Landell v. Sorrell
| Citation | 118 F.Supp.2d 459 |
| Decision Date | 11 August 2000 |
| Docket Number | No. 2:99-CV-146.,2:99-CV-146. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Vermont |
| Parties | Marcella LANDELL, et al., Plaintiffs, Neil Randall, et al., Plaintiffs, and Vermont Republican State Committee, Plaintiff, v. William H. SORRELL, et al., Defendants, and Vermont Public Interest Research Group, et al., Defendant-Intervenors. |
James Bopp, Jr., James R. Mason, III, Heidi K. Meyer, Eric C. Bohnet, Bopp, Coleson & Bostrom, Terre Haute, IN, Norman Charles Smith, Meyers & Smith, Essex Junction, VT, for Marcella Landell, Vermont Republican State Committee, plaintiffs.
James Bopp, Jr., James R. Mason, III, Heidi K. Meyer, Eric C. Bohnet, Bopp, Coleson & Bostrom, Terre Haute, IN, Norman Charles Smith, Meyers & Smith, Essex Junction, VT, for Donald R. Brunelle, plaintiff.
Joshua Ross Diamond, Diamond & Robinson, Montpelier, VT, Peter Forbes Langrock, Mitchell Lloyd Pearl, Langrock, Sperry & Wool, Middlebury, VT, David
Seth Putter, Law Offices of David Putter, Montpelier, VT, Melanie McNeill Kehne, Primmer & Piper, P.C., Montpelier, VT, Eric C. Bohnet, Bopp, Coleson & Bostrom, Terre Haute, IN, Mark Lopez, American Civil Liberties Union, New York City, for Neil Randall, George Kuusela, Steve Howard, Jeffrey A. Nelson, John Patch, Vermont Libertarian Party, plaintiffs.
Timothy Bert Tomasi, Office of the Attorney General, Montpelier, VT, Eve Rebekah Jacobs-Carnahan, Montpelier, VT, for William H. Sorrell, in his official capacity as Vermont Attorney General, defendants.
Peter Francis Welch, Welch, Graham & Manby, White River Jct, VT, John C. Bonifaz, Brenda Wright, Gregory G. Luke, Bonita P. Tenneriello, National Voting Rights Institute, Boston, MA, for intervenors-defendants.
This is a constitutional challenge to the 1997 Vermont Campaign Finance Reform Act ("Act 64"), codified at Vt.Stat.Ann. tit. 17, Chapter 59 §§ 2801-2883. Plaintiffs seek declaratory and injunctive relief under Section 1 of the Civil Rights Act of 1871, 42 U.S.C. § 1983, and the First and Fourteenth Amendments of the United States Constitution. U.S.C.A. Const. Amends. 1 and 14. Plaintiffs argue that certain provisions of Act 64 violate their First Amendment free speech and association rights and do not serve compelling state interests. The challenged provisions of Act 64 are as follows:
Section 2801(2) defines "contribution" as "a payment, distribution, advance, deposit, loan, or gift of money or anything of value, paid or promised to be paid to a person for the purpose of influencing an election." Vt.Stat.Ann. tit. 17, 2801(1).
Section 2801(5) defines "political party" as "a political party organized under chapter 451 of this title or any committee established, financed, maintained or controlled by the party, including any subsidiary, branch or local unit thereof and including national or regional affiliates of the party." Vt.Stat.Ann. tit. 17, § 2801(5). The Secretary of State's Office has interpreted Section 2801(5), in conjunction with chapter 45, to mean that town, county, and state committees are a single entity for the purposes of Act 64's campaign contribution limits.2
Sections 2805(a) and (b) limit contributions to candidates for Vermont office in a two-year election cycle to $200 for state representative, $300 for state senator, and $400 for governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, state treasurer, state auditor, and state attorney general. Contributions from a single source, political party, or political committee to political committees or political parties are limited to $2000. Vt.Stat.Ann. tit. 17, §§ 2805(a) and (b).
Section 2805(c) limits out-of-state contributions to 25% of a candidates' total contributions. Vt.Stat.Ann. tit. 17, § 2805(c).
Section 2805(f) states that the individual contribution limits do not apply to the candidate herself or to her immediate family. Immediate family is defined as "individuals related to the candidate in the first, second or third degree of consanguinity." Vt.Stat.Ann. tit. 17, § 2805(f).
Section 2805a(a) limits candidate expenditures in any given two-year election cycle to $300,000 for governor; $100,000 for lieu-tenant governor; $45,000 for secretary of state, attorney general, treasurer, and auditor; $4,000 for state senator plus $2,500 for each additional seat in the relevant jurisdiction; and $2,000 for state representative in a single-member district and $3,000 for state representative in two-member districts. Vt.Stat.Ann. tit. 17, § 2805a(a).
Sections 2809(a) and (b) provide that related campaign expenditures made on a candidate's behalf shall be considered a contribution to the candidate and, if the related expenditure is over $50, it will also count as an expenditure by that candidate. Vt.Stat.Ann. tit. 17, § 2809(a) and (b).
Section 2809(c) states that an expenditure made by a third-party individual is considered a "related expenditure" made on behalf of a candidate or group of candidates if it is "intended to promote the election of a specific candidate or group of candidates, or the defeat of an opposing candidate or group of candidates," and is "intentionally facilitated by, solicited by or approved by the candidate or the candidate's political committee." Vt.Stat.Ann. tit. 17, § 2809(c).
Section 2809(d) states that an expenditure made by a political party or by a political committee that primarily benefits six or fewer candidates who are associated with the party or committee triggers a presumption that it is a related expenditure. Vt.Stat.Ann. tit. 17, § 2809(d). The Administrative Rule promulgated by the Secretary of State pursuant to the authority granted in Section 2809(f) states that the presumption is rebuttable by appropriate evidence showing that the expenditure was not intentionally facilitated, solicited, or approved by the candidate. Vermont Secretary of State, Administrative Rule 2000-1(3)(d).
This case results from the consolidation of three separate civil actions: On May 18, 1999, Plaintiffs Marcella Landell, Donald Brunelle, and the Vermont Right to Life Committee, Inc., Political Committee sued Vermont Attorney General William H. Sorrell and Vermont's 14 States Attorneys. Plaintiffs alleged that Act 64 violated their First Amendment freedoms of speech and association (99-CV-146, Paper 1) (hereinafter "Landell"). On August 13, 1999, Plaintiffs Neil Randall, George Kuusela, Steve Howard, Jeffrey Nelson, John Patch, and the Vermont Libertarian Party brought essentially the same suit (99-CV-234, Paper 1) ("hereinafter Randall"). On October 25, 1999 this case was consolidated with Landell (99-CV-234, Paper 13). On February 15, 2000, Plaintiff Vermont Republican State Committee sued on similar grounds, but also raised a challenge to Act 64's application to political parties and committees (00-CV-57, Paper 1) (hereinafter "VRSC"). On March 21, 2000 the case was consolidated with Landell (Paper 28).
The Vermont Public Interest Research Group, The League of Women Voters of Vermont, Rural Vermont, Vermont Older Women's League, Vermont Alliance of Conservation Voters, Mike Fiorello, Marion Gray, Phil Hoff, Frank Huard, Karen Kitzmiller, Marion Milne, Daryl Pillsbury, Elizabeth Ready, Nancy Rice, Cheryl Rivers, Maria Thompson (collectively "Defendant-Intervenors") successfully moved to intervene in all three of the above cases. Court Orders granting motions: Landell, September 27, 1999 (Paper 27); Randall, October 25, 1999 (Paper 13); VRSC, March 21, 2000 (Paper 28).
For reasons set forth below, this Court finds Act 64 constitutional in part and unconstitutional in part. Specifically, the Court rules as follows:
1) Act 64's contribution limits, Vt.Stat. Ann. tit. 17, § 2805(a)-(b), as they pertain to contributions from individuals, survive the test imposed upon such limits by the Supreme Court in Buckley v. Valeo, 424 U.S. 1, 96 S.Ct. 612, 46 L.Ed.2d 659 (1976) (per curiam), and are therefore constitutional.
2) Act 64's expenditure limits, Vt.Stat. Ann. tit. 17, § 2805a(a), although supported by numerous important government interests such as minimizing the reality and appearance of corruption, stemming the manipulative practice of bundling, increasing candidate-voter contact, and inspiring participation in the electoral process, nevertheless are an unprecedented and impermissible extension of Buckley. The limits are unconstitutional.
3) Act 64's 25% limit on out-of-state funds, Vt.Stat.Ann. tit. 17, § 2805(c), violates candidates' and contributors' First Amendment rights of free speech and association, and is therefore unconstitutional.
4) Act 64's $2000 limit on contributions to political parties, Vt.Stat.Ann. tit. 17, § 2805(a)-(b), is constitutional. However, the limit on contributions from political parties to candidates, codified at same, while not per se unconstitutional, is unconstitutionally low. Additionally, Act 64's definition of state and local parties as one entity pursuant to Vt.Stat.Ann. tit. 17, §§ 2801(5), and 2301 through 2320, and the May 18, 1999 letter from the Deputy Secretary of State, is constitutional.
5) Act 64's $2,000 limit on contributions to political committees, and its various limits on contributions by political committees to candidates, Vt.Stat.Ann. tit. 17, § 2805(a)-(b), is constitutional.
6) Act 64's regulation of related expenditures, Vt.Stat.Ann. tit. 17, § 2809(a)-(c), is constitutional as it relates to candidate contributions, but unconstitutional as it relates to candidate expenditures. Additionally, Section 2809(d)'s establishment of a rebuttable presumption that an expenditure by a political party or political committee is related if it benefits six or fewer candidates, as clarified by the Secretary of State, is constitutional.
It should be noted at the outset of this section that the constitutionality of some provisions of Act 64 depends heavily on facts, while...
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