campaign-finance

40 cases — ← All topics

Case Title Lower Court Docketed Status Flags Tags Question Presented
25-757 Matthew Borges v. United States Sixth Circuit 2025-12-29 Pending Response RequestedResponse Waived bribery campaign-finance first-amendment official-act political-contribution quid-pro-quo The First Amendment protects soliciting for, and contributing to, political campaigns based on policies that a candidate agrees to take while in offic…
25-756 Larry Householder v. United States Sixth Circuit 2025-12-29 Pending Response RequestedResponse Waived campaign-finance extortion first-amendment honest-services-fraud political-speech quid-pro-quo The First Amendment's protection of political speech ensures that a political contribution will not constitute extortion under 18 U.S.C. § 1951 or h…
25-49 Alexander Sittenfeld aka P. G. Sittenfeld v. United States Sixth Circuit 2025-07-15 Pending Amici (12)Relisted (5) bribery campaign-finance first-amendment official-act political-contribution quid-pro-quo The First Amendment protects soliciting and contributing funds to support a political candidate based on his or her intended policies. To avoid chilli…
24-621 National Republican Senatorial Committee, et al. v. Federal Election Commission, et al. Sixth Circuit 2024-12-06 Granted Amici (40)Relisted (2) campaign-finance constitutional-law first-amendment free-speech party-communication political-expenditure Whether the limits on coordinated party expenditures in 52 U.S.C. § 30116 violate the First Amendment, either on their face or as applied to party spe…
24A494 Michael Quinn Sullivan v. Texas Ethics Commission Texas 2024-11-19 Presumed Complete campaign-finance first-amendment free-speech-restriction government-compulsion political-speech registration-requirement Whether a state may constitutionally compel a private citizen to register with a governmental agency and pay a fee in order to engage in political spe…
24-503 Upstate Jobs Party, et al. v. Peter S. Kosinski, New York State Board of Elections Co-Chair Commissioner, et al. Second Circuit 2024-11-04 Denied Response RequestedResponse WaivedRelisted (2) campaign-finance contribution-limits first-amendment judicial-scrutiny political-speech quid-pro-quo Whether mere hypothetical assertions and judicial common sense are sufficient to impose asymmetrical restrictions on political speech without evidence…
24A266 Upstate Jobs Party, et al. v. Peter Kosinski, New York State Board of Elections Co-Chair Commissioner, et al. Second Circuit 2024-09-16 Presumed Complete campaign-finance contribution-limits equal-protection first-amendment political-speech quid-pro-quo-corruption Whether the First Amendment permits a state to impose asymmetrical campaign contribution limits based solely on hypothetical corruption risks without …
24-5526 Terry Dean Birts v. Arkansas Arkansas 2024-09-12 Denied Response WaivedIFP campaign-finance constitutional-rights donation-regulation first-amendment free-speech political-speech Whether state-level political donations can be considered a form of protected First Amendment speech and whether campaign finance regulations impermis…
24A227 Treniss J. Evans v. Supreme Court of New York, et al. Fifth Circuit 2024-08-30 Presumed Complete campaign-finance constitutional-interpretation election-law federal-preemption prosecutorial-discretion supremacy-clause Whether a state prosecutor can bring a state-level prosecution that effectively creates a localized interpretation of federal election law in potentia…
23-1316 Doug Smith, et al. v. Richard Stillie, Jr., in His Official Capacity as Chair, Alaska Public Offices Commission, et al. Ninth Circuit 2024-06-17 Denied Response RequestedResponse WaivedRelisted (6) campaign-finance civil-rights compelled-speech disclosure-requirements first-amendment political-contributions Does Alaska's donor disclosure requirements violate the First Amendment?
23-1266 Tonya Parks v. Affiliated Bank, et al. Texas 2024-06-04 Denied campaign-finance constitutional-fairness due-process equal-protection fourteenth-amendment judicial-bias judicial-integrity judicial-misconduct judicial-recusal recusal Does the Texas judicial system's approach to recusal, in conjunction with judges' collaborative fundraising and expenditure activities, violate the Fo…
23-1112 Ryan Cram, et al. v. Service Employees International Union Local 503, Oregon Public Employees Union, et al. Ninth Circuit 2024-04-12 Denied Response RequestedResponse WaivedRelisted (2) 1st-amendment campaign-contributions campaign-finance civil-rights compelled-speech first-amendment free-speech labor-union labor-unions public-employees public-sector union-political-funds Do public employees who are former union members possess the First Amendment right to refuse to contribute to union political campaign funds?
23-926 No on E, San Franciscans Opposing the Affordable Housing Production Act, et al. v. David Chiu, in His Official Capacity as San Francisco City Attorney, et al. Ninth Circuit 2024-02-27 Denied Amici (8)Response RequestedResponse WaivedRelisted (2) advertising-regulation association campaign-finance compelled-speech disclosure-requirements donor-disclosure donor-transparency first-amendment free-speech political-speech Whether requiring political advertisers to name their donors' donors within their advertisements advances any important or compelling state interest
23A511 No on E, San Franciscans Opposing the Affordable Care Housing Production Act, et al. v. David Chiu, in His Official Capacity as San Francisco City Attorney, et al. Ninth Circuit 2023-12-05 Presumed Complete campaign-finance compelled-speech donor-disclosure first-amendment free-speech-doctrine political-advertising Whether San Francisco's campaign finance disclosure law requiring political advertisers to name secondary donors violates the First Amendment's free s…
23A473 Jill L. Stein, et al. v. Federal Election Commission District of Columbia 2023-11-27 Presumed Complete ballot-access campaign-finance equal-protection minor-party presidential-election public-funding Whether Section 9032(6) of the Presidential Primary Matching Payment Account Act violates the Equal Protection Clause by arbitrarily terminating minor…
22-865 Mobilize the Message, LLC, et al. v. Rob Bonta, Attorney General of California Ninth Circuit 2023-03-10 Denied Amici (4) campaign-finance campaign-material civil-rights content-based-regulation content-based-restriction first-amendment free-speech independent-contractor independent-contractors political-canvassing political-speech speech-regulation Whether regulating canvassing and the delivery of printed material based on that speech's content, function, or purpose implicates the First Amendment
22-6115 Danny Fabricant v. Federal Election Commission, et al. District of Columbia 2022-11-21 Dismissed Response WaivedIFP article-iii-standing campaign-finance constitutional-law constitutional-qualifications declaratory-judgment equal-protection federal-election-campaign-act federal-election-commission prisoner-litigation standing statutory-interpretation Does 52 U.S.C. § 30101's requirement that potential candidates for the House of Representatives report contributions or expenditures before being cons…
21-943 Gerald G. Lundergan v. United States Sixth Circuit 2021-12-27 Denied campaign-finance civil-rights constitutional-law corporate-contributions family-corporation federal-ban first-amendment free-speech scrutiny-standard Whether the federal ban on corporate contributions is unconstitutional as applied to intrafamilial contributions from a closely held, family-run corpo…
21-890 Gaspee Project, et al. v. Diane C. Mederos, et al. First Circuit 2021-12-15 Denied Response RequestedResponse WaivedRelisted (3) campaign-finance commercial-speech compelled-speech constitutional-law disclosure-requirements donor-disclosure first-amendment free-speech issue-advocacy strict-scrutiny Does Rhode Island's on-advertisement donor disclaimer law impermissibly compel speech in violation of National Institute of Family & Life Advocates v.…
21-822 Donna Patrick, et al. v. The Alaska Public Offices Commission Alaska 2021-12-03 Denied Response Waived campaign-finance certiorari constitutional-interpretation first-amendment free-speech independent-committees institutional-corruption originalism political-contributions standing Whether the original meaning of the First Amendment permits regulations against contributions to independent political action committees
20-103 Stephen E. Stockman v. United States Fifth Circuit 2020-08-03 Denied Amici (4)Response Waived bipartisan-campaign-reform-act buckley-standard buckley-v-valeo campaign-finance electioneering-communications feca-enforcement federal-election-campaign-act first-amendment fraud-claims mcconnell-v-fec Whether Buckley's narrowing construction applies to non-BCRA activity (i.e., non-electioneering communications) in FECA enforcement actions
20-5096 In Re Shavez Evans 2020-07-16 Denied IFP 42-usc-1983 campaign-finance civil-rights constitutional-law declaratory-judgment due-process equal-protection first-amendment judicial-elections judicial-immunity state-court Did the District Court of Arizona deny the petitioner Evans justice when abusing their discretion ruling Judges are absolutely immune from §1983 suits…
19-1398 Ted Lieu, United States Congressman, et al. v. Federal Election Commission District of Columbia 2020-06-22 Denied Amici (6) campaign-finance corruption corruption-prevention federal-election-campaign-act first-amendment independent-expenditures political-committees political-contributions standing statutory-limit Whether the federal statutory limit on contributions to political committees, 52 U.S.C. §30116(a)(1)(C), comports with the First Amendment as applied …
19-767 National Association for Gun Rights, Inc. v. Jeff Mangan, in His Official Capacity as the Commissioner of Political Practices for the State of Montana, et al. Ninth Circuit 2019-12-16 Denied Amici (3)Response RequestedResponse WaivedRelisted (2) campaign-finance circuit-split civil-rights constitutional-rights express-advocacy first-amendment free-speech political-committee political-committee-regulations Whether the First Amendment permits imposing burdensome political-committee regulations upon groups that do not engage in any express advocacy for or …
19-608 Mark Elster, et al. v. City of Seattle, Washington Washington 2019-11-12 Denied Amici (3)Response RequestedResponse WaivedRelisted (3) campaign-finance civil-rights compelled-subsidy constitutional-review first-amendment free-speech property-levy rational-basis speech-funding standing Whether a levy that forces property owners to fund other individuals' campaign donations implicates the First Amendment's compelled-subsidy doctrine
19-458 John Schickel, et al. v. George C. Troutman, et al. Sixth Circuit 2019-10-07 Denied campaign-finance campaign-speech civil-rights due-process first-amendment fourteenth-amendment free-speech legislative-ethics standing strict-scrutiny Whether incumbents and candidates for political office have standing to assert First and Fourteenth Amendment claims
19-234 Libertarian National Committee, Inc. v. Federal Election Commission District of Columbia 2019-08-22 Denied Amici (3) campaign-finance content-based-restrictions deceased-donor federal-election-commission first-amendment first-amendment-rights free-speech political-contributions political-parties testamentary-bequest testamentary-bequests Whether limiting the size of a deceased donor's uncoordinated testamentary bequest to a political party violates the party's First Amendment right to …
19-122 David Thompson, et al. v. Heather Hebdon, Executive Director of the Alaska Public Offices Commission, et al. Ninth Circuit 2019-07-25 Denied Amici (3)Relisted (4) campaign-finance contribution-limits electoral-law first-amendment ninth-circuit procedural-history randall-v-sorrell regulatory-background standing supreme-court-precedent Whether Alaska's $500 individual-to-candidate and individual-to-group contribution limits violate the First Amendment
18-9001 Steven P. Reed v. United States Fifth Circuit 2019-04-26 Denied Response WaivedIFP campaign-finance due-process fair-notice federal-power federal-prosecution mcdonnell-v-united-states money-laundering state-campaign-finance-law state-regulation wire-fraud Can the federal government convict a politician for complying with a state's ambiguous campaign finance law?
18-1336 Walter P. Reed v. United States Fifth Circuit 2019-04-24 Denied Response Waived campaign-finance criminal-forfeiture criminal-forfeiture,statute-of-limitations,mail-fr criminal-prosecution custom-and-practice custom-and-practice,federal-mail-fraud,state-law,s due-process federal-law mail-fraud notice state-law statute-of-limitations statutory-interpretation wire-fraud Whether the petitioner was denied due process by lack of notice of the federal prosecutors' interpretation of a state campaign finance statute and an …
18-1293 Evergreen Freedom Foundation, dba Freedom Foundation v. Washington Washington 2019-04-12 Denied Amici (5)Response WaivedRelisted (2) ballot-initiative ballot-initiatives campaign-finance constitutional-vagueness due-process fair-campaign-practices-act first-amendment free-speech vagueness vagueness-doctrine Whether Washington's campaign finance statutes violate due process by being unconstitutionally vague as applied to legal services for ballot initiativ…
18-896 Missouri Ethics Commission, et al. v. Free and Fair Election Fund, et al. Eighth Circuit 2019-01-10 Denied Response RequestedResponse WaivedRelisted (2) campaign-finance constitutional-law contribution-caps corruption first-amendment free-speech political-action-committee political-action-committees state-regulation transparency May a state prohibit political action committees from transferring money to other political action committees?
18-755 Illinois Liberty PAC, et al. v. Kwame Raoul, Attorney General of Illinois, et al. Seventh Circuit 2018-12-13 Denied Amici (3)Response RequestedResponse WaivedRelisted (2) buckley-standard buckley-v-valeo campaign-finance civil-rights contribution-limits due-process equal-protection first-amendment political-contributions political-speech strict-scrutiny Should political contribution limits that favor one type of speaker over another receive strict scrutiny?
18-733 1A Auto, Inc., et al. v. Michael Sullivan, Director, Massachusetts Office of Campaign and Political Finance Massachusetts 2018-12-10 Denied Amici (4)Response RequestedRelisted (2) association campaign-finance contribution-limits equal-protection first-amendment free-speech freedom-of-association freedom-of-speech intermediate-scrutiny political-contributions strict-scrutiny Should Beaumont be overruled?
18-606 Dimitrios N. Kesari, aka Dimitri Kesari v. United States Eighth Circuit 2018-11-08 Denied campaign-finance criminal-law disbursement-disclosure disclosure-requirements false-reporting federal-election-campaign-act federal-election-commission purpose-statements reporting-requirements Whether and under what circumstances a report to the Federal Election Commission that does not specify the ultimate recipient of a campaign disburseme…
18-442 Jesse R. Benton v. United States Eighth Circuit 2018-10-09 Denied 18-usc-1001 campaign-finance false-statement falsity fec feca federal-election-commission materiality materiality-requirement reporting-violations sarbanes-oxley sarbanes-oxley-act statutory-interpretation Whether the materiality requirement in 18 USC Section 1001 can be turned into a mere falsity requirement in the FEC reporting context or whether the s…
18-377 Montanans for Community Development v. Jeffrey A. Mangan, et al. Ninth Circuit 2018-09-24 Denied Amici (1)Response RequestedResponse WaivedRelisted (2) buckley-test buckley-v-valeo campaign-finance circuit-split citizens-united-v-fec entity-based-burdens first-amendment first-amendment-free-speech free-speech major-purpose ninth-circuit-split nonprecedential-decisions political-committee political-committees Whether states are barred by the First Amendment from imposing PAC-status and resulting entity-based burdens on groups lacking Buckley's 'major purpos…
18-5766 Jian-yun Dong, aka John Dong v. United States Fourth Circuit 2018-08-24 Denied Response WaivedIFP appellate-court-standard campaign-contribution campaign-contribution-violation campaign-finance civilian-affairs civilian-law-enforcement domestic-security-act jurisdiction-removal military-jurisdiction posse-comitatus-act prosecutorial-misconduct third-amendment Whether the Third Amendment protects civilians from military intrusion into law enforcement
18-149 Doug Lair, et al. v. Jeff Mangan, in His Official Capacity as Commissioner of Political Practices, et al. Ninth Circuit 2018-08-02 Denied Amici (4)Response RequestedResponse WaivedRelisted (3) campaign-finance campaign-finance-regulation civil-rights constitutional-rights contribution-limits election-law first-amendment free-speech political-contributions political-parties political-speech quid-pro-quo-corruption randall-v-sorrell standing Whether Montana's base candidate contribution limits on individual and political committees are unconstitutional under the First Amendment
18-93 Donald Zimmerman v. City of Austin, Texas Fifth Circuit 2018-07-20 Denied Amici (1)Response RequestedResponse WaivedRelisted (7) aggregate-limit austin base-limit campaign-contributions campaign-finance civil-rights constitutional-law contribution-limits due-process election-law first-amendment standing Whether Austin's $350 base limit on campaign contributions violates the First Amendment