Judge Sri Srinivasan on 3-Judge Court Considering Major Soft Money Challenge

Bloomberg BNA:

A three-judge federal district court considering a challenge to rules restricting “soft money” contributions to political parties will hold a June 24 hearing to consider whether to go ahead with the case (Republican Party of La. v. Federal Election Commission, D.D.C., No. 15-cv-1241, order, 5/20/16).
The hearing, set by a May 20 court order from the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, will take place before U.S. Circuit Judge Sri Srinivasan and U.S. District Judges Christopher Cooper and Tanya Chutkan. They are expected to hear from attorney James Bopp, who has challenged party contribution limits, and attorneys for the Federal Election Commission, which is defending the limits.
The court order said the hearing will address pending motions for summary judgment as well as an FEC motion to dissolve the three-judge court. In that motion, the FEC sought to derail the soft-money challenge before the case is put on a fast track to the U.S. Supreme Court (4255 Money & Politics Report, 5/10/16).
The soft-money challenge was brought by Bopp, a prominent Republican election lawyer with the Bopp Law Firm in Terre Haute, Ind., on behalf of the Louisiana Republican Party and two local Republican committees.
If I am seeing this right, this is three Obama appointees for this panel, which has got to be a pretty good draw.
But the real action in this case, assuming it is not dismissed on standing grounds, is at the Supreme Court. See my piece in The Atlantic, The Supreme Court”s Next Big Fight Over Big Money in Politics.
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