North Carolina Right to Life, Inc. v. Leake

• Decision Date: 01 May 2008
• Docket Number: No. 07-1438.,No. 07-1439.,07-1438.,07-1439.
• Parties: NORTH CAROLINA RIGHT TO LIFE, INCORPORATED, Plaintiff-Appellant, and North Carolina Right to Life Political Action Committee; North Carolina Right to Life Committee Fund for Independent Political Expenditures, Plaintiffs, v. Larry LEAKE, in his official capacity as Chairman of the North Carolina State Board of Elections; Roy Cooper; Genevieve C. Sims, in her official capacity as Secretary of the State Board of Elections; Robert Cordle, in his official capacity as a member of the State Board of Elections; Lorraine G. Shinn, in her official capacity as a member of the State Board of Elections; Charles Winfree, in his official capacity as a member of the State Board of Elections; Robert F. Johnson, in his official capacity as District Attorney for North Carolina Prosecutorial District 15A, Defendants-Appellees. North Carolina Right to Life, Incorporated; North Carolina Right to Life Political Action Committee; North Carolina Right to Life Committee Fund for Independent Political Expenditures, Plaintiffs-Appellees, v. Larry Leake, in his official capacity as Chairman of the North Carolina State Board of Elections; Roy Cooper; Genevieve C. Sims, in her official capacity as Secretary of the State Board of Elections; Robert Cordle, in his official capacity as a member of the State Board of Elections; Lorraine G. Shinn, in her official capacity as a member of the State Board of Elections; Charles Winfree, in his official capacity as a member of the State Board of Elections; Robert F. Johnson, in his official capacity as District Attorney for North Carolina Prosecutorial District 15A, Defendants-Appellants.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Fourth Circuit

525 F.3d 274

NORTH CAROLINA RIGHT TO LIFE, INCORPORATED, Plaintiff-Appellant, and North Carolina Right to Life Political Action Committee; North Carolina Right to Life Committee Fund for Independent Political Expenditures, Plaintiffs, v. Larry LEAKE, in his official capacity as Chairman of the North Carolina State Board of Elections; Roy Cooper; Genevieve C. Sims, in her official capacity as Secretary of the State Board of Elections; Robert Cordle, in his official capacity as a member of the State Board of Elections; Lorraine G. Shinn, in her official capacity as a member of the State Board of Elections; Charles Winfree, in his official capacity as a member of the State Board of Elections; Robert F. Johnson, in his official capacity as District Attorney for North Carolina Prosecutorial District 15A, Defendants-Appellees.

North Carolina Right to Life, Incorporated; North Carolina Right to Life Political Action Committee; North Carolina Right to Life Committee Fund for Independent Political Expenditures, Plaintiffs-Appellees, v. Larry Leake, in his official capacity as Chairman of the North Carolina State Board of Elections; Roy Cooper; Genevieve C. Sims, in her official capacity as Secretary of the State Board of Elections; Robert Cordle, in his official capacity as a member of the State Board of Elections; Lorraine G. Shinn, in her official capacity as a member of the State Board of Elections; Charles Winfree, in his official capacity as a member of the State Board of Elections; Robert F. Johnson, in his official capacity as District Attorney for North Carolina Prosecutorial District 15A, Defendants-Appellants.

No. 07-1438.

No. 07-1439.

United States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit.

Argued: December 4, 2007.

Decided: May 1, 2008.

ARGUED: James Bopp, Jr., Bopp, Coleson & Bostrom, Terre Haute, Indiana, for Appellant/Cross-Appellees. Susan Kelly Nichols, Special Deputy Attorney General, North Carolina Department of Justice, Raleigh, North Carolina, for Appellees/Cross-Appellants. ON BRIEF: Richard E. Coleson, Jeffrey P. Gallant, Bopp, Coleson & Bostrom, Terre Haute, Indiana, for Appellant/Cross-Appellees. Roy Cooper, Attorney General, Alexander McC. Peters, Special Deputy Attorney General, North Carolina Department of Justice, Raleigh, North Carolina, for Appellees/Cross-Appellants.

Before WILLIAMS, Chief Judge, and WILKINSON and MICHAEL, Circuit Judges.

Affirmed in part and reversed in part by published opinion. Judge WILKINSON wrote the majority opinion, in which Chief Judge WILLIAMS joined. Judge MICHAEL wrote a dissenting opinion.

OPINION

WILKINSON, Circuit Judge:

In this case, North Carolina Right to Life, Inc. ("NCRL") and two of its affiliated political committees challenge the constitutionality of various provisions of North Carolina's law governing the financing of political campaigns. For the reasons that follow, we hold that the provisions in question violate the First and Fourteenth Amendments — and are hence unenforceable against NCRL, its affiliates, and any similarly situated entities.

In doing so, we recognize that the law of campaign finance is quite complicated and in some flux. Courts, state governments, and those involved in the political process are doing what they can to navigate this difficult terrain, and we are conscious of the fact that North Carolina went back in good faith to the drawing board to craft a legislative response to our earlier decision in North Carolina Right to Life, Inc. v. Bartlett, 168 F.3d 705 (4th Cir.1999). But it is nevertheless our unflagging obligation to apply constitutional standards to state legislative enactments, and, in doing so here, we find that the provisions before us simply go too far in regulating ordinary political speech to be considered constitutional.

I.

A.

Three related plaintiffs challenge the constitutionality of North Carolina's campaign finance laws. The lead plaintiff is North Carolina Right to Life, Inc. ("NCRL"), a non-profit, membership corporation, incorporated in North Carolina. NCRL's purpose is the protection of human life. In furtherance of that purpose, NCRL, among other things, provides information to the public about abortion and euthanasia. In the past, NCRL has directly contributed to candidates for state office, although it did not do so during the election cycle immediately preceding the commencement of this suit. NCRL claims that its reluctance to contribute resulted from its fear of being designated a "political committee" under North Carolina election law, as such committees are subject to numerous reporting and other requirements.

The other two plaintiffs in this case are distinct legal entities affiliated with NCRL. First, North Carolina Right to Life Political Action Committee ("NCRL-PAC") is an internal political committee established by NCRL in 1982. NCRL-PAC's primary purpose is to engage in express advocacy — the support or opposition of specific candidates and political parties — consistent with the views of NCRL. Second, North Carolina Right to Life Committee Fund for Independent Political Expenditures ("NCRL-FIPE") is a political committee established by NCRL in 1999. NCRL-FIPE's sole purpose is to make independent expenditures, which are defined as those political expenditures "made without consultation or coordination with a candidate or agent of a candidate." N.C. Gen.Stat. § 163-278.6(9a) (2007). Thus, unlike NCRL and NCRL-PAC, NCRL-FIPE makes no contributions of any kind to political candidates.

B.

This appeal is the next act in a long drama that has played out in federal court for over a decade. The foundation of the present litigation was laid in 1996, when NCRL filed suit in federal district court arguing that several provisions of the North Carolina campaign finance laws were unconstitutional under the First and Fourteenth Amendments. This court largely agreed with NCRL and struck down many of the laws in North Carolina Right to Life, Inc. v. Bartlett, 168 F.3d 705 (4th Cir.1999) ("NCRL I"), cert. denied, 528 U.S. 1153, 120 S.Ct. 1156, 145 L.Ed.2d 1069 (2000).

In response to this court's decision, the North Carolina General Assembly set out to revise its system of campaign finance regulation. After studying and debating the issue, the General Assembly passed legislation that amended, deleted, and added statutes regulating campaign finance. See N.C. Sess. Laws 1999-31, 424, & 453.

On November 30, 1999, immediately after North Carolina obtained pre-clearance from the Department of Justice to implement its new campaign finance regulations, NCRL, NCRL-PAC, and NCRL-FIPE (collectively, "the plaintiffs") filed the present suit against various North Carolina officers in their official capacities (collectively, "North Carolina" or "the defendants"). The plaintiffs sought declaratory and injunctive relief under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and the First and Fourteenth Amendments, arguing that the court should enjoin the enforcement of five of North Carolina's new campaign finance statutes against the plaintiffs and similarly situated parties.

Three of the plaintiffs' challenges are relevant to this appeal.¹ First, the plaintiffs argued that North Carolina unconstitutionally regulated issue advocacy in prescribing a standard that, through context, attempts to determine if a communication supports or opposes the nomination or election of a particular candidate (the "context prong"). See N.C. Gen.Stat. § 163-278.14A(a)(2) (2007). Second, the plaintiffs challenged the constitutionality of North Carolina's definition of "political committee," because it threatened to impose numerous and burdensome obligations on organizations not primarily focused on nominating and electing political candidates. See id. § 163-278.6(14). Finally, the plaintiffs argued that North Carolina unconstitutionally applied contribution limits to political committees, such as NCRL-FIPE, which make only independent expenditures and do not contribute to candidates' campaigns. See id. § 163-278.13.

On September 23, 2003, this court affirmed the district court's judgment as to the facial unconstitutionality of the "context prong," and the unconstitutionality of the contribution limits, as applied to NCRL-FIPE. See North Carolina Right to Life v. Leake, Inc., 344 F.3d 418, 435 (4th Cir.2003) ("NCRL II"). The court likewise held that the definition of political committee was unconstitutionally overbroad. Id. It thus enjoined the enforcement of all of the statutory provisions at issue.

North Carolina subsequently petitioned the Supreme Court for certiorari, asking that the matter be remanded for further consideration in light of the Court's then recent decision in McConnell v. FEC, 540 U.S. 93, 124 S.Ct. 619, 157 L.Ed.2d 491 (2003). On April 26, 2004, the Supreme Court granted North Carolina's petition, vacated this court's decision, and remanded the case to the Fourth Circuit for further consideration in light of McConnell. Leake v. North Carolina Right to Life, Inc., 541 U.S. 1007, 124 S.Ct. 2065, 158 L.Ed.2d 617 (2004). This court in turn remanded the case to the district court on August 12, 2004.

On remand, the parties filed cross motions for summary judgment and supporting memoranda addressing the effect of McConnell. In addition, North Carolina argued, relying partly on McConnell, that the plaintiffs lacked standing because they had failed to take action after the statutes in question had been enjoined.

On March 29, 2007, the district court found that the plaintiffs still had standing to proceed with their challenges.² See North Carolina Right to Life, Inc. v. Leake, 482 F.Supp.2d 686, 692-93 (E.D.N.C.2007). In addition, the district court found that, even after McConnell, the context prong remained facially unconstitutional, and North Carolina's contribution limits remained unconstitutional as applied to independent expenditure committees such as NCRL-FIPE. See id. at 699-700. Finally, the district court held that North Carolina's...