Let's Help Florida v. Smathers

• Citation: 453 F. Supp. 1003
• Decision Date: 18 May 1978
• Docket Number: No. TCA 78-0750.,TCA 78-0750.
• Parties: LET'S HELP FLORIDA, a Political Committee and Paul M. Bruun, Plaintiffs, v. Bruce SMATHERS, as Secretary of State of the State of Florida, et al., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Northern District of Florida

453 F. Supp. 1003

LET'S HELP FLORIDA, a Political Committee and Paul M. Bruun, Plaintiffs, v. Bruce SMATHERS, as Secretary of State of the State of Florida, et al., Defendants.

No. TCA 78-0750.

United States District Court, N. D. Florida, Tallahassee Division.

May 18, 1978.

Tobias Simon, Miami, Fla., for Let's Help Florida.

Robert Shevin, Atty. Gen., Douglas C. Kearney, Asst. Atty. Gen., and Stephen Marc Slepin, Tallahassee, Fla., for Florida Elections Commission.

David E. Cardwell, Tallahassee, Fla., for Florida Division of Elections.

Jack Shreve, Gen. Counsel, Florida Dept. of State, Tallahassee, Fla., for Bruce Smathers.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

STAFFORD, District Judge.

On February 27, 1978, plaintiffs filed this action for declaratory and injunctive relief seeking to permanently enjoin enforcement of Fla.Stat. § 106.08(1)(d) (1977), which provides:

(1) No person or political committee shall make contributions to any candidate or political committee in this state, for any election, in excess of the following amounts:

* * * * * *

(d) To any political committee in support of, or in opposition to, an issue to be voted on in a statewide election, $3,000.

Jurisdiction is predicated upon 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331 and 1343(3).

On March 8 a hearing was held on plaintiffs' application for preliminary injunction and on March 29 an order was entered prohibiting defendants from enforcing section 106.08(1)(d), pendente lite. Because of the need for an expeditious resolution of the weighty constitutional issue presented, and with the consent of the parties, final hearing was held on April 21.

The Parties

Plaintiff Let's Help Florida is a political committee organized and registered pursuant to Florida law for the express purpose of conducting "a public education campaign urging the passage of a constitutional amendment which will legalize casino gambling in Southern Florida . . .." (Plaintiffs' ex. 1). The campaign entails securing amendment of Art. 10 § 7 of the Florida Constitution, which provides:

Lotteries—Lotteries, other than the types of pari-mutuel pools authorized by law as of the effective date of this constitution, are hereby prohibited in this state.

Let's Help Florida intends to utilize the initiative mechanism provided in Art. XI § 3 of the Florida Constitution¹ to place their proposal before the electorate in the November, 1978 election. The committee is currently engaged in the petition drive necessary to secure for their issue a position on the ballot. The estimated cost of the entire campaign is in excess of one million dollars. (Plaintiffs' ex. 3). Plaintiff Paul M. Bruun is an individual who, according to the allegations of the complaint, is desirous of contributing money to Let's Help Florida in an amount which exceeds the limitation of section 106.08(1)(d).

Defendants are the Secretary of State of Florida, the Director of the Division of Elections, the Attorney General, and the individual members of the Florida Elections Commission.² These officials are charged with the responsibility of enforcing the provisions of the act in issue here. See Fla. Stat. §§ 106.22-27.

Standing

Initially, defendants challenge the standing of plaintiffs to bring this action. As noted previously, the complaint indicates that Paul M. Bruun wishes to make a contribution in excess of the statutory limit. Ordinarily, this allegation would be sufficient to confer upon Mr. Bruun the requisite standing to sue. However, this case has now proceeded to final hearing and Mr. Bruun did not appear.³ The record is therefore bereft of any support for those allegations by deposition, affidavit, or otherwise.⁴ Accordingly, that portion of the complaint relating to Mr. Bruun must be taken as having not been established by competent evidence and the issue presented in this litigation must be determined in light of the rights of Let's Help Florida alone.

The question of standing to sue generally involves a two-pronged inquiry. As a constitutional matter, standing relates to whether the action presents a case or controversy within the meaning of Art. III. This requirement is satisfied where it is shown that the challenged activity has caused plaintiff "injury in fact" sufficient to demonstrate a personal stake in the outcome of the litigation "as to assure that concrete adverseness which sharpens the presentation of issues upon which the court so largely depends for illumination of difficult constitutional questions?" Baker v. Carr, 369 U.S. 186, 204, 82 S.Ct. 691, 703, 7 L.Ed.2d 663 (1962). The second prong of the standing inquiry relates to whether plaintiff is the proper proponent of the rights which form the basis of the suit. Tileston v. Ullman, 318 U.S. 44, 63 S.Ct. 493, 87 L.Ed. 603 (1943). This is a rule of self restraint imposed by the courts rather than the constitution. Barrows v. Jackson, 346 U.S. 249, 73 S.Ct. 1031, 97 L.Ed. 1586 (1953); See also Singleton v. Wulff, 428 U.S. 106, 96 S.Ct. 2868, 49 L.Ed.2d 826 (1976).

There can be little doubt that Let's Help Florida satisfies the first prong of the standing issue in this case. The contribution limitation involved herein directly affects the committee's ability to gather funds in support of its efforts. Samuel Vitali, Campaign Coordinator for Let's Help Florida, testified that the committee initially attempted to raise the required sums of money through contributions of $3,000 or less and was unsuccessful. In his opinion, if the ceiling is not lifted the campaign to amend the constitution could not proceed. This testimony is unrefuted. Thus, the injury to this plaintiff is patent and a personal stake in the outcome of this litigation has been demonstrated. See Buckley v. Valeo, 424 U.S. 1, 96 S.Ct. 612, 46 L.Ed.2d 659 (1976).

The second prong of the standing issue presents a somewhat more difficult situation under the facts of this case. Because the allegations relating to Bruun have not been established, Let's Help Florida must either rely on the rights of its "members" or its own rights. While it has long been established that an organization may properly assert the rights of its membership, the courts have closely examined certain factual matters in applying this exception. First, the organization and its adherents should be closely identified with each other, with the organization comprising "the medium through which individual members seek to make more effective the expression of their own views." NAACP v. Alabama, 357 U.S. 449, 459, 78 S.Ct. 1163, 1170, 2 L.Ed.2d 1488 (1958). Second, it should be shown that the organization itself would be adversely affected by the action complained of. Id. at 459-60, 78 S.Ct. 1163. Finally, there must generally exist a genuine obstacle to the assertion by the members of their own rights. Id. at 459, 78 S.Ct. 1163.

Let's Help Florida does not have a formal membership. There is no mechanism through which an individual sharing its concerns may have a voice in its operation. However, one who makes a contribution may loosely be considered as a "member." (Testimony of Samuel Vitali). Because the committee currently espouses only one view, it may properly be said that the committee and its "members" are for all practical purposes identical, thereby satisfying the first sub-part of the NAACP v. Alabama, supra, test. Likewise, there is no doubt that section 106.08(1)(d) directly impacts upon the committee in curtailing its ability to effectively campaign for its position.

Less clear is the impediment to the "members" asserting their own rights. Indeed, Bruun came forward as an adherent of the committee in this very suit. In those situations where third parties, including organizations, have been permitted to assert the rights of others the impediment to the persons on whose behalf the organization acts asserting their own rights has been closely scrutinized.⁵ In this action Let's Help Florida has not addressed this question directly, choosing instead to rely on Buckley v. Valeo, supra. The court is not persuaded that Buckley represents a departure from the well settled principles of standing. In Buckley the plaintiffs challenging the federal election act included individuals and groups. Rather than delineate what rights were properly assertable by whom, the Court merely noted:

In our view, the complaint in this case demonstrates that at least some of the appellants have a sufficient "personal stake" in a determination of the constitutional validity of each of the challenged provisions to present "a real and substantial controversy admitting of specific relief through a decree of conclusive character, as distinguished from an opinion advising what the law would be upon a hypothetical state of facts." (footnote omitted).

Buckley v. Valeo, 424 U.S. 1, 12, 96 S.Ct. 612, 631, 46 L.Ed.2d 659 (1976), quoting Aetna Life Ins. Co. v. Hayworth, 300 U.S. 227, 241, 57 S.Ct. 461, 81 L.Ed. 617 (1937).

This court is of the opinion that regardless of whether Let's Help Florida should be permitted to assert the rights of its "members", the merits of this controversy may be reached based upon the rights of the committee. The case undeniably involves First Amendment Freedoms, primarily those of political association. The Supreme Court has previously allowed a corporation to assert rights of association on its own behalf for the reason that "though a corporation, it is directly engaged in those activities, claimed to be constitutionally protected, which the statute would curtail." NAACP v. Button, 371 U.S. 415, 428, 83 S.Ct. 328, 335, 9 L.Ed.2d 405 (1963). More recently, in First National Bank of Boston v. Bellotti, ___ U.S. ___, 98 S.Ct. 1407, 55 L.Ed.2d 707 (1978), the Supreme Court again dealt with the extension of First Amendment freedoms to artificial entities.

Bellotti involved a constitutional challenge to a Massachusetts law prohibiting certain corporations from expending money or making contributions for the purpose of influencing the vote on...