Dean's VT campaign finance law heading for SCOTUS oral arguments

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U.S. Supreme Court to hear arguments Tuesday (2/28/06) on campaign finance

By Christopher Graff, AP Writer | appearing in Boston Globe, Saturday, February 25, 2006

MONTPELIER, Vt. --A typically blunt statement by Howard Dean nine years ago about campaign contributions -- "money does buy access and we're kidding ourselves and Vermonters if we deny it" -- is at the heart of a case that comes before the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday (February 28, 2006).

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Dean's statement in 1997 came as the then-governor called upon the (Vermont state) Legislature to enact campaign finance reform: Lawmakers delivered by limiting campaign contributions and spending as well as by creating a system of public financing.

Opponents, claiming the (Vermont) law unfairly infringed on free speech rights, filed legal challenges. So far a federal judge and a federal appeals court have endorsed Vermont's effort but most legal analysts say Vermont's odds of prevailing in the (U.S.) Supreme Court are not good.

"The court has been fairly divided on the issue and with the additions of Justices Alito and Roberts, I think the job for Vermont has gotten much harder," said Cheryl Hanna, a Vermont Law School professor.

Even (Vermont's) Attorney General William Sorrell, who will argue Vermont's case on Tuesday, concedes he has a tough job. "I don't think there is any question we have a huge challenge ahead," he said Thursday (2/23/06) in an interview from Washington as he prepared for the oral arguments.

"What's at stake here, though, is the integrity of our elections and the right of the people to be heard in a democracy," said Sorrell. "Testimony before the (Vermont state) Legislature and in the lower court showed that average Vermonters see these vast amounts of money that candidates raise and they believe their voice isn't really heard and that public officials are beholden to large monied interests that fund their campaigns."

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A decision (by the U.S. Supreme Court) is expected in June (2006).

. . . more at http://www.boston.com/news/local/vermont/articles/2006/02/25/us_supreme_court_to_hear_arguments_tuesday_on_campaign_finance?mode=PF

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The U.S. Supreme Court case is entitled: Vermont Republican State Committee v. (Vermont Attorney General) William H. Sorrell, (SCOTUS docket #04-1530). See also: backgrounder press release http://www.vpirg.org/pubs/2005.06.15_USCcase_release.php (Vermont Public Interest Research Group (vpirg), a non-profit advocacy organization)

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1. Well, it was heard today. I hear that VT Atty General William Sorrell

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Well, it was heard today. I hear that VT Atty General William Sorrell did a fine job of his oral argument despite his queasiness, it being his first time b4 the 9 Justices!

Jim Lehrer's NewsHour did an overview of this oral argument: http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/law/jan-june06/scotus_2-28.html (video/audio stream, podcast, and transcript)

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