Subject: new CFR case from D. Minn.
From: "J. J. Gass" <jj.gass@nyu.edu>
Date: 11/17/2003, 8:55 AM
To: election-law_gl@majordomo.lls.edu

The slip opinion can be viewed as a pdf at http://www.nysd.uscourts.gov/courtweb/pdf/D08MNXC/03-09227.PDF. If you'd like to find the case on Westlaw or LEXIS, the caption is Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life, Inc. v. Kelley, Civ. No. 02-3819.

The plaintiffs challenged a fairly large number of provisions of Minnesota law, almost all of which were upheld.  The two holdings I found most notable include the one part of the statute that was struck down--a requirement that all "campaign material" must contain the name of the person or persons causing the campaign material to be created and disseminated.  This failed for two reasons: first, the definition of "campaign material" was vague ("any . . . material tending to influence voting . . . ."); and, second, an exemption for small-scale distribution of materials created independently from political committees was too narrow to protect anonymous speech adequately under McIntyre.

The other most interest holding, to me anyway, was the court's following the recent Ninth Circuit decision in Mont. Right to Life Ass'n v. Eddleman, 343 F.3d 1085 (9th Cir. 2003), and upholding an aggregate limit on the amount of PAC contributions a candidate could accept.

J. J. Gass
Associate Counsel, Democracy Program
212-998-6281
jj.gass@nyu.edu

Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law
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