A 3-judge U.S. District Court will hear arguments in Bluman v Federal Election Commission on May 12, at 9:30 a.m., in Washington, D.C. The judges will be Brett Kavanaugh, Richardo M. Urbina, and Rosemary M. Collyer. The issue is whether foreign nationals who are living in the United States, and who are here legally but not permanently, may donate any money to candidates for federal office. The two plaintiffs are Canadian citizens. One, Benjamin Bluman, wants to donate to Democratic candidates, including President Obama. The other, Asenath Steiman, wants to donate to a Republican candidate, U.S. Senator Tom Coburn of Oklahoma.
Federal campaign finance laws do permit non-citizens to donate if they are admitted for permanent residence, but these plaintiffs do not have that status. The case is interesting because it explores the link between free speech and making a campaign contribution. Judge Kavanaugh is a U.S. Court of Appeals Judge. The other two judges are U.S. District Court Judges. Urbina is a Clinton appointee and the other two judges are Bush Jr. appointees. The losing side in this case will almost certainly appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. Decisions of 3-judge U.S. District Courts on the constitutionality of federal campaign finance laws cannot be ducked by the U.S. Supreme Court. The Supreme Court must either affirm the lower court’s decision or hear the case itself.
How about donations from hoards of foreign folks just passing through as tourists and/or as invaders (aka illegal immigrants) ???
Who controls the U.S.A. — U.S.A. citizens or foreign folks — in ALL things *political* — voting, being public officers, etc. ???
i.e. one more New Age INSANE case for the MORON SCOTUS folks to do something about.
http://www.thestar.com/news/article/972514–canadians-launch-u-s-constitutional-challenge-against-alien-gag-law
more info about the plaintiffs.
Note the last line in the story.
In Canada you don’t have first amendment rights at all. While in general there is free speech, a lot more curbs on speech have been found acceptable under Canadian law. I’m not sure how a sentence on Canadian rules should impact in any way shape or form what the rules should be in America, where a very strong First Amendment reigns supreme, and rightly so.
# 3 How soon before the U.S.A. liberates the People of Canada from the DARK AGE parliamentary regimes in Canada — full of powermad robot party hacks having both legislative and executive powers — i.e. mini-TYRANTS — due to the gerrymander/plurality election systems in Canada ???
Some extra space to add more stars on the U.S.A. Flag ???
History note – the 1776 U.S.A. folks tried but failed to get Canada to join the U.S.A. during the American Revolutionary War. Resume the effort ???