Penn v. State ex rel. Foster
| Decision Date | 29 October 1999 |
| Docket Number | No. 99-CA-2337.,99-CA-2337. |
| Citation | 751 So.2d 823 |
| Parties | Claude M. PENN, Jr., Gladney L. Manuel, Jr., Feliciana Ventures, Inc., and Manuel's I-10 Auto & Truck Stop, Inc. v. STATE of Louisiana, through The Honorable Murphy J. FOSTER, Jr., Governor, The Honorable Richard P. Ieyoub, Attorney General, The Supervisory Committee On Campaign Finance Disclosure And The Department Of Public Safety and Corrections, Louisiana Gaming Control Board. |
| Court | Louisiana Supreme Court |
Richard P. Ieyoub, Atty. Gen., Maris LeBlanc McCrory, R. Gray Sexton, L. Rand Dennis, Kathleen M. Allen, Counsel for Applicant.
Frank D. Blackburn, Brett A. Sulzer, Counsel for Respondent.
1
In May 1999, plaintiffs, holders of video draw poker licenses, filed suit against the State of Louisiana, challenging certain statutes passed in the 1996 legislative session which restricted their right to contribute to candidates or political committees of candidates. The district court declared unconstitutional "LSA-R.S. 18:1505.2(L)(3)(a)(i), LSA-R.S. 18:1505.2(L)(3)(b)(i) insofar as it is applied to LSA-R.S. 18:1505.2(L)(3)(a)(i), and Rule 107 of Title 42 of the Louisiana Administrative Code, insofar as Rule 107 precludes candidate and political committee contributions by video draw poker licensees." The district court also permanently enjoined the defendants from enforcing these provisions. The State suspensively appealed that judgment to this Court pursuant to La.Const. Art. V, § 5(D).
Although the provisions at issue were enacted in 1996, plaintiffs did not file suit until May 1999, and the appeal did not reach this Court until August 199. The case was heard and submitted for decision on September 7, 1999.
We hereby render judgment on this date, consisting of this decree and the concurring and dissenting opinions by the justices on this panel.
The judgment of the district court is AFFIRMED. LSA-R.S. 18:1505.2(L)(3)(a)(i), and LSA-R.S. 18:1505.2(L)(3)(b)(i) insofar as it applies to LSA-R.S. 18:1505.2(L)(3)(a)(i), are declared unconstitutional under the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution.2 Rule 107 of Title 42 of the Louisiana Administrative Code, insofar as it precludes candidate and political committee contributions by video draw poker licensees, is likewise invalid, and defendants are permanently enjoined from enforcing the Rule.
TRAYLOR, J., dissents for the reasons assigned by VICTORY and KNOLL, JJ.
During the First Extraordinary Session of 1996, the Louisiana Legislature passed Act 67 which enacted La.Rev.Stat. § 18:1505.2(L) relative to campaign finance. The provisions of La.Rev.Stat. § 18:1505.2(L) prohibit certain persons from making campaign contributions, loans, or transfers of funds to any candidate, any political committee of any such candidate, or any other political committee which supports or opposes any candidate. By enacting the provisions of La.Rev.Stat. § 18:1505.2(L), the legislature intended to promote confidence in the electoral process, and protect candidates and the election process from both real and perceived influence by special interests, particularly persons involved in the gaming industry of this state. The statute impacts persons holding a license or permit to distribute, manufacture, or service gaming devices and persons who own truck stops or licensed pari-mutuel or off-track wagering facilities that are licensed device establishments. Any person who has more than a ten percent interest directly, or a twenty-five percent interest indirectly, in any of the aforementioned legal entities is affected by the statute. The portions of La.Rev. Stat. Ann. § 18:1505.2(L) pertinent to the resolution of this case provide:
The present litigation also challenges Emergency Rule 107 as promulgated by the Louisiana Gaming Control Board in August, 1996. The Rule provides standards of conduct and ethical rules for members of the Gaming Control Board, their family members, employees of the Board, and all licensees of the Board. In pertinent part it provides:
6.b. No casino operator or any other licensee or permittee shall make a contribution or loan to, or expenditure on behalf of, a candidate or committee.
La. Admin. Code tit. 42, § 107.
The plaintiffs in this matter are persons who own truck stops licensed under the Video Draw Poker Devices Control Law as device establishments. They contend that La.Rev.Stat. Ann. § 18:1505.2(L)(3)(a)(i), La.Rev.Stat. Ann. § 18:1505.2(L)(3)(b)(i), and La. Admin. Code tit. 42, § 107 are violative of the First and Fourteenth Amendments of the United States Constitution, the equal protection provisions of Art. I, § 3 of the Louisiana Constitution, the freedom of expression and right of assembly and petition provisions in Art. I, §§ 7 and 9 of the Louisiana Constitution. Other persons prohibited from making campaign contributions by La.Rev.Stat. Ann. § 18:1505.2(L) have not joined in this litigation.3 Louisiana is one of eight states which has enacted a ban on campaign contributions by the gaming industry.4 The most recent expression by this Court on restrictions in the gaming industry came in Brown v. State Through Dept. of Public Safety, 96-2204 (La.10/15/96), 680 So.2d 1179, addressing the constitutionality of La.Rev.Stat. Ann. § 27:13(C)(6). In declaring the statute unconstitutional, we concluded that the prohibition on contributions to committees supporting or opposing ballot measures suppressed the free flow of information protected by the First Amendment. Id., p. 10, 680 So.2d at 1183. This case presents the question left unanswered in Brown, that is whether the First Amendment protects campaign contributions to individual candidates and committees supporting or opposing those candidates.
The First Amendment provides that "Congress shall make no law ... abridging the freedom of speech." U.S. Const. amend. I. The Fourteenth Amendment makes this most important guarantee applicable to the states as well as the Congress. This guaranteed freedom of speech is essential to our society and a basic element of our fundamental law. The jurisprudence recognizes that the First Amendment reflects a "profound national commitment" to the principle that "debate on public issues should be uninhibited, robust, and wide-open." New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, 376 U.S. 254, 270, 84 S.Ct. 710, 721, 11 L.Ed.2d 686 (1964). Commitment to this principle lends itself to the protection of campaign contributions and political speech.
The United States Supreme Court's decision in Buckley v. Valeo, 424 U.S. 1, 96 S.Ct. 612, 46 L.Ed.2d 659 (1976), marks the inception of modern campaign finance jurisprudence, and is the seminal case on campaign contributions and expenditures in the context of First Amendment rights. It is only fitting that the resolution of this case start with Buckley. In addressing the contribution and expenditure limitations imposed by the 1974 amendments to the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, the Buckley Court concluded that limitations on campaign contributions do not violate the First Amendment of the Constitution. However, limitations on expenditures were found to be violative of First Amendment rights. In reaching this conclusion, the Court recognized that:
The Act's contribution and expenditure limitations operate in an area of the most fundamental First Amendment activities. Discussion of public issues and debate on the qualifications of candidates are integral to the operation of the system of government established by our Constitution. The First Amendment affords the broadest protection to such political expression in order "to assure [the] unfettered interchange of ideas for the bringing about of political and social changes desired by the people." Roth v. United States, 354 U.S. 476, 484, 77 S.Ct. 1304, 1308, 1 L.Ed.2d 1498 (1957)..... As the Court observed in Monitor Patriot Co. v. Roy, 401 U.S. 265, 272, 91 S.Ct. 621, 625, 28 L.Ed.2d 35 (1971), "it can hardly be doubted that the...
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