The Brennan Center filed an amicus
brief in Beaumont arguing that the Supreme Court should take the
opportunity presented by the case to clarify that the Massachusetts
Citizens for Life exception only applies to groups that accept no
contributions from business corporations or unions. While the
Supreme Court explicitly did not reach this issue, see FEC v.
Beaumont, slip op. at 4 n.2, it did quote MCFL's description
of a policy against accepting any corporate donations as
"essential" to the Court's holding. Beaumont, slip
op. at 3. The sweeping language of Beaumont and
the Court's skeptical tone on page 3 suggest that the circuit court
opinions applying MCFL to organizations which accept some
corporate contributions should be reconsidered.
Adam H. Morse
Associate Counsel, Democracy Program
Brennan Center for Justice
161 Avenue of the Americas, 12th Fl.
New York, NY 10013-1205
adam.morse@nyu.edu
www.brennancenter.org
212-992-8648
fax: 212-995-4550