St. Paul Area Chamber of Commerce v. Gaertner

• Citation: 439 F.3d 481
• Decision Date: 27 February 2006
• Docket Number: No. 05-1795.,05-1795.
• Parties: SAINT PAUL AREA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE, a Minnesota nonprofit corporation; Burnsville Chamber of Commerce, a Minnesota nonprofit corporation; Greater Mankato Chamber of Commerce, a Minnesota nonprofit corporation, Appellants, v. Susan GAERTNER, in her official capacity as County Attorney for Ramsey County, Minnesota; James Backstrom, in his official capacity as County Attorney for Dakota County, Minnesota; Ross Arneson, in his official capacity as County Attorney for Blue Earth County, Minnesota, Appellees.
• Court: United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (8th Circuit)

439 F.3d 481

SAINT PAUL AREA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE, a Minnesota nonprofit corporation; Burnsville Chamber of Commerce, a Minnesota nonprofit corporation; Greater Mankato Chamber of Commerce, a Minnesota nonprofit corporation, Appellants, v. Susan GAERTNER, in her official capacity as County Attorney for Ramsey County, Minnesota; James Backstrom, in his official capacity as

County Attorney for Dakota County, Minnesota; Ross Arneson, in his official capacity as County Attorney for Blue Earth County, Minnesota, Appellees.

No. 05-1795.

United States Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit.

Submitted: December 15, 2005.

Filed: February 27, 2006.

Thomas H. Boyd, argued, Minneapolis, MN (David M. Aafedt, on the brief), for appellants.

Darwin J. Lookingbill, argued, Asst. Ramsey County Attorney, St. Paul, MN. for appellee Susan Gaertner.

Andrea G. White, Assistant Dakota County Attorney, on the brief for appellees James Backstrom and Ross Arneson of Hastings, MN.

Before BYE, BOWMAN, and GRUENDER, Circuit Judges.

BOWMAN, Circuit Judge.

Appellants, three chambers of commerce operating as nonprofit corporations in Minnesota, appeal the dismissal of their suit challenging certain provisions of the Minnesota Fair Campaign Practices Act that regulate corporate contributions to candidates for political office. Appellants seek a declaration that Minnesota Statutes §§ 211B.01, subd. 3, and 211B.15, subds. 1(2), 2 (2004) (collectively, "the Minnesota Statutes"), are unconstitutional and preempted by the Federal Election Campaign Act, 2 U.S.C. §§ 431-55 (2000) ("FECA"), to the extent that the Minnesota Statutes pertain to federal elections. Appellants also seek injunctive relief prohibiting Appellees, three county attorneys, from enforcing the Minnesota Statutes. The District Court dismissed the suit for lack of subject matter jurisdiction on the ground that Appellants lacked standing. Concluding that Appellants have standing, we reverse.

Appellants seek to use their general treasury funds to engage in speech that advocates the election of candidates for federal office.¹ Specifically, Appellants propose (1) "[e]ndorsing candidates for the United States Senate or the House of Representatives"; (2) "[s]ending letters to [Appellants'] respective members informing them of endorsements and encouraging members to support the endorsed candidates for federal elective office"; (3) "[i]nviting candidates for federal office to attend [Appellants'] respective member events and/or speak at said member events"; (4) "[s]ending letters to [Appellants'] respective members informing them of the United States Chamber of Commerce's endorsement of candidates for federal office"; (5) "[i]nviting [Appellants'] respective members to attend events being held on behalf of endorsed candidates"; and (6) "[s]ending email or other correspondence to [Appellants'] respective members informing them of federal candidate events." Complaint at 5. Appellants assert that these activities are expressly permitted by FECA and its implementing regulations. See, e.g., 11 C.F.R. §§ 114.3, 114.5, 114.7(h) (2005). The Minnesota Statutes, however, prohibit corporations such as Appellants from making any contributions, directly or indirectly, to promote or defeat the candidacy of an individual for nomination, election, or appointment to political office. See Minn.Stat. §§ 211B.01, subd. 3; 211B.15, subds. 1(2), 2 (2004). A corporation that violates the Minnesota law may be dissolved and fined up to $40,000, id. § 211B.15, subd. 7, and an individual acting on behalf of a corporation who violates the law may be imprisoned for up to five years and fined up to $20,000, id. § 211B.15, subd. 6.

Appellants have refrained from making political contributions because they "fear penalty and prosecution" under the Minnesota Statutes. Complaint at 8. Appellants aver that their First Amendment rights to engage in electioneering and campaign activities have been chilled by the Minnesota Statutes. They brought suit, seeking a declaration that the Minnesota Statutes are unconstitutional and preempted by FECA to the extent that they relate to federal elections.

A magistrate judge recommended that the case be dismissed because Appellants had suffered no justiciable injury that would give them standing. The magistrate judge concluded that because Appellants did not allege that Appellees had ever threatened to enforce the Minnesota Statutes, Appellants' fear of prosecution "can be classified as `imaginary and speculative.'" Report and Recommendation at 10 (quoting Babbitt v. United Farm Workers Nat'l Union, 442 U.S. 289, 298, 99 S.Ct. 2301, 60 L.Ed.2d 895 (1979)). The magistrate judge further concluded that Appellants failed to plead adequately the specific political action that the Minnesota Statutes allegedly prevented them from taking, thus indicating "that no controversy existed." Id. at 11. The District Court adopted the magistrate judge's report and recommendation and dismissed the suit for lack of standing.

We review de novo the District Court's standing determination. See Shain, 376 F.3d at 817. The standing requirement for federal court jurisdiction stems from the admonition in Article III of the Constitution that federal courts are empowered to decide only "cases" and "controversies." U.S. Const. art. III § 2, cl.1. To satisfy the Article III requirement, a party that challenges a statute in federal court must demonstrate that it has suffered an "injury in fact," i.e., "a realistic danger of sustaining a direct injury as a result of the statute's operation or enforcement."² Babbitt, 442 U.S. at 298, 99 S.Ct. 2301. A party, however, need not expose itself to arrest or prosecution in order to challenge a criminal statute. "When the plaintiff has alleged an intention to engage in a course of conduct arguably affected with a constitutional interest, but proscribed by a statute, and there exists a credible threat of prosecution thereunder, he `should not be required to await and undergo a criminal prosecution as the sole means of seeking relief.'" Id. (quoting Doe v. Bolton, 410 U.S. 179, 188, 93 S.Ct. 739, 35 L.Ed.2d 201 (1973)); see also Ark. Right to Life State Political Action Comm. v. Butler, 146 F.3d 558, 560 (8th Cir.1998) ("Plaintiffs, however, are not required to expose themselves to arrest or prosecution under a criminal statute in order to challenge a statute in federal court."). A plaintiff who alleges a threat of prosecution that "is not imaginary or wholly speculative" has standing to challenge the statute. Babbitt, 442 U.S. at 302, 99 S.Ct. 2301. When a statute is challenged by a party who is a target or object of the statute's prohibitions, "there is ordinarily little question that the [statute] has caused him injury." Minn. Citizens Concerned for Life v. Fed. Election Comm'n, 113 F.3d 129, 131 (8th Cir.1997) (internal quotation marks and citation omitted).

Appellants' complaint sufficiently alleges that Appellants have suffered injury due to the Minnesota Statutes. Appellants asserted six specific political expenditures that they would like to make and a "fear that Defendant County Attorneys will initiate criminal prosecution against them and their corporate officers, employees, and agents" should they do so. Complaint at 4. Although Appellants have neither violated the Minnesota Statutes nor been threatened by Appellees with prosecution should they engage in the proposed activity, Appellants' fear of prosecution is not imaginary or speculative. The Minnesota Statutes, on their face, prohibit corporate political expenditures of money or service for the purpose of promoting or defeating a candidate for federal office, and the penalty provisions apply both to the corporations and their agents. While Appellees assert that they have never prosecuted anyone under the Minnesota Statutes or "made any public statements threatening to do so," Brief of Appellees at 9, Appellees have not disavowed an intent to enforce the statutes in the future.³ See United Food & Commercial Workers Int'l Union v. IBP, Inc., 857 F.2d 422, 429 (8th Cir.1988) (holding that representation by state officials that they have no "present plan" to enforce a statute does not divest plaintiffs of standing to challenge the statute because "the state's position could well change"). Indeed, as counsel conceded at oral argument, Appellees have taken an oath to enforce Minnesota law. Moreover, § 211B.15, subd. 2, is not a dormant law; it recently was enforced by a county attorney in another county. See State v. Eibensteiner, 690 N.W.2d 140 (Minn.Ct.App. 2004) (discussing Mower County Attorney's prosecution of insurance company and insurance company officers who made corporate contributions to a state political party for the purpose of defeating a candidate for Minnesota governor). Appellants "are thus not without some reason in fearing prosecution" should they make the political expenditures that they propose. Babbitt, 442 U.S. at 302, 99 S.Ct. 2301 (holding that fear of prosecution was not imaginary or speculative, even though the challenged criminal penalty provision had never been applied to plaintiffs' proposed conduct, where statute on its face proscribed the proposed conduct and where "the State has not disavowed any intention of invoking the criminal penalty provision"); see also Butler, 146 F.3d at 560 (holding that plaintiffs had standing to challenge the constitutionality of various provisions in Arkansas's campaign finance law even though plaintiffs had neither violated the law nor been directly threatened with prosecution under the law); N.H. Right to Life Political Action Comm. v. Gardner, 99 F.3d 8, 12-15 (1st Cir.1996) (determining that political action committee had standing to challenge New Hampshire campaign finance limits even though New Hampshire's Attorney General had informed plaintiff that the state would not enforce the law).

In concluding that Appellants could not demonstrate a...