Senators Whitehouse, Blumenthal, Hirono submit amicus brief in challenge to super PACs Posted on June 28, 2019 (June 18, 2020) Challenging Super PACs Today, Senators Sheldon Whitehouse D-RI), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), and Mazie Hirono (D-HI) submitted an amicus brief to the U.S. Court of Appeals in Lieu v. Federal Election Commission, the case that could end super PACs. In their brief, the senators urge the court to reexamine its previous SpeechNow holding that failed to recognize the practical effectRead More
CREW submits amicus brief in challenge to super PACs Posted on June 28, 2019 (June 18, 2020) Challenging Super PACs Today, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) submitted an amicus brief in Lieu v. Federal Election Commission, the case that could end super PACs. The brief argues that the DC Circuit erred in SpeechNow.Org v. FEC when it created super PACs, and that the full Court should reconsider that decision. CREW’s brief makes threeRead More
Researchers submit amicus brief on the appearance of corruption and super PACs Posted on June 27, 2019 (June 18, 2020) Challenging Super PACs Today, a group of empirical researchers submitted an amicus brief in Lieu v. Federal Election Commission, the case that could end super PACs. The brief by Professor Christopher Robertson (Associate Dean for Research and Innovation and Professor of Law at the University of Arizona), Professor Kelly Bergstrand (Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University ofRead More
New reply brief in the case that could end super PACs Posted on June 24, 2019 (June 18, 2020) Challenging Super PACs Today, we filed a short procedural reply brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in Lieu v. Federal Election Commission, the case that could end super PACs. The goal of the Lieu litigation is to give the D.C. Circuit, or the Supreme Court, the opportunity to overturn the D.C. Circuit’s 2010 SpeechNow decision that createdRead More
SpeechNow v. FEC – The Case that Created Super PACs, and Our Challenge Posted on January 27, 2018 (January 24, 2018) January 27 marks the eighth anniversary of oral argument in the case that created super PACs. Contrary to popular belief, super PACs were not created by the Supreme Court in Citizens United, but rather by a subsequent lower court decision called SpeechNow v. FEC, argued on January 27, 2010 (just six days after the Citizens United decision). As weRead More
BREAKING: Victory! FSFP Wins First Vote In Proposed St. Petersburg Ordinance To End Super PACs & Foreign Influenced Spending in Elections Posted on July 22, 2016 (October 26, 2016) On Thursday, July 21, 2016, the St. Petersburg City Council voted 6-1 to move forward for consideration our proposed ordinance to abolish super PACs and ban foreign corporate money in local elections. Read More
Ron Fein: A Democracy Agenda for a Post-Scalia Supreme Court Posted on March 23, 2016 (March 23, 2016) In The Hill, Ron Fein writes about an “emerging pro-democracy litigation strategy” to challenge the influence of unchecked political spending.Read More
Who Blew The Lid Off Campaign Contributions Posted on December 18, 2015 (October 2, 2018) Citizens United may have set the stage for Super PACs, but it is the SpeechNow ruling and the Justice Department’s inaction that bear the greater responsibility. Read More
John Bonifaz on Free Speech TV’s ‘Ring of Fire’ Posted on November 29, 2015 (November 29, 2018) Watch our President and Co-Founder, John Bonifaz appear on Free Speech TV’s show, “Ring of Fire” discussing Super PACs and what may be the beginning of their demise. Read More
Ron Fein: Don’t Let The Koch Brothers Be Kingmakers Posted on August 5, 2015 (October 2, 2018) In a piece posted today on The Blaze, Ron Fein responds to Charles Koch’s recent warning that “America is done for” if conservative mega-donors don’t rally in 2016. Fein argues that the “cure that Mr. Koch proposes is worse than the disease.” Read More