In the News
New Mexico In Depth: Governor vetoes campaign finance reform
By Trip Jennings
The governor vetoed Senate Bill 96…
“While I support efforts to make political process more transparent, the broad language in the bill could lead to unintended consequences that would force groups like charities to disclose the names and addresses of their contributors in certain circumstances,” Martinez wrote in her veto message…
Critics of the legislation, however, celebrated Martinez’s decision to kill the legislation, saying it preserved contributors’ privacy when they donate money to nonprofits involved in the political process.
Bradley A. Smith, chairman of The Center for Competitive Politics, which touts itself as the country’s largest nonprofit defending First Amendment political speech rights, lauded Martinez for siding “with the First Amendment by vetoing this poorly written bill.”
“The purpose of disclosure laws is to allow people to monitor their government, not the other way around,” he said in a statement. “If this complex bill would have become law, only groups that could afford lawyers could safely speak out about elected officials. We should make it easy for groups of all sizes to exercise their free speech rights.”
Santa Fe New Mexican: Gun control bill among 70 vetoed by Gov. Martinez in a day
By Andrew Oxford
Senate Bill 96 would have required nonprofit groups that pay more than $1,000 for political advertising or campaigning to file a report with the Secretary of State’s Office detailing the expense and the organization’s donors. The bill would also have required that political advertisements include a disclaimer identifying the buyer…
In her veto message, Martinez echoed the concerns of critics who argued the bill would chill political advocacy, saddle nonprofit organizations with reporting requirements and drive donors away from some charities.
National groups on both sides of the issue lobbied on the bill to the end.
“The purpose of disclosure laws is to allow people to monitor their government, not the other way around,” said Bradley Smith, chairman of the Center for Competitive Politics, a Virginia-based group that opposes transparency in campaign finance laws.
CCP
Colorado closes free speech case, changes law, pays $220K in attorney’s fees
Attorneys for Colorado and the Center for Competitive Politics (CCP) filed a notice in federal court today ending a free speech case that began more than four years ago. It’s the final chapter in a federal lawsuit that saw Colorado’s ballot issue disclosure law partially invalidated under the First Amendment, and forced Colorado to pay $220,000 to cover the plaintiff’s attorney’s fees…
The case, Coalition for Secular Government (CSG) v. Williams, involved a two-person group that published papers that in small part discussed a Colorado ballot measure. CSG planned to raise less than $3,500 to update and distribute a public policy paper online. But Colorado law forced CSG to register as an issue committee and file reports like those required for political action committees.
“It’s frustrating that the law made even modest efforts to talk about policies nearly impossible,” said CSG President Diana Brickell. “We are a small organization, and the law forced us to file complex reports or face thousands in fines and penalties. We are ecstatic that CCP helped secure our constitutional rights.”
CCP Applauds Confirmation of Justice Neil Gorsuch
The Center for Competitive Politics (CCP) released the following statement in reaction to today’s Senate confirmation of Justice Neil Gorsuch to the U.S. Supreme Court:
“Today is a great day for our civil rights and our nation,” said David Keating, President of CCP. “Justice Gorsuch has a superb record of standing up for the constitutional rights of Americans. He applies careful scrutiny to laws at a time when our free speech rights are under attack. We are very pleased to have a justice of his caliber fill the vacancy on the Supreme Court.”
CCP previously compiled a thorough analysis of Justice Gorsuch’s record on First Amendment free speech issues. It is available here.
CCP Commends New Mexico Governor Martinez for Vetoing Anti-Donor Privacy Bill
The Center for Competitive Politics (CCP), America’s largest nonprofit defending First Amendment political speech rights, released the following statement commending New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez for her veto of S.B. 96:
“Governor Martinez sided with the First Amendment by vetoing this poorly written bill,” explained CCP Chairman Bradley A. Smith. “The purpose of disclosure laws is to allow people to monitor their government, not the other way around. If this complex bill would have become law, only groups that could afford lawyers could safely speak out about elected officials. We should make it easy for groups of all sizes to exercise their free speech rights.”
If enacted, S.B. 96 would have amended New Mexico’s campaign finance laws to create new reporting requirements for individuals and organizations that publish information simply mentioning the name of a candidate…
Last month, CCP wrote to Governor Martinez outlining multiple significant constitutional and practical problems with S.B. 96.
Free Speech
Washington Post: The U.S. government has withdrawn its request ordering Twitter to identify a Trump critic
By Hayley Tsukayama and Craig Timberg
The legal battle between Twitter and the U.S. government ended Friday as the Department of Homeland Security withdrew its demand that the tech company release information to identify an account holder whose tweets have been critical of President Trump…
The social networking site filed a lawsuit Thursday to protest the order, saying that it violated the user’s First Amendment right to free expression. But Twitter dropped its suit Friday, saying in a court filing that because “the summons has now been withdrawn, Twitter voluntary dismisses without prejudice all claims.”…
A lawyer at the American Civil Liberties Union, which represented the user, said in a statement Friday that the speed with which the government withdrew the request shows how problematic its demand was.
“Speaking anonymously about issues of the day is a longstanding American tradition, dating back to when the framers of the Constitution wrote under pseudonyms,” said Esha Bhandari, one of the lawyers. “The anonymity that the First Amendment guarantees is often most essential when people criticize the government, and this free speech right is as important today as ever.”
Supreme Court
New York Times: Neil Gorsuch Confirmed by Senate as Supreme Court Justice
By Adam Liptak and Matt Flegenheimer
Judge Neil M. Gorsuch was confirmed by the Senate on Friday to become the 113th justice of the Supreme Court, capping a political brawl that lasted for more than a year…
However rocky the first months of his administration may have been, Mr. Trump now has a lasting legacy: Judge Gorsuch, 49, could serve on the court for 30 years or more.
“As a deep believer in the rule of law, Judge Gorsuch will serve the American people with distinction as he continues to faithfully and vigorously defend our Constitution,” the president said.The final tally was 54-45 in favor of confirmation…
Judge Gorsuch possesses the credentials typical of the modern Supreme Court justice. He is a graduate of Columbia, Harvard and Oxford, served as a Supreme Court law clerk and worked as a lawyer at a prestigious Washington law firm and at the Justice Department. He joined the United States Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit, in Denver, in 2006, where he was widely admired as a fine judicial stylist.
Washington Post: Gorsuch takes constitutional oath to become Supreme Court justice
By Robert Barnes
Colorado appeals court judge Neil M. Gorsuch took his constitutional oath to be the Supreme Court’s 113th justice Monday morning, and will appear later at a Rose Garden ceremony with the man who nominated him, President Trump.
At the first, private event in a grand room inside the Supreme Court, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. administered the oath that all federal employees take…
At the White House, Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, for whom the 49-year-old Gorsuch once served as a clerk, will lead him through a second oath that justices take, to impartially interpret the laws “and do equal right to the poor and to the rich.”
It is the conclusion of a nearly 14-month process to fill Scalia’s seat, with Republicans winning a bitter battle to ensure his replacement was a like-minded disciple who will restore a conservative majority on the court for years to come.
Harassment
Daily Signal: In ‘Scary’ Episode, This Employer Is Hoisted in Effigy by Anti-Trump Agitators
By Ken McIntyre
As a prominent Chicago financier as well as a trustee of the nation’s leading conservative think tank, he has seen his share of rough-and-tumble battles.
But Tony Saliba hadn’t ever seen a crude effigy of himself paraded around, one that represented him a puppeteer manipulating the president of the United States. Until recently at a landmark of Chicago’s financial district, anyway…
Saliba, 61, admits to being amused at first-until he showed the photos and stories several days later to his wife, Moira, and she “freaked out.”
“She didn’t care how long ago it was, she cared for her babies,” he says. “She said it’s no laughing matter, someone marching along with your name and picture, bigger than life.”
The Salibas have two teenage children.
“She is still a little rattled,” Saliba says of his wife…
It was a bit intimidating, he admits in retrospect, seeing a blown-up photo of his smiling face mounted atop an effigy that cradled a hand puppet with Trump’s face on it.
“It was just scary that my picture was bigger than life on a big doll they were carrying around,” Saliba says of the effigy.
The Media
Reason: FDR’s War Against the Press
By David Beito
Donald Trump’s champions and critics agree: He is rewriting the relationship between the press and the presidency. On the pro-Trump side, Newt Gingrich claims that the president’s “brilliant” use of Twitter allows him “very quickly over and over to set the agenda at almost no cost,” while Press Secretary Sean Spicer says it gives him a “direct pipeline to the American people.” Critics highlight how Trump sidelines the press by bullying his critics, rebuffing hard questions, and favoring sympathetic outlets such as Breitbart. They have expressed alarm about Trump’s call to “open up” libel laws as a means to quash “horrible and false” stories.
Another president, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, revised the media rules in equally profound ways. Like Trump, he feuded with the mainstream media; like Trump, he used a new medium as a direct pipeline to the people. He also used the government’s machinery to suppress unfavorable coverage, a fate we hope to avoid in the age of Trump.
The States
Albuquerque Journal: Martinez sets personal record for vetoes
By Dan McKay
The governor blocked two of Wirth’s priorities this session – including a campaign finance measure, Senate Bill 96, that would have required some disclosure of “dark-money” campaign spending by nonprofit groups. That proposal, co-sponsored by Republican Rep. James Smith of Sandia Park, also sought to adjust limits on the size of campaign contributions that candidates may accept, among other changes…
Martinez said that the bill was poorly written and that increased disclosure requirements could have unintended consequences, such as discouraging charities from advocating for their causes. People might also be reluctant to donate if they fear their names will be disclosed, she said.
NorthJersey.com: N.J. election watchdog: state needs pay-to-play reform
By Nicholas Pugliese
Businesses with public contracts in the state donated $8.1 million last year to candidates, political parties and other groups in New Jersey, according to a preliminary analysis conducted by the Election Law Enforcement Commission…
Brindle in his report suggested a series of reforms that would encourage money to flow back toward political parties and candidates, which he said “are much more accountable than the independent groups and by law have to disclose their contributors and their expenditures.”
Changes include consolidating pay-to-play restrictions into a single state law; raising from $300 to $1,000 the amount contractors could give without jeopardizing their contracts; waving the $1,000 limit for party committees, though contractors still would be subject to contribution limits that apply to all other donors; and requiring more contractors to file annual reports with ELEC detailing their contracts and contributions, including those to PACs and independent groups.
Brindle also called for restrictions on the amount contractors can give to PACs.
Argus Leader: They’re back: ethics measure backers file constitutional amendment
By Dana Ferguson
After lawmakers struck their voter-approved ballot measure, supporters of a campaign finance and ethics proposal said Thursday that they’ll take another run at the ballot in 2018.
This time they’ll make the proposal legislator-proof by bringing it as a constitutional amendment, said Represent South Dakota Spokesman Doug Kronaizl.
Kronaizl said the group went on a listening tour earlier this year to figure out which pieces of Initiated Measure 22 voters wanted and which were unnecessary. He said the group then put together the constitutional amendment that would prohibit lawmakers from repealing voter-approved measures, ban lobbyist gifts to politicians, ban foreign money in South Dakota elections as well as union or corporate funds to candidates, lower campaign finance limits and create a citizen ethics commission.
Missoulian: Montana considers raising political campaign donation limits
By Matt Volz, Associated Press
Montana lawmakers are considering raising campaign contribution limits for state candidates and allowing decisions on campaign finance violations to go to mediation, over the objections of the outgoing regulator who says the measure could affect a pending case and diminish his office’s independence.
The bill by Sen. Tom Richmond, R-Billings, would increase how much money state candidates can receive from political parties, committees and individuals. Richmond said the measure is in response to a federal judge’s 2016 ruling that Montana’s low limits unconstitutionally restricted free speech.
“We, the group that worked on this bill, believe that these campaign contribution limits are reasonable and that the Legislature, because of the actions of the court, needs to set a policy for our contribution limits,” Richmond told the House Judiciary Committee on Friday.
The campaign contribution case Richmond referred to is not settled. An appeal of U.S. District Judge Charles Lovell’s decision to strike down Montana’s contribution limits is pending before the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which could reinstate them.
