Right now Pending before the Supreme Court is a Cert Petition asking to Review Montana’s Campaign Contribution Limits. The Issue in the 9th Circuit Case of Lair v. Motl may seem a bit Esoteric. It concerns how much Evidence of Corruption a State must Produce to Support a Campaign Contribution Limit. The Lair Case, brought by Citizens United Jim Bopp, builds upon Chief Justice Roberts’ McCutcheon Decision to Argue for a Standard that would lead Courts to Strike Down Virtually All Contribution Limits.
The Court is also considering Petition from Opponents of City-Level Campaign Contribution Limits in Austin, Texas. Although a 5th Circuit Panel Upheld Austin’s Limits in Zimmerman v. City of Austin, newly Confirmed Judge Jim Ho wrote a Strong Dissent from the Entire 5th Circuit’s Decision Not to Rehear the Case. Ho, a former Clerk of Campaign Finance Law Opponent Justice Clarence Thomas, issued a Screed arguing that All Campaign Finance Laws Violate the First Amendment and People who don’t like Big Money in Politics should simply Shrink the Size of Government so the Government doesn’t have a Lot of Goodies to give away.
Neither Lair nor Zimmerman directly Call the Federal $2,700 Campaign Finance Limit into question, but either or both Cases could be the Vehicle to Create a Precedent that would Compel Federal Courts to Strike Down the $2,700 Limit. It could even happen before the 2020 Election.
Because this is a Constitutional Ruling, there would be precious little that Congress could do about it, not that Mitch McConnell, who has helped Engineer these Events, from Supporting the relevant Lawsuits to Blocking Merrick Garland and Shoving Kavanaugh through the Senate without a Full Document Release.
The World of Election Law and Voting Rights is about to get much Worse with Kennedy’s Departure. Judge Kavanaugh is already On Record as Supporting Porous Campaign Finance Laws that would allow the Russian Government and other Foreign Entities to Spend Unlimited Sums in our Elections. It now appears he believes Wealthy Americans have a Constitutional Right to Directly fill Candidate Coffers with Unlimited Sums, gaining Unprecedented Influence over these Officials. With Kavanaugh replacing Justice Kennedy, and Chief Justice Roberts in the Middle of the Court, the Era of Big Money in Politics may soon get a heck of a lot Worse.
But very good news for Supporters of Campaign Finance Contribution Limits to Candidates.
The Supreme Court without noted Dissent has turned Down Lair v. Magnan, a Case which could have been the Basis to Attack All Individual Contribution Limits to Candidates.
This could mean that the Court does Not want to wade into these Controversial Waters right now, not that the Court Agrees with the 9th Circuit’s more Permissive Tests for such Regulations.
NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote! Michael H. Drucker
No comments:
Post a Comment