SJC upholds state ban on corporate political donations (Massachusetts)
By Matt Stout and John Ellement GLOBE CORRESPONDENT AND GLOBE STAFF SEPTEMBER 06, 2018
The state’s highest court on Thursday unanimously upheld Massachusetts’ longtime ban on corporate political donations to a candidate, rejecting a push by a Republican congressional nominee who argued the prohibition — which doesn’t extend to unions — violated businesses’ rights to free speech.
Supreme Judicial Court Chief Justice Ralph C. Gants wrote that allowing corporate contributions would create “a serious threat of quid pro quo corruption.” In issuing the 7-0 decision, the SJC upheld a lower court ruling that found that the state law does not unconstitutionally discriminate against the rights of a business by banning direct donations to a political campaign.
“Both history and common sense have demonstrated that, when corporations make contributions to political candidates, there is a risk of corruption, both actual and perceived,” Gants wrote. He cited “several Massachusetts politicians [who] have been convicted of crimes stemming from bribery schemes intended to benefit corporations,” including former speaker of the House Salvatore F. DiMasi, former Boston city councilor Chuck Turner, and former state senator Dianne Wilkerson.
Two companies — 1A Auto Inc., owned by Rick Green, and 126 Self Storage Inc., owned by Michael Kane — argued that the state’s campaign finance laws favor unions and by barring corporations from making direct contributions to candidates, the laws violate their rights to free speech. Both Green and Kane have held board positions for the conservative-leaning group, the Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance, which Green founded.
Green is also the GOP nominee for the Third Congressional District’s open seat in the Nov. 6 election. He is expected to face one of two Democrats — Lori Trahan or Dan Koh, whose too-close-to-call race may be heading toward a recount — and independent candidate Mike Mullen.
Kane and Jim Manley, a Goldwater Institute attorney who argued the case for the businesses, both said they expect to petition the US Supreme Court to hear the case.
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https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2018/09/06/sjc-upholds-state-ban-corporate-political-donations/PnC9TIl4TObeX31GXWz6gI/story.html
