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Suit Targets
Provisions on Minor Party Participation and Lobbyist Contributions
Jeffrey
Garfield and Richard Blumenthal Named as Defendants
Read the complaint at: http://www.acluct.org/downloads/CFRComplaint.pdf
July 6, 2006
HARTFORD, CT - The ACLU
Foundation of Connecticut today filed a lawsuit in federal court in Hartford challenging
the state's new campaign finance law, saying that several provisions of the law
violate the freedoms of speech and association under the First Amendment of the
U.S. Constitution and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The
suit names Jeffrey Garfield, Executive Director of the state Elections
Enforcement Commission, and State Attorney General Richard Blumenthal as
defendants and seeks to block them from enforcing those provisions.
"For more than 17 years, the ACLU
has supported public financing for political campaigns as a means of
facilitating the candidacy of individuals from diverse socio-economic and
political backgrounds. At the same time, however, we have been concerned that
election campaign reforms be achieved by means that do not sacrifice basic
civil liberties," said Roger C. Vann, Executive Director of ACLU-CT. He
added, "We believe that Connecticut's campaign finance law crosses that line.
For the sake of political expediency, the General Assembly passed and the
Governor signed deeply flawed legislation that plays fast and loose with the
constitutional rights of both candidates and their supporters."
The campaign law, which was passed
in December of 2005 and amended this past June, establishes a system of public
financing for campaigns for state Constitutional and General Assembly offices.
"In order for the public financing of campaigns to be fair, funds must be
equally available in equal amounts to all qualified candidates who are able to
objectively demonstrate support for their candidacies, said Renee C. Redman,
ACLUF-CT Legal Director and co-counsel in the lawsuit. "Connecticut's law
doesn't meet that standard because it effectively excludes minor party
candidates from receiving public financing. Minor party candidates are
compelled to demonstrate support not only through onerous financial
requirements but also through prior election activity. This goes far beyond an
objective showing of support," added Redman. "The Connecticut legislators who
drafted this law in the dead of night knew that they were creating a system
that would perpetuate two classes of political parties that are separate and
unequal," said plaintiff S. Michael Derosa, co-chair of the Green Party of
Connecticut and the party's current candidate for Secretary of the State.
He added, "We consider this law an act of blatant discrimination against third
party and independent candidacies." The law also bars contributions
by lobbyists, state contractors, and their immediate family members. Certain employees, officers and directors of
current and prospective state contractors are also barred from making
contributions. The lawsuit claims that these absolute restrictions violate the
First Amendment. Betty Gallo, a plaintiff in the case, heads the lobbying and government
relations firm Betty Gallo & Co., and has lobbied before the state General
Assembly since 1976. She feels the new campaign finance law will unfairly limit
her right to actively participate in the political process as a "responsible
citizen." "The way this law is written if my doctor said, ‘I got a request for
a campaign contribution from my representative. Is she good on the expansion of
HUSKY? Should I send her money?' I can't
answer that question. If my neighbor said, ‘This Senator is doing a fundraiser
next week. How is he on infertility coverage or same sex marriage?' I can't
answer that question. I can no longer serve as a campaign manager for a state
race. And I can't even give a $25 contribution to a friend running for office,"
Gallo said. In addition to Derosa and Gallo, the ACLU is representing the Green
Party of Connecticut; Dr. Joanne P. Philips, the wife of Don Philips who is a
communicator lobbyist for the Connecticut Bar Association; the Libertarian
Party of Connecticut; and the ACLU of Connecticut. Redman and National ACLU Senior
Staff Attorney Mark Lopez are co-counsel in the case. The ACLU is seeking permanent
injunctive relief prohibiting the implementation of the challenged provisions.
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