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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...
In Valdes v. United States, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit reviewed the conviction of a police officer under the federal gratuities statute accepting cash from an undercover FBI agent in exchange for searching law enforcement databases for information. The D.C. Circuit, sitting en...
In February 2008, the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) challenged a provision in the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act (HLOGA) that requires a lobbying coalition, such as NAM, to disclose any member organizations of the coalition that fund the coalition’s lobbying activities and...
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...
South Carolina sought and obtained approval (preclearance) under the Voting Rights Act of a law (modified during litigation) that required voters to present a photo ID at the polls.
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...
In January 2004, the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS) and others filed a constitutional challenge to several aspects of Arizona’s public campaign financing system. Plaintiffs eventually voluntarily dismissed their case, with similar issues being litigated in McComish v...
Plaintiff Kean for Congress Committee brought suit against the FEC seeking judicial review of the agency’s dismissal of an administrative complaint...
In March 2010, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit struck down the federal contribution limits as applied to “independent expenditure committees,” finding that the Supreme Court’s analysis in Citizens United required it to “conclude that the government has no anti-corruption interest in...
In August 2008, plaintiffs challenged the “matching funds trigger provisions” of the Arizona Citizens Clean Elections Act, which provided participating candidates with additional funds if a non-participating opponent or outside group spent above a certain threshold. The U.S. Supreme Court held that...
Petitioner, a judicial candidate for a Florida County Court, filed suit challenging the Florida Code of Judicial Conduct rule prohibiting candidates for judicial office from personally soliciting campaign funds. The Florida Supreme Court found petitioner guilty of violating the solicitation...