The recent 9th circuit decision in McComish v Bennett upheld an Arizona public funding law. That law provides for extra public funding for candidates who have a well-funded opponent who is using only privately-raised money.

Meanwhile, everyone is waiting for the U.S. Court of Appeals, 2nd circuit, to decide Green Party of Connecticut v Garfield, the case over Connecticut’s discriminatory public funding law. State officials submitted a supplemental brief to the 2nd circuit, arguing that the 9th circuit opinion, if followed in the 2nd circuit, means that the law should be upheld. The Green Party submitted this 3-page response. The Libertarian Party is a co-plaintiff in the Connecticut case.

California Progress Report has this commentary about Proposition 14, the top-two ballot measure on the June 8, 2010 California ballot. The commentary, by Calitics editor Brian Leubitz, also appears in Calitics, and itself links to Enik Rising, a blog by political scientist Seth Masket. Masket is the author of “No Middle Ground”, a 2009 book about polarization in the California legislature. Disclosure: these blogs refer back to the May 10 KQED debate between Lieutenant Governor Abel Maldonado and Richard Winger, and contain a link to that debate.

On June 1, 2000, the Initiative and Referendum Institute filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., seeking to invalidate a new postal regulation barring petitioning on post office-owned sidewalks. That case is now only 5 days away from being ten years old, and we are still waiting for a decision in the U.S. District Court.

On August 31, 2000, the U.S. District Court ruled that the matter could not be settled without a trial. That trial was held, and on December 31, 2003, the judge upheld the regulation. Plaintiffs appealed. On August 9, 2005, the U.S. Court of Appeals partially reversed the District Court. The U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that post office sidewalks that are parallel to streets must be available for petitioning. The U.S. Court of Appeals sent the case back to the U.S. District Court for a decision about post office interior sidewalks. That is still undecided. Plaintiffs are making every reasonable and tactful approach to persuade the judge that he should issue an opinion.