As Rick has reported, the Kentucky AG has petitioned for rehearing and
suggested rehearing en banc in the recent (post-McConnell)
6th Circuit case that struck down the ban on electioneering within 500
feet of a polling place, said the ban could be applied only to express
advocacy in any event given the vagueness of the statutory definition,
and also struck down a number of campaign finance statutes. Rick
also linked to news stories reporting that the Kentucky agency in charge
of campaign finance declined to petition for rehearing. We at the
Brennan Center have filed an amicus brief supporting the AG's
petition and also raising some of the campaign finance issues that were
not covered by the AG's brief.
I have pdf versions of the AG's petition and our brief if anyone is
interested.
As I read the 6th Circuit's Internal Operating Procedures, the earliest
we're likely to know the court's response is in the first week of March,
when the petition will be denied if no judge has called for a vote.
If a vote is called for, the plaintiffs will be asked to file a response
to the petition, presumably pushing the decision back at least into
April. And considering how exercised the AG appears to be about the
effect of this ruling on Kentucky's tradition of vote-buying, there may
well be a cert. petition if rehearing is denied.
J. J. Gass
Associate Counsel, Democracy Program
212-998-6281
jj.gass@nyu.edu
Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law
161 Avenue of the Americas, 12th Floor
fax 212-995-4550
www.brennancenter.org