Breaking News: Federal Court Refuses to Enjoin NY Ban on Unlimited Contributions to Independent PACs

You can find the opinion here. In my earlier coverage, given the SpeechNow case and other cases, I wrote: “Unless the court believes that this comes too close to the election (a laches-type argument), a court could well grant an injunction against enforcing this limit in the mayoral election.”

The district court’s rationale for declining the preliminary injunction was precisely about timing: the court cited Supreme Court cases cautioning against changing rules close to the election. According to the court, “Here, NYPPP asks this Court to rush to dismantle a law—which has remained unchanged for more than three decades—without any real factual record.”

Bloomberg BNA reports that there’s been an emergency appeal to the Second Circuit.  The Supreme Court is probably not too far behind.

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