Super Pac Funds afforded inadequate sunshine

Secrecy surrounds many of the donations to political groups seeking to influence the presidential race prompting concerns that the public might not ever know the origins  of vast sums of money. Donations from corporations and unions have ballooned since the Supreme Court’s United decision in 2010. -db From The New York Times, February 2, 2012, [...]

The Powerful anti-SOPA protests show why corporations, too, need First Amendment rights

BY PETER SCHEER—Successful technology firms pride themselves on their capacity to disrupt the established order. The reference is usually to a technological advance that poses an existential threat to an entrenched industry or way of doing business. Think of Apple Computer’s impact on the cellphone and music industries, Google on the sale and delivery of [...]

Study disputes Supreme Court’s reputation as First Amendment advocate

A study for the Brennan Center for Justice found that notwithstanding its reputation, the Roberts Supreme Court is ruling for free speech at a lower rate than the courts led by three previous chief justices. In responding to the study, some point out that numbers don’t tell the entire story that the court had made [...]

Montana ruling challenges U.S. Supreme Court Citizens United decision

The Montana Supreme Court fired a cannon shot across the bow of the U.S Supreme Court decision Citizens United that gave political speech rights to corporations. The Montana court upheld a 1912 law passed by initiative that at the time put  restraints on copper mining interests that were dominating state politics. From the Great Falls [...]

Four cases in 2011 give boost to transparency

There were four cases over the Freedom of Information Act that promoted transparency in 2011 according to the Electronic Freedom Foundation. The cases were Milner v. Department of Navy, FCC v. AT&T, Islamic Shura Council of S. Cal. v. FBI and National Day Laborer Organizing Network v. ICE. From a commentary for the Electronic Frontier [...]

Senators want to change Constitution to overturn Citizens United

Two democratic senators have introduced a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United. They claim that under the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision, the democratic system has been damaged with the increased influence of big money in political decisions -db From Truth Out, November 2,  2011, by Zaid Jilani. Full story  

First Amendment lawyer funds free speech institute at Yale Law

A prominent First Amendment lawyer has joined with Yale Law School to create The Floyd Abrams Institute for Freedom of Expression to support free speech and press and freedom of information. Students will work on First Amendment issues, draft model laws and advise policymakers on media freedom and transparency. -db From the New York Law [...]

Citizens United opened door for corporate campaign contributions but no secrecy guaranteed

Citizens United, the U.S. Supreme Court ruling allowing unlimited campaign spending by corporations and unions, also allows for disclosure, the majority ruling stating, “…transparency enables the electorate to make informed decisions and give proper weight to different speakers and messages.” So far courts have ruled in favor of disclosure, in one case  ruling that groups [...]

Business lobby opposed to order requiring government contractors to disclose political donations

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce made it known to the Obama administration that they oppose its plan to require government contractors to disclose their political donations. The Chamber argued that disclosures would chill the free speech rights of businesses and cited the case of Target which suffered boycotts and protests after the revelation that the [...]

Transparency: Democrats want sun to shine on secret flow of corporate money to Republicans

Democrats are suing the Federal Election Commission to force them to disclose which private companies and nonprofit groups are contributing millions of dollars in secret donations to Republican causes. There has been an avalanche of spending after the Supreme Court decision granting First Amendment rights to corporations, and Republicans have blocked legislation in Congress requiring [...]

Opinion: New York Tmes op ed argues Arizona campaign finance law promotes free speech

In an article in the New York Times, law professor Charles Fried and lawyer Cliff Sloan former publisher of Slate, say that contrary to prevailing opinion, the Supreme Court could well uphold the Arizona public finance law. The law they say does nothing to prevent candidates from spending or speaking as much as they like [...]

Supreme Court revisits campaign finance in Arizona case

The Supreme Court is hearing a challenge to an Arizona law that provides extra money to publicly financed candidates in instances when privately funded candidates spend over a certain amount. After court’s Citizens United decision that unfettered union and corporate spending under a free speech banner, those favoring the Arizona law are fearful that the [...]

Republican non-profits avoid regulation and spend millions on TV attack ads

Setting up an non-profits, Republican groups have been able to keep their donor lists private and run ads to influence elections. -db The New York Times September 21, 2010 By Michael Luo and Stephanie Strom Crossroads Grassroots Policy Strategies would certainly seem to the casual observer to be a political organization: Karl Rove, a political [...]

Texas cities blocked from joining suit against state’s open meetings law

A federal judge ruled that a group of Texas cities cannot join in the suit to overturn the state’s open meetings law because the cities have no guarantee of free speech. Seventeen public officials are challenging the constitutionality of the law that forbids a quorum deliberting behind closed doors. -db Reporters Committee for Freedom of [...]

The Supreme Court and Corporate Free Speech: Citizen United v. FEC

The Supreme Court’s decision in Citizen United v. Federal Election Commission, could change American democracy. Along with strong Democratic opposition, 76% of Republicans and 81% of independents believe the Citizens United ruling was wrong. -SMD TIME Magazine Commentary July 7, 2010 By Adam Cohen When the Supreme Court ended its term last week, its ruling [...]

FEC agrees Citizens United is media so doesn’t have to disclose donors

The Federal Elections Commission ruled that the conservative Citizens United was a media organization and as such did not have to disclose the donors behind their documentaries. -db The Washington Post June 9, 2010 By Carol D. Leonnig The conservative political group Citizens United has won a ruling from federal election authorities that it does [...]

No system allows voters easy access to identities of special interests funding campaign ads

The Supreme  Court ruling in the Citizens United case opens the door for corporate and union interests to produce ads to influence elections in 2010, and Congress is working on a bill to shed light on sources of the ads. But a Sunlight Foundation blogger says Congress needs to amend the DISCLOSE Act to make [...]

Nonprofit vies for right to fund political ads without limits

A federal appeals court will take up the suit of SpeechNow.org v. Federal Election Commission. The nonprofit SpeechNow.org is suing for the right to advocate for free speech and against free speech restriction in campaign reforms without having to set up a separate political action committee. -DB Institute for Justice Press Release January 26, 2010 [...]

President warns about effects of Supreme Court decision on elections

President Barack Obama said with unlimited money from special interests now legal, it gives them the power to spend millions on getting rid of legislators who don’t vote their way. -DB Sunlight Foundation January 24, 2010 By Daniel Schuman President Obama’s weekly address explained on his administration’s efforts to combat influence peddling, and the steps [...]

Campaign finance: Transparency needed more than ever as Supreme Court unleashes special interest money

The executive director of the Sunlight Foundation says that the Supreme Court’s decision striking down key provisions of the McCain-Feingold campaign finance law will unleash a flood of money in the political arena making it even more likely money will influence executive and legislative decisions. -DB Sunlight Foundation Opinion January 21, 2010 By Ellen Miller [...]

Supreme Court finds key part of campaign finance law unconstitutional

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that the McCain-Feingold finance law violated the free speech rights of corporations to spend as much as they wished to back or oppose political candidates. -DB Courthouse News Service January 21, 2010 WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Supreme Court today killed a central part of the McCain-Feingold campaign finance law [...]

Supreme Court to hear crucial campaign financing case early this month

The Supreme Court will cut short its summer break to hear rare re-arguments on a case first heard in March that could result in their overturning curbs on corporate spending on political candidates. -DB The New York Times August 30, 2009 By Adam Liptak WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Supreme Court will cut short its summer break [...]