October 25, 2023

The Courts

OpenSecrets: Campaign Legal Center and OpenSecrets sue the FEC for delayed response to transparency rulemaking petition

.....Today, Campaign Legal Center (CLC) and OpenSecrets filed a lawsuit against the Federal Election Commission (FEC) for failing to respond to a 2019 petition filed jointly by both organizations requesting that the agency create new disclosure rules for “special-purpose” accounts maintained by national political party committees.

Courthouse News: Fifth Circuit rejects media groups’ challenge of Texas drone regulations

By Cameron Langford

.....In a loss for Texas journalists, a Fifth Circuit panel on Monday ruled a state law restricting use of drones does not violate the First Amendment.

Free Expression

EFF: Speaking Freely: Nadine Strossen

Interviewed by David Greene

.....Probably the most unpopular position the ACLU has ever taken is NOT when we famously or infamously defended free speech for Nazis to demonstrate in Skokie, IL, a town with a large Jewish population including many Holocaust survivors. But, [it was] the ACLU’s defense of corporate free speech rights, even to spend money in advocating for causes and for candidates. So the basic holding of Citizens United—which is such a reviled decision—is supported by the ACLU, I think correctly. This is a huge topic, but let me start with a point that is extremely contested among the public, but not at all contested by the Supreme Court. The Justices disagreed about whether particular regulations did or did not survive what we call the appropriate level of scrutiny, but 100% of them have agreed throughout modern history to this day that corporations have free speech rights. And it grew out of the notion of freedom of association. Interestingly enough, the Supreme Court first recognized that really important, implicit right in the First Amendment in a case involving a not-for-profit—but corporation—the NAACP, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. 

National Review: How Donors Can Help Fix Our Broken Campuses

By Greg Lukianoff

.....Donors have the ability right now to lead schools away from conformity-inducing pressures such as DEI statements, “bias-related incident” hot lines, and the conspicuous lack of faculty viewpoint diversity and toward nonconformity-inducing pressures such as institutional neutrality on social and political issues and an emphasis on academic freedom.

Online Speech Platforms

Daily Beast: Google Red-Flagged Kentucky AG’s Taxpayer-Funded Ads

By Roger Sollenberger

.....With less than a week to go before the Republican primary this May, the office of Kentucky attorney general Daniel Cameron launched a paid video ad campaign to raise awareness about human trafficking, featuring the gubernatorial candidate himself.

To be clear, the video was not the work of Cameron’s political campaign. Instead, it was part of a public outreach program conducted by the commonwealth’s office of attorney general (OAG). And the costs weren’t underwritten by voluntary donors, but by a $175,000 taxpayer-backed federal grant that the OAG received from the Department of Justice in January.

Cameron was only able to use those taxpayer dollars because the ads were public service announcements, not political ads. But at least one important arbiter said the ads were, in fact, political: Google.

Less than a month after the primary, Cameron’s office was notified that the ads had been “paused and flagged” after Google ruled that it was political advertising, according to internal communications shared with The Daily Beast.

Candidates and Campaigns

New York Times: Were the Fake Trump Signs a Prank? Or a Political Dirty Trick?

By Dan Barry

.....The Greenwich tempest that came to be known as “Signgate” was, in some ways, larger than Greenwich itself, touching on national politics, election integrity and free speech. But it was also exquisitely parochial, reflecting the acutely petty vibe of local politics, the clash of big personalities in a small space — and sweet, delicious revenge.

NJ.com: ‘Phantom candidates’ in tough N.J. legislative elections? Republicans call for investigation.

By Brent Johnson

.....Just days before Halloween, questions about a mysterious “dark money” group and “phantom candidates” have invaded a pair of tense races for state Legislature seats in South Jersey.

Republicans candidates in the 2nd and 4th legislative districts have asked top law enforcement officials to investigate a new nonprofit group with a Queens address that sent out campaign mailers urging Republican voters to support independent or third-party “conservative” candidates.

The States

Politico: Florida orders universities to ‘deactivate’ pro-Palestinian group

By Andrew Atterbury

.....Florida’s university system chancellor, responding to a push by Gov. Ron DeSantis, directed state universities Tuesday to disband campus groups with ties to the national Students for Justice in Palestine organization, marking the first punishments handed down to colleges here amid the Israel-Hamas war.

In a memo to school leaders, the state ordered a “crack down” on campus events led by the pro-Palestinian organization that the DeSantis administration claims amount to “harmful support for terrorist groups” like Hamas, which attacked Israel in early October. Florida, under Republican presidential candidate DeSantis, has staunchly supported Israel during the ongoing war and was monitoring college protests that have since ignited.

Times Herald: State Rep. Tarik Khan: ‘To Bullies Everywhere: Here, we SLAPP Back’

By State Rep. Tarik Khan, D-194th

.....In a few weeks, we wrote and introduced the Free Speech Protection Act—The Anti-SLAPP Act.

This legislation, HB 1466, sets a clear path for judges to quickly dismiss a frivolous lawsuit against an individual or group if it is clearly intended to silence free speech.

Our bill avoids the hassle of lengthy legal cases and the exorbitant associated legal fees caused by SLAPP suits. We wrote the law so that individuals or groups being wrongly sued could recuperate their legal fees and court expenses.

We also included a “SLAPP back” provision, allowing judges to award damages to the wronged party.

Many of my fellow Democrats cosponsored our common sense bill, as did a conservative Republican member, Representative Lee James (R-Venango).

And this month, our Anti-SLAPP Act passed the PA House Judiciary Committee and then passed unanimously on October 5 with a total vote count of 202-0!

The bill now goes to the PA Senate, where we hope they will pass it, and move it onto Governor Shapiro’s desk for his signature.

The City: Adams Campaign Contributors Plead Guilty to Straw Donor Conspiracy Charge

By George Joseph

.....Shahid and Yahya Mushtaq, two brothers who run a construction company in Queens, each pleaded guilty on Tuesday to a misdemeanor conspiracy charge stemming from a straw donor scheme that generated illicit public matching funds for Eric Adams’ successful 2021 mayoral campaign.