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Appeals court reverses ruling on campaign donors
Court Issues |
2012/09/22 22:35
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An appeals court on Tuesday reversed a lower court ruling that likely would have led to greater disclosure of who is paying for certain election ads.
In March, U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson ruled that the Federal Election Commission overstepped its bounds in allowing groups that fund certain election ads to keep their financiers anonymous.
But Tuesday's unanimous ruling by a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia sent the case back to Jackson, with instructions to refer the matter to the FEC for further consideration.
At issue are electioneering communications — ads that don't expressly advocate voting for or against a candidate running for federal office. In 2007, the FEC ruled that only contributors whose donations were "made for the purpose of furthering electioneering communications" had to be identified; those who gave unrestricted money did not have to be identified. The FEC regulation came in response to a Supreme Court ruling that gave more latitude to nonprofit groups — like the Karl Rove-backed Crossroads GPS and the President Barack Obama-leaning Priorities USA — on pre-election ads.
Rep. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., sued the FEC over the regulation, which he called a "loophole" that made the disclosure requirements meaningless. He won a summary judgment from Jackson, who was appointed by Obama. The judge ruled that "Congress spoke plainly" in passing the McCain-Feingold campaign finance law — and did not delegate authority to the FEC to narrow the disclosure requirement. |
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Lawyer: LaBelle settles suit over NYC lobby run-in
Court Issues |
2012/09/07 22:13
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R&B diva Patti LaBelle has agreed to pay $100,000 to a Manhattan woman who accused her of hurling curses and water at her and her 18-month-old daughter during a dust-up over parenting in an apartment building lobby.
Roseanna Monk and her husband, Kevin, filed a lawsuit against LaBelle last year.
The couple lives in a Manhattan building where the Grammy Award-winning singer stayed while appearing in the Broadway musical "Fela!"
The couple's lawyer, Sam Davis, tells the New York Post LaBelle settled the case even before being deposed. The Monks will donate the money to a children's cancer charity. LaBelle's publicist declined to comment.
According to the lawsuit, LaBelle chastised Roseanna Monk, threw a bottle of water and launched into an obscenity-filled tirade during the Nov. 11, 2010 argument. |
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Federal court rejects GOP-drawn Texas voting maps
Court Issues |
2012/08/31 19:17
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Stadiums and hospitals removed from the districts of black congressional members and country clubs newly drawn into those of white incumbents. A lawyer emailing "No bueno" to a Republican staffer about plans that risked leaving a paper trail and jeopardizing the legality of a voting map.
Those were among the evidence a Washington federal court used to determine that Texas Republican lawmakers discriminated against minorities while drawing new political boundaries, throwing out the maps as violations of the Voting Rights Act but likely not in time to affect the November elections.
The decision Tuesday by the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia is instead likely to reverberate in 2014, when some Texans could find their congressional and statehouse districts changed for the third time in five years.
The long-awaited ruling was hailed as a sweeping victory by minority rights groups that sued the state after the Republican-controlled Legislature pushed through new redistricting maps last year. Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott called the decision "flawed" and vowed to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. |
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Pa. city's immigration rules back in US court
Court Issues |
2012/08/15 17:43
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The dispute over a northeast Pennsylvania city's attempt to crack down on illegal immigrants is back before a federal appeals court Wednesday.
The six-year case involving Hazleton returns to the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals because of a recent Supreme Court ruling.
The city rules would fine landlords who rent to illegal immigrants and deny business permits to companies that employ them. A companion piece requires tenants to register with City Hall and pay for a rental permit.
But they've all been on hold since a federal judge struck them down, and the federal appeals court affirmed the decision, saying they usurp the federal government's power to regulate immigration.
Now a mixed decision from the Supreme Court in a related case in Arizona is sending the Pennsylvania case back to court. |
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