New lawsuit challenging campaign finance raises important questions

May 7, 2002

ATLANTA/WASHINGTON, DC: The Southeastern Legal Foundation today addressed claims raised by the Republican National Committee in its lawsuit filed today in D.C. federal district court challenging so-called "soft money" provisions in the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2001. The Foundation is co-counsel with Kenneth Starr and chief funder for the legal team in the McConnell, et al. v. FEC, FCC omnibus constitutional lawsuit filed last month.

"The lawsuit filed today by the RNC underscores the fact that money is, or can be, protected political speech -- whether in the form of issue advocacy ads by organizations, corporations or unions, or in the form of critical party-building work by the national political parties -- and therefore should be protected," said Phil Kent, SLF President.

"The McConnell lawsuit touches on key aspects of free speech and associational infringements, as well as soft money bans, while the RNC's lawsuit will hone in specifically on one of the key questions -- whether the government has a compelling state interest in banning altogether the voice-through-money of national political parties in articulating their platforms and educating and inspiring voters," said Kent.

The McConnell lawsuit -- and now the RNC lawsuit on soft money -- raise a host of critical constitutional questions about the new law, especially concerning the "creation of new crime of incitement to political action," said Kent.

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