The Supreme Court today denied a request for the Court to review the decision by the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in Green Party v. Lenge that upheld the constitutionality of the provisions of the Connecticut public financing law for the financing of minor party candidates. This is an important victory for the people of […]
Statement of Democracy 21 President Fred Wertheimer In another seriously misguided campaign finance decision, the Supreme Court today by a 5 to 4 vote has misinterpreted the Constitution to hold unconstitutional a form of public financing of elections enacted by the voters of Arizona to prevent government corruption. The Court in Arizona Free Enterprise v. […]
Today, a federal district court judge in Alexandria,Virginia reaffirmed an opinion he issued on May 26, 2011 that held unconstitutional the 100 year old ban on corporate contributions to federal candidates. In so doing, the judge, in essence, overruled an existing Supreme Court decision issued less than a decade ago in FEC v. Beaumont, which […]
Today, the Campaign Legal Center and Democracy 21 submitted comments to the Federal Election Commission (FEC) clearly outlining that it is illegal for federal officeholders and candidates to solicit unlimited contributions for Super PACs. The comments address Advisory Opinion Request (AOR) 2011-12 submitted on behalf of Majority PAC and House Majority PAC asking the Commission’s […]
The Campaign Legal Center[1], together with Democracy 21, today urged the Federal Election Commission (FEC) to deny a request by comedian Stephen Colbert to significantly expand the so-called “press-exemption” to a number of federal election laws. The two organizations filed comments with the FEC in response to an advisory opinion request by Mr. Colbert seeking […]
A federal district court judge in Alexandria, Virginia issued an opinion yesterday ruling that the ban on corporate contributions to federal candidates enacted in 1907 is unconstitutional. The ruling was issued in United States v. William Danielczyk, Jr, et al. Less than a decade ago, the Supreme Court in Federal Election Commission v. Beaumont (2003) explicitly upheld the […]
In a letter sent today to members of Congress, Democracy 21 President Fred Wertheimer and Campaign Legal Center President Trevor Potter informed Senators and Representatives that it would be a violation of law for a Member to solicit unlimited contributions for a Super PAC. Noting that Members may be approached to make such solicitations for […]
By Eliza Newlin-CarneyMay 22, 2011 The argument that secrecy and non-disclosure are necessary to uphold the First Amendment rings hollow. It’s become popular in certain circles to assail political transparency as a nefarious threat to free speech.Once a bipartisan touchstone, campaign finance disclosure rules are now the target of court challenges, lawmakers, and opinion leaders […]
Statement of Democracy 21 President Fred Wertheimer In an op-ed article in The Washington Post today, Senator Susan Collins attacked the Obama Administration’s draft proposal for an Executive Order that would require government contractors to disclose their campaign finance activities. Democracy 21 strongly disagrees with Senator Collins. The draft Executive Order is supported by Democracy […]
Statement of Fred Wertheimer, President of Democracy 21 andTrevor Potter, President of Campaign Legal Center and former FEC Chairman Recent press reports have revealed the formation of a new "Republican Super PAC" whose planned operations would appear to violate multiple federal campaign finance laws because of the involvement of members of the RNC in establishing […]
Sign up for Democracy 21’s email list(s) to receive “Wertheimer’s Political Report” our weekly newsletter released every Thursday and/or our regular news releases. (And, we won’t share your email.)
