[EL] Ninth circuit en banc decision today reverses earlier Chula Vista disclosure ruling
Rick Hasen
rhasen at law.uci.edu
Fri Apr 3 15:02:26 PDT 2015
En Banc 9th Circuit Unanimously Rules No Anonymous Initiative
Sponsors, Slams Role of Money in Initiative Process
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=71526>
Posted onApril 3, 2015 2:58 pm
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=71526>byRick Hasen
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
You can find the ruling in the /Chula Vista /casehere
<http://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2015/04/03/12-55726.pdf>. This
overturned an earlier panel decision,a result I expected.
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=66473> Now that the court has ruled this
way, I think Supreme Court review is unlikely.
Footnote 11 is especially interesting—not surprising from Judge
Reinhardt, but it is unanimous:
That the initiative process may not have served its purposes as well
as its original proponents hoped does not affect our decision here.
There is mounting evidence that corporations and ultra-wealthy
individuals have come to dominate the initiative process. See
California Comm’n on Campaign Financing, Democracy By Initiative:
Shaping California’s Fourth Branch of Government 264–74 (1992);
Adam Winkler, Beyond Bellotti, 32 Loy. L.A. L. Rev. 133, 137–39
(1998); Jamin B. Raskin, Direct Democracy, Corporate Power and
Judicial Review of Popularly-Enacted Campaign Finance Reform , 1996
Ann. Surv. Am. L. 393, 395–99 (1996); John S. Shockley, Direct
Democracy, CampaignFinance, and the Courts: Can Corruption, Undue
Influence, and Declining Voter Confidence Be Found? , 39 U. Miami L.
Rev. 377, 393–96 (1985); J. Skelly Wright, Money and the Pollution
of Politics: Is the First Amendment an Obstacle to Political
Equality?, 82 Colum. L. Rev. 609, 622–25 (1982); see also Michael
Hiltzik, On California Initiatives, Money Talked, The Public
Interest Walked, L.A. Times, Nov. 5, 2014,
http://tinyurl.com/latimeshiltzik; Norimitsu Onishi, California
Ballot Initiatives, Born in Populism, Now Come from Billionaires,
N.Y. Times, Oct. 17, 2012, at A22; Ina Jaffe, Corporate Bucks Behind
‘Citizens’ Initiatives in Calif., Nat’l Public Radio, May 24, 2010,
http://tinyurl.com/nprjaffe. However, the State of California and
the City of Chula Vista are entitled to continue striving to
guarantee self-government to their citizens, notwithstanding these
shortcomings of direct democracy, and to improve the initiative
process should they so desire.
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Posted incampaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>,direct
democracy <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=62>
On 4/3/15 10:52 AM, Richard Winger wrote:
> http://ballot-access.org/2015/04/03/ninth-circuit-upholds-california-law-requiring-proponent-of-a-local-initiative-to-be-named-on-the-petition/
>
> Richard Winger
> 415-922-9779
> PO Box 470296, San Francisco Ca 94147
>
>
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--
Rick Hasen
Chancellor's Professor of Law and Political Science
UC Irvine School of Law
401 E. Peltason Dr., Suite 1000
Irvine, CA 92697-8000
949.824.3072 - office
949.824.0495 - fax
rhasen at law.uci.edu
http://www.law.uci.edu/faculty/full-time/hasen/
http://electionlawblog.org
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