On May 21, the full panel of U.S. Court of Appeals judges in the D.C. Circuit issued an opinion in Libertarian National Committee v Federal Election Commission, 18-5227. Seven of the judges upheld the FEC and ruled that someone who is dead, and who had never told the party that he was leaving them a bequest, still can’t have his bequest given to the party, except by allowing a limited amount of the money to be doled out every year. UPDATE: see this new story.
Three judges dissented. The majority opinion is 35 pages; one of the dissents, by Judge Thomas Griffith, is 9 pages; the other dissent, by Judges Gregory Katsas and Karen Henderson, is 22 pages. All of the dissenters are appointees of Republican presidents. All of the judges in the majority are appointees of Democratic presidents. Judge Neomi Rao, who is new to the court, did not participate.
The majority opinion says the Libertarian Party does have standing to have brought this case. Otherwise, the majority opinion seems strangely detached from real-world events.
This seems as though it might be a case the U.S. Supreme Court would review. Thanks to Rick Hasen and Thomas Jones for this news.
NOOOOO dollar amount in the 1st Amdt —
regardless of ALL const LAW moron party hack Fed so-called judges.
Partisan judges. Outcome-based judging. Typical.
The Griffith dissent would appear to say that the separate accounts limitation is not constitutional, and that any person may now contribute $330,000 per year. But if that were true, Congress would not have set that limit.
The Katsas dissent would uphold the segregated accounts, but not limit bequests, at least in cases where there was no coordination before death.
It is unclear why the LNC is pursuing this. It is of minimal practical effect, and the principle is quite narrow.
The LNC has nothing better to do, that’s why. No wonder the party is such a joke.
This case has a fair chance of being accepted by the U.S. Supreme Court. And if the Court does take it, the Court will probably reverse it and rule for the Libertarian Party.