On April 4, U.S. District Court Judge Laura Taylor Swain struck down one provision of New York city’s public funding program. Here is the 23-page opinion in Ognibene v Parkes, southern district, 08-cv-1335.

The unconstitutional provision provided that when a publicly funded candidate has an opponent who spends a great deal, then the amount of matching funding that the publicly funding candidate is potentially eligible to receive is four times greater than it would have been otherwise. The lawsuit had been filed in 2008 by a Republican Party candidate for city office. Thanks to Rick Hasen for the link.