On March 21, 2019, U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan struck down a federal regulation that prevents political committees from including a candidate’s name in the title of its websites or social media pages, unless that political committee is an authorized committee of that candidate. Pursuing America’s Greatness v Federal Election Commission, 1:15cv-1217. Here is the 17-page opinion.
The decision is not surprising, because in 2016 the U.S. Court of Appeals, D.C. Circuit, had enjoined the FEC regulation. Judge Chutkan in 2015 had denied injunctive relief, but the D.C. Circuit had reversed her on the matter of injunctive relief. The case then went back to Judge Chutkan for a decision on constitutionality. This time she concluded the regulation violates the free speech provision of the First Amendment.
The U.S. Court of Appeals decision was signed by Judge Brett Cavanaugh, who is now on the U.S. Supreme Court.
The case had been filed in 2015 by a committee that backed Mike Huckabee for the Republican presidential nomination, called “Pursuing America’s Greatness.” The committee wanted to have a facebook page labelled “I like Mike Huckabee.” But the regulation did not permit it to do that.
It is still illegal for an unauthorized committee to use the name of a candidate in its formal title. Thanks to the Institute for Free Speech for the link.