.”

On Wednesday, Texas voters and elected officials had filed an emergency application with the Supreme Court to vacate the appeals court stay.  The application emphasized that the Court of Appeals misapplied Supreme Court precedent on “voter confusion” and stressed that the confusion would actually be far greater if the law is in effect for the coming election.  Sworn declarations from county election officials in Texas making this point accompanied the emergency application.  Yesterday, the voters filed a reply brief taking exception with the arguments in opposition made by the State of Texas.

The first challenge to the law was filed by the Campaign Legal Center in the summer of 2013 claiming that the voter photo ID law (SB 14) violates the 1st, 14th, 15th and 24th Amendments to the Constitution, as well as Section 2 of Voting Rights Act.  Several challenges (including one brought by the United States) were then brought against the Texas law, which was one of the most restrictive laws in the nation.  All of the cases were consolidated in the Southern District of Texas in Corpus Christi. 

The Campaign Legal Center is part of the legal team that includes Chad Dunn and K. Scott Brazil (Brazil & Dunn), Neil G. Baron, David Richards (Richards, Rodriguez & Skeith), Armand Derfner (Derfner, Altman & Wilborn), Luis Roberto Vera, Jr. (LULAC) and Craig M. Wilkins and Teresa G. Snelson (Dallas County District Attorney’s Office).

To read the order of the Court, click here.

To read the reply brief filed in response to the State of Texas’ brief, click here.

To read today’s emergency application for a stay, click here.

To read the Fifth Circuit Court’s opinion granting a stay pending appeal, click here.

To read the Legal Center's Brief in Opposition to the Emergency Motion to Stay Final Judgment Pending Appeal (October 12, 2014), click here.

To read the opinion of the District Court, click here. 

Today, a range of groups from across the political spectrum called on both the House and Senate to make significant reforms to their ethics processes to increase public confidence in the integrity of the institution. At a roundtable event on Capitol Hill to be aired later by C-Span, the groups discussed proposed reforms with staff from congressional offices as well as reporters.

Groups supporting the ethics reforms are the Campaign Legal Center, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, Common Cause, Democracy 21, Judicial Watch, League of Women Voters, Thomas Mann, National Taxpayers Union, Norman Ornstein, Project on Government Oversight, Public Citizen, Sunlight Foundation, Taxpayers for Common Sense, James Thurber.

Among the reforms proposed at the roundtable on congressional ethics reforms are creating an ethics office for the Senate, giving subpoena power to the Office of Congressional Ethics and increasing transparency for the House and Senate ethics committees.  Letters outlining the proposals have been sent to congressional leaders urging action before the 114th Congress convenes.  At the roundtable, Public Citizen released a new study, “The Case for Independent Ethics Agencies:  The Office of Congressional Ethics Six Years Later, and a History of Failed Senate Accountability.”

“The current Senate ethics process is widely – and accurately – perceived as insular and opaque, failing to adequately identify ethical lapses and ensure public confidence in the institution,” the Senate letter states.  “The Office of Congressional Ethics has brought a level of accountability to the House ethics process yet the final arbiter – the House Ethics Committee – remains a secretive committee that has garnered a reputation for dysfunction and protection Members,” said the October 6, letter to House leaders.

“Facing historically low approval numbers, remedial action is needed immediately to strengthen the congressional ethics process and help restore public confidence in Congress,” said Meredith McGehee, Policy Director of the Campaign Legal Center.  “Without meaningful transparency, the public is expected to simply take Congress’ word for it that the process is working.  Given the record that the House and Senate have compiled in dealing with allegations of ethics violations the past several years, that is just not good enough.”

To read the House letter, detailing the recommendations to the House leaders, click here.

To read the Senate letter, detailing the recommendations to Senate leaders, click here.

To read the Public Citizen report, click here.

This morning, Texas voters and elected officials filed an emergency application with the U.S. Supreme Court to vacate a Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals stay that would leave a Texas voter ID law in place for the coming election, despite the fact that a lower court had ruled the law unconstitutionally discriminatory and a poll tax.  The Campaign Legal Center is part of the legal team representing voters and elected officials adversely impacted by the law.

The filing comes in the wake of last night’s decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit reinstating the State of Texas’ Voter Photo ID (SB 14) law in Veasey v. Perry, just five days after a U.S. District Court struck down the law finding it had “an impermissible discriminatory effect against Hispanics and African-Americans, and was imposed with an unconstitutional discriminatory purpose.”  As noted above, the District Court also found it to be an unconstitutional poll tax.

The Circuit Court said its opinion was based “primarily” on the “fast-approaching election”, and said the District Court’s decision would “disturb the election process of the State of Texas just nine days before early voting begins.”  But today’s emergency application emphasizes that the Court of Appeals misapplied Supreme Court precedent on “voter confusion” and stresses that the confusion would actually be far greater if the law is in effect for the coming election.  Sworn Declarations from county election officials in Texas making this point accompanied the emergency application.

“The State of Texas has already created unprecedented voter confusion through its bungled implementation of this discriminatory law.  To leave it in place would only prolong that confusion and more importantly deny the right to vote to hundreds of thousands of Texans.  We trust the Supreme Court will recognize the errors made in the Fifth Circuit’s ruling,” said J. Gerald Hebert, Executive Director of The Campaign Legal Center.  “The right to vote for hundreds of thousands of Texas voters hangs in the balance as a result of last night’s decision by the Fifth Circuit, which did not question the lower court’s ruling that the law was unconstitutionally discriminatory and would disenfranchise African-American and Hispanic Texans at vastly greater rates.  We are hopeful that the Supreme Court will recognize that and restore the vote to hundreds of thousands of Texans.”

The first challenge to the law was filed by the Campaign Legal Center in the summer of 2013 claiming that the voter photo ID law (SB 14) violates the 1st, 14th, 15th and 24th Amendments to the Constitution, as well as Section 2 of Voting Rights Act.  Several challenges (including one brought by the United States) were brought against the Texas law, which was one of the most restrictive laws in the nation.  All of the cases were consolidated in the Southern District of Texas in Corpus Christi. 

The Campaign Legal Center is part of the legal team that includes Chad Dunn and K. Scott Brazil (Brazil & Dunn), Neil G. Baron, David Richards (Richards, Rodriguez & Skeith), Armand Derfner (Derfner, Altman & Wilborn), Luis Roberto Vera, Jr. (LULAC) and Craig M. Wilkins and Teresa G. Snelson (Dallas County District Attorney’s Office).

To read today’s emergency application for a stay, click here.

To read the Fifth Circuit Court’s opinion granting a stay pending appeal, click here.

To read the Legal Center's Brief in Opposition to the Emergency Motion to Stay Final Judgment Pending Appeal (October 12, 2014), click here.

To read the opinion of the District Court, click here. 

Tonight, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit reinstated the State of Texas’ Voter Photo ID (SB 14) law in Veasey v. Perry, just five days after a U.S. District Court struck down the law finding it had “an impermissible discriminatory effect against Hispanics and African-Americans, and was imposed with an unconstitutional discriminatory purpose.”  The District Court also found it to be an unconstitutional poll tax. The Campaign Legal Center is part of the legal team representing voters and elected officials adversely impacted by the law.

The Circuit Court said its opinion was based “primarily” on the “fast-approaching election”, and said the District Court’s decision would “disturb the election process of the State of Texas just nine days before early voting begins.”

“Unfortunately the Fifth Circuit’s stay will end up maintaining  the confusion that has been caused by the State’s error-riddled attempted implementation of the photo ID law over the last year,” said J. Gerald Hebert, Executive Director of The Campaign Legal Center.  “It is deeply troubling that the court of appeals would allow an unconstitutionally discriminatory voter ID law to deny the right to vote to hundreds of thousands of African-American and Hispanic voters so as not to inconvenience Texas election officials by informing them they could no longer demand photo ID which the lower court condemned as a ‘poll tax’.  It would have been relatively easy, if the injunction had been allowed to remain in effect, for Texas to avoid any confusion by simply announcing to all poll officials and voters that the IDs that Texas voters have been using for the last twenty years (including photo IDs) would be permissible IDs in the upcoming election.  We intend to appeal this decision to the U.S. Supreme Court immediately.” 

The first challenge to the law was filed by the Campaign Legal Center in the summer of 2013 claiming that the voter photo ID law (SB 14) violates the 1st, 14th, 15th and 24th Amendments to the Constitution, as well as Section 2 of Voting Rights Act.  Several challenges (including one brought by the United States) were brought against the Texas law, which was one of the most restrictive laws in the nation.  All of the cases were consolidated in the Southern District of Texas in Corpus Christi. 

The Campaign Legal Center is part of the legal team that includes Chad Dunn and K. Scott Brazil (Brazil & Dunn), Neil G. Baron, David Richards (Richards, Rodriguez & Skeith), Armand Derfner (Derfner, Altman & Wilborn), Luis Roberto Vera, Jr. (LULAC) and Craig M. Wilkins and Teresa G. Snelson (Dallas County District Attorney’s Office).

To read the Fifth Circuit Court’s opinion granting a stay pending appeal, click here.

To read the Legal Center's Brief in Opposition to the Emergency Motion to Stay Final Judgment Pending Appeal (October 12, 2014), click here.

To read the opinion of the District Court, click here. 

Today, the Federal Election Commission (FEC) ignored the laws passed by Congress in order to provide wealthy individuals a way to double the amount they can contribute to the national political parties. Vice Chair Ann Ravel joined with Republican Commissioners to greenlight the gutting of existing federal limits on contributions to national political parties established in the wake of Watergate.  A single individual can now give more than $250,000 to either the RNC or the DNC each presidential cycle.

Yesterday, the Campaign Legal Center, joined by Democracy 21, strongly urged the FEC to reject the request from the Republican National Committee (RNC) and Democratic National Committee (DNC) seeking to undermine the existing federal limits on contributions to national political parties established in the wake of Watergate.  The watchdog groups filed comments on the FEC’s draft responses to Advisory Opinion Request 2014-12, where the national party committees seek permission to raise funds for party conventions under a separate contribution limit.  

“This is a disgraceful and activist decision that ignores the laws passed by Congress to combat corruption,” said Larry Noble, of the Campaign Legal Center.  “One has come to expect such efforts to dismantle the current contribution limits brick by brick from the current Republican Commissioners, but Vice Chair Ravel’s vote to give the national party committees a new way to tap wealthy donors is  incredibly disappointing and irresponsible. It is even more egregious in light of the Supreme Court’s recent decision striking down the aggregate limit on what an individual can give to all party committees.  As of today, an individual can give more than a quarter million dollars to the RNC or the DNC each presidential election cycle. Perhaps the Vice Chair should have done her public listening tourbefore ripping up federal law because I don’t think the public is going to tell her that it wants her to give wealthy donors additional avenues to buy still more influence in Washington.”

In response to the Advisory Opinion Request filed by the RNC and the DNC, the FEC had produced two alternative draft advisory opinions.  The comments filed by the Campaign Legal Center and Democracy 21 strongly supported Draft A which concluded that raising convention funds under a separate limit is clearly prohibited by federal statute and under existing FEC regulations.  The comments strongly condemned Draft B’s assertion that convention committees can be considered separate “national committees” with their own contribution limits on the basis that this view is not only  contrary to the law, but is based on misrepresentations of previous rulings by the FEC.  The comments went on to warn that such an advisory opinion from the FEC would lead to a proliferation of ‘separate’ national committees that could be utilized to skirt existing contribution limits on a massive scale.

The RNC and DNC Advisory Opinion Request was filed after repealing the federal funding for national party conventions that had been in place for more than four decades. Democratic Commissioners Ellen Weintraub and Steven Walther voted against the new limit.

To read the comments filed yesterday by the Campaign Legal Center and Democracy 21, click here. 

Tonight, a federal court struck down Texas’ Voter ID (SB 14) law as an unconstitutional burden on the right to vote in Veasey v. Perry.  Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas in Corpus Christi found SB 14 had “an impermissible discriminatory effect against Hispanics and African-Americans, and was imposed with an unconstitutional discriminatory purpose.”  Further the court held that the law constituted an “unconstitutional poll tax.”  The Campaign Legal Center was part of the legal team representing voters and elected officials adversely impacted by the law.

“The Texas voter ID law was a truly disgraceful act by legislators who passed legislation dictating which Texans to disenfranchise, suppressing the ability of state’s minority communities to vote and thus choose their own representatives in government,” said J. Gerald Hebert, Executive Director of The Campaign Legal Center.  “Judge Ramos clearly recognized the law for its true discriminatory intentions and acted accordingly to strike it down for what it was in her thoughtful opinion. Choosing which voters will cast ballots and which voters will not for partisan gain and discriminatory purposes is behavior we expect from Third World dictators and Soviet-era despots not legislators and a governor in one of our own states.” 

The complaint filed by the Campaign Legal Center in the case claimed that the voter photo ID law (SB 14) violates the 1st, 14th, 15th and 24th Amendments to the Constitution, as well as Section 2 of Voting Rights Act.  Several challenges (including one brought by the United States) were brought against the Texas law, which was one of the most restrictive laws in the nation.  The cases were consolidated in the Southern District of Texas in Corpus Christi. 

The Campaign Legal Center is part of the legal team that includes Chad Dunn and K. Scott Brazil (Brazil & Dunn), Neil G. Baron, David Richards (Richards, Rodriguez & Skeith), Armand Derfner (Derfner, Altman & Wilborn), Luis Roberto Vera, Jr. (LULAC) and Craig M. Wilkins and Teresa G. Snelson (Dallas County District Attorney’s Office).

To read the court’s opinion striking down the law, click here.

To read the original complaint, click here.

Today, the Campaign Legal Center, joined by Democracy 21, strongly urged the Federal Election Commission (FEC) to reject the request from the Republican National Committee (RNC) and Democratic National Committee (DNC) seeking to undermine the existing federal limits on contributions to national political parties established in the wake of Watergate.  The watchdog groups filed comments on the FEC’s draft responses to Advisory Opinion Request 2014-12, where the national party committees seek permission to raise funds for party conventions under a separate contribution limit.

 In response to the Advisory Opinion Request filed by the RNC and the DNC, the FEC produced two alternative draft advisory opinions.  The comments filed by the Campaign Legal Center and Democracy 21 strongly support Draft A which concludes that raising convention funds under a separate limit is clearly prohibited by federal statute and under existing FEC regulations.  The comments strongly condemn Draft B’s assertion that convention committees can be considered separate “national committees” with their own contribution limits on the basis that this view is not only  contrary to the law, but is based on misrepresentations of previous rulings by the FEC. The comments go on to warn that such an advisory opinion from the FEC would lead to a proliferation of ‘separate’ national committees that could be utilized to skirt existing contribution limits on a massive scale.

“What the party committees are seeking is nothing short of permission to violate the laws passed by Congress.  Draft A recognizes this and correctly rejects it,” said Larry Noble, of the Campaign Legal Center.  “Draft B’s assertions are positively ludicrous and would amount to the FEC usurping the power of the legislative branch by arbitrarily handing out exemptions to the laws passed by Congress.  The FEC has a long and sad tradition of carving out loopholes in federal campaign finance laws but Draft B would represent a new low if passed by the commission.”

The RNC and DNC Advisory Opinion Request was filed after repealing the federal funding for national party conventions that had been in place for more than four decades as a part of the post-Watergate campaign finance reforms.   

To read the comments filed today by the Campaign Legal Center and Democracy 21, click here.

Today, the Texas Court of Appeals for the Third District affirmed a sweeping lower court decision upholding numerous provisions of Texas campaign finance law in Texas Democratic Party v. King Street Patriots.  The Campaign Legal Center filed amicus briefs in both the district court and the Court of Appeals defending the constitutionality of Texas’s campaign finance laws.   

“The King Street Patriots’ claims had no merit and the Court of Appeals, like the district court, saw right through the legal smoke and mirrors and upheld the laws,” said Tara Malloy, Campaign Legal Center Senior Counsel.  “The case is part of a wave of litigation across the country attempting to overturn a host of state campaign finance laws following the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision. The King Street Patriot attorneys come from the same familiar stable of lawyers and groups challenging campaign finance laws from Hawaii to Maine.  As with many of the other challenges, the plaintiffs here overreach and argue that Citizens United implicitly invalidated corporate contribution restrictions – a position completely unsupported by the courts.”

The Texas Democratic Party filed an action against the King Street Patriots, alleging that the non-profit 501(c)(4) corporation made in-kind contributions to the state Republican Party in violation of Texas’s restriction on corporate political contributions, and failed to register as a “political committee” and comply with state disclosure law.  The King Street Patriots, in response, filed a broad counterclaim challenging the constitutionality of numerous provisions of Texas campaign finance law.

The lower court granted summary judgment to the Texas Democratic Party and dismissed the counterclaim, allowing the original Texas Democratic Party action to move forward on a separate track seeking damages and declaratory and injunctive relief in connection to the alleged violations of state campaign finance law.

To read the opinion of the Appeals Court, click here.

To read the brief filed by the Campaign Legal Center in the Appeals Court, click here.  

 To read the summary judgment opinion of the district court, click here.