(SitNews) Anchorage, Alaska - The Ninth Circuit federal court of appeals issued a decision last week upholding three Alaska campaign finance laws limiting political contributions that were challenged in a 2015 lawsuit, concluding that these limits are narrowly tailored to advance the important state interest in preventing quid pro quo corruption. The Ninth Circuit struck down the fourth limit also challenged in the suit, which was an aggregate cap on nonresident contributions to Alaska candidates.

In its decision, the Ninth Circuit upholds Alaska's campaign contribution limits except for a limit on the amount candidates can receive from nonresidents. Plaintiffs alleged that Alaska law regulating campaign contributions violated the First Amendment. The plaintiffs, three individuals (David Thompson, Aaron Downing, Jim Crawford) and a subdivision of the Alaska Republican Party, challenged: (1) the $500 annual limit on an individual contribution to a political candidate, (2) the $500 limit on an individual contribution to a non- political party group, (3) annual limits on what a political party—including its subdivisions—may contribute to a candidate, and (4) the annual aggregate limit on contributions a candidate may accept from nonresidents of Alaska.

In its 11/27/18 decision, the Ninth Circuit Court upheld three contribution limits set by Alaska law:

• the $500 annual limit on individual contributions to political candidates,
• the $500 limit on individual contributions to non-party political groups that contribute to candidates, and
• the annual limits on contributions to candidates by political parties and their subdivisions.

The Ninth Circuit held that the State of Alaska successfully demonstrated that corruption from campaign contributions is a real risk and that Alaska’s contribution limits are not so low that candidates cannot raise sufficient funds to wage effective campaigns. 

However, the Ninth Circuit was not persuaded that the State’s interest in preventing corruption justified its annual aggregate limit on the total contributions that a candidate may accept from nonresidents of Alaska. Instead, the court struck down that limit as unconstitutional, relying on the U.S. Supreme Court case McCutcheon v. FEC.

Former-Attorney General Jahna Lindemuth remarked on the decision handed down on November 27th saying, “Alaska’s voters set Alaska’s contribution limits at their current levels to help keep corruption out of Alaska politics." Lindemuth said, “The Ninth Circuit has recognized that important interest. The decision shows that the voters got it right in setting reasonable limits that the State can continue to enforce.”

Former-Attorney General Lindemuth said, “We are disappointed that the court struck down Alaska’s limit on non-resident contributions. But we are pleased that the court recognized the importance of the majority of our contribution limits.”

According to the news release, the State is still reviewing the 11/27/18 court’s reasoning in the decision and evaluating next steps.

A 2006 Initiative approved by the voters, amended Alaska’s election laws, returning the individual-to-candidate and individual-to-group limits to their pre-2003 levels of $500 per year; capped the amount a non-political party group could contribute to a candidate at $1,000; restricted the amount candidates could receive from nonresidents to $3,000 per year, and limited the amount a political party, including its subdivisions, could contribute to a candidate.

The 2006 Alaska voter information packet included a statement that "Corruption is not limited to one party or individual. Ethics should be not only bipartisan but also universal. From the Abramoff and Jefferson scandals in Washington D.C. to side deals in Juneau, special interests are becoming bolder every day. They used to try to buy elections. Now they are trying to buy the legislators themselves."

On the Web:

11/27/18 UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT (pdf)

Source of News:

Alaska Department of Law
www.law.state.ak.us

 

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