Filter by Type
Filter by Issue Area
Filter by Document Type
Filter by Case/Action Status
Three Unnamed Petitioners v. Peterson is a challenge to the State of Wisconsin’s restrictions on the coordination of expenditures between candidates and outside groups.
In May 2014, the Colorado Republican Party (CRP) filed suit in state court seeking a declaratory judgment that would allow it to establish an independent expenditure committee, or “Super PAC,” that could operate outside the otherwise applicable state limits for contributions to political parties...
In August 2010, plaintiffs filed suit to challenge multiple aspects of Hawaii state campaign finance law, including the statutory definitions of “political committee” and “expenditure,” several disclosure provisions and the state restriction on contributions from government contractors. On March 21...
The state Republican parties of New York and Tennessee challenged an SEC rule barring investment firms from managing state assets for two years after a firm or its associates make more than de minimis contributions to officeholders or candidates who have or would have power to award investment...
Plaintiffs filed suit to challenge the constitutionality of Mississippi’s campaign finance disclosure requirements as they apply to small groups and individuals intending to support or oppose state constitutional ballot measures.
On September 2, 2014, the Independence Institute filed suit challenging the constitutionality of Colorado’s “electioneering communication” disclosure provisions, which require a group spending over $1,000 on television, radio or print ads that mention the name of a state candidate within 60 days of...
In November 2008, the RNC brought a constitutional challenge to the “soft money” restrictions of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (BCRA) that bar the national parties from raising or spending soft money and prohibit state parties from using soft money for activities that affect federal elections...
In 2009, Vermont Right to Life Committee (VRLC) challenged Vermont’s campaign finance law's disclosure provisions and contribution limits as applied to VRLC's fund that allegedly makes only independent expenditures. The district court upheld the challenged disclosure provisions and contribution...
The Republican National Committee and donor Shaun McCutcheon brought suit to challenge the $74,600 aggregate limit on contributions to non-candidate committees and the $48,600 aggregate limit on contributions to candidate committees in a two-year election cycle. On April 2, 2014, the Supreme Court...
On April 21, 2011, Representative Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) sued the FEC in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, arguing that a 2007 regulation improperly narrowed the scope of federal disclosure requirements connected to electioneering communications...
In 2009, an unsuccessful candidate for Arizona judicial office filed suit to challenge canons of the Arizona Code of Judicial Conduct, alleging that the canons violate his First Amendment rights...
In March 2010, plaintiffs filed suit to challenge Montana’s corporate expenditure restriction, M.C.A. § 13-35-227, claiming that the ban was unconstitutional under Citizens United v. FEC. On June 25, 2012, the U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari and summarily reversed the Montana Supreme Court’s...
In 2009, Plaintiffs filed suit to prevent Washington State from making petitions connected to a state ballot measure publicly available under the state Public Records Act. Plaintiffs argued that the state records law was facially unconstitutional in connection to ballot measure petitions, and the...
On January 10, 2007, Unity08, a self-described “nascent political party,” brought suit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia challenging a FEC advisory opinion finding that it was a “political committee” under FECA even though it had not yet nominated its presidential and vice...
These consolidated cases, initiated in 2006, challenged the constitutionality of Connecticut’s campaign finance reform legislation, which included a public financing system and pay-to-play restrictions which prohibited contributions from lobbyists, state contractors, and members of their immediate...
The plaintiffs rely on the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Citizens United v. FEC to challenge Minnesota’s restriction on corporate contributions to state candidates and political parties, and its state disclosure requirements for corporate independent expenditures.
On August 5, 2010, plaintiffs filed a sweeping lawsuit challenging numerous aspects of Wisconsin campaign finance law, included the state’s definition of “political committee” and various disclosure and reporting requirements applicable to “independent expenditure organizations.” In 2014, a Seventh...
On October 19, 2011, plaintiffs filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to challenge the constitutionality of the federal government contractor contribution ban as applied to individuals who have personal services contracts with federal agencies...
The lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (BCRA) of 2002 - eleven suits brought by more than 80 plaintiffs - were consolidated as McConnell v. FEC. The defendants in the case were the U.S. Department of Justice and the Federal Election Commission; the Act...
Plaintiffs brought the case in September 2006 to obtain a declaratory judgment confirming that the City of Ocean City, NJ has the home rule authority to adopt an ordinance that would provide for public financing in municipal elections. The Appellate Division of the Superior Court of New Jersey...