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Advocacy Blog
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
WRTL Acts On Supreme Court Decision
From BNA Money and Politics ($$); After the Supreme Court ruling in the Wisconsin Right to Life (WRTL) case, the Federal Election Commission (FEC) and members of Congress who intervened in the case came to an agreement late last week with WRTL attorney James Bopp. The agreement details the features of political ads sponsored by corporations and unions that all sides specify as permissible in future campaigns. Nevertheless, legal challenges to restrictions on ads may continue to be reviewed by the courts on a case-by-case basis. Bopp filed of a joint court motion with the FEC and the congressional supporters, stating that the 2006 Christian Civic League of Maine (CCL) ads were constitutionally protected. Both the CCL case and WRTL cases are being handed back to the lower court and WRTL has filed a motion asking a three-judge U.S. District Court to rule quickly on the legality of the ad.
In the WRTL litigation, Bopp filed a separate plea asking the lower court to exclude Senator John McCain (R-AZ) and other congressional interveners from future proceedings. According to the motion, McCain and others could no longer assert that they would be injured if similar ads were to be broadcast, so they had no standing under Article III of the Constitution and must be removed from the case. For more information, visit the scotus blog.
Update:BNA Money and Politics ($$) reports that Bopp, lawyers for the FEC, and lawmakers supporting BCRA agreed to file a joint motion urging the lower court to declare that the ads sponsored by WRTL in 2006 and the ads in question from 2004 were constitutionally protected. "he motions also called for dismissal of Bopp's previous efforts to obtain a court injunction allowing the WRTL and CCL ads. Also dropped as moot was an effort by Bopp to exclude BCRA's congressional backers, led by Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), from the litigation over interpretation of the reform law."
Posted by Amanda Adams
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