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      Libertarian National Committee v. FEC

Libertarian National Committee v. FEC 
 Summary
          
            Documents
 Summary

  
  
    On March 26, 2014, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit dismissed as moot the Libertarian National Committee's (LNC) challenge to the Federal Election Campaign Act’s (the Act) limits on contributions to national political party committees, as applied to a bequest the LNC received from the estate of Raymond Groves Burrington.BackgroundIn April 2007, Mr. Burrington died and bequeathed $217,734 to the LNC in his will. Under the Act and Commission regulations, contributions made by bequest from a deceased person’s estate are subject to contribution limits. See 2 U.S.C. §441a(a)(1), Advisory Opinions 2004-02 (National Committee for an Effective Congress) and 1999-14 (Council for a Livable World). As a result, the LNC could not accept the entire bequest at once, but rather accepted annual contributions from the Burrington Estate of $28,500 in 2007 and 2008, the maximum contribution permissible at the time. The remaining balance of $160,734 was placed into an escrow account, the terms of which allowed for the LNC to withdraw the maximum annual amount permitted by the Act.On March 17, 2011, the LNC filed suit against the Commission seeking to permanently enjoin the application of the Act’s contribution limits to bequests made to national party committees. The LNC argued that the Act's limit on contributions to national party committees (2 U.S.C. §441a(a)(1)(B)) and the Act’s ban on national party committees soliciting or receiving any funds not subject to the limitations, prohibitions and reporting requirements of the Act (2 U.S.C. §441i) could not be constitutionally applied to decedents' bequests. As part of its challenge, the LNC asked the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to certify the legal question presented by its suit to the en banc Court of Appeals pursuant to 2 U.S.C. §437h.On March 18, 2013, the District Court denied the LNC’s request for en banc review in part and granted it in part. To the extent the LNC challenged the contribution limits as applied to potential future bequests to the LNC and to other political parties, the court denied the LNC’s section 437h motion and granted the FEC partial summary judgment. The court concluded that this part of the LNC’s claim was not substantial enough to be heard by the Court of Appeals because, in general, limits on bequests to political parties do not violate the First Amendment since bequests could cause corruption or appear corrupt. The District Court also found that the LNC's proposed question was improperly "laden with hypotheticals about the constitutionality of contribution limits under FECA." On March 26, 2013, the LNC appealed that portion of the District Court’s ruling to the Court of Appeals in a separate matter (no. 13-5094). The D.C. Circuit summarily affirmed the District Court’s ruling on February 7, 2014.Despite declining to certify the LNC's proposed question, the District Court decided to certify a narrower version of that question to the Court of Appeals: Does imposing annual contribution limits on Mr. Burrington’s bequest violate the LNC's First Amendment rights?  Before the D.C. Circuit in that matter (no. 13-5088), the FEC filed a Suggestion of Mootness on February 3, 2014. The FEC informed the court that it no longer had jurisdiction to decide the issue because, as of January 1, 2014, the LNC had either already received or could immediately accept the remainder of Burrington's bequest. On March 26, 2014, the Court of Appeals issued a Per Curiam Order dismissing the case as moot and vacating the portions of the district court’s judgment certifying a question to the en banc court.Source:   FEC Record—April 2014; May 2011
 Documents

  
  
    Appeals Court (DC Circuit) (13-5088)Court decisions:Mandate (05/27/2014)Per Curiam Order (03/26/2014)Related documents:Defendant FEC's Reply in Support of its Suggestion of Mootness (02/28/2014)Plaintiff LNC's Opposition to Defendant FEC's Suggestion of Mootness (02/18/2014)Defendant FEC's Suggestion of Mootness (02/03/2014)Appeals Court (DC Circuit) (13-5094)Court decisions:Per Curiam Order (02/07/2014)Related documents:Appellee FEC's Reply in Support of its Motion for Summary Affirmance (12/02/2013)Appellant LNC's Reply in Opposition to Appellee's Motion for Summary Affirmance (11/21/2013)Appellee FEC's Motion for Summary Affirmance (11/08/2013)District Court (DC) (11-cv-562)Court decisions:Mandate (04/10/2014)Order (06/17/2013)Memorandum Opinion (06/17/2013)Order (03/18/2013)Memorandum Opinion (03/18/2013)Order (06/29/2011)Designation of Judges to Serve on Three-Judge District Court (03/24/2011)Order (03/24/2011)Related documents:Reply Memorandum in Support of Defendant FEC's Motion to Alter or Amend the Judgment (05/09/2013)Plaintiff LNC's Opposition to Defendant's Motion to Alter or Amend (04/29/2013)Defendant FEC's Motion to Alter or Amend the Judgment (04/15/2013)Notice of Appeal (03/26/2013)Joint Status Report (02/22/2013)FEC's Reply Memorandum in Support of its Motion for Summary Judgment (09/14/2012)FEC's Reply Memorandum in Support of its Proposed Findings of Fact (08/27/2012)Plaintiff's Reply to FEC's Responses to Plaintiff's Facts Submitted for Certification (08/27/2012)Plaintiff's Memorandum of Points and Authorities in Opposition to Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment and Reply to Defendant's Opposition to Plaintiff's Certification Motion (08/13/2012)Defendant FEC's Responses to Plaintiff's Facts Submitted for Certification (07/06/2012)Plaintiff's Objections to Defendant's Facts Submitted for Certification (07/06/2012)Defendant FEC's Memorandum in Opposition to Plaintiff's Motion to Certify Facts and Questions and in Support of Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment (07/06/2012)Defendant FEC's Motion for Summary Judgment (07/06/2012)Plaintiff's Facts Submitted for Certification (05/04/2012)Plaintiff's Motion to Certify Facts and Questions and Memorandum in Support (05/04/2012)Defendant FEC's Proposed Findings of Fact (05/04/2012)Defendant FEC's Answer and Affirmative Defense to the First Amended Complaint (06/13/2011)Defendant FEC's Withdrawal of Motion for More Definite Statement (06/01/2011)Plaintiff's First Amended Complaint (05/27/2011)Defendant FEC's Reply Memorandum in Support of its Motion for a More Definite Statement (05/26/2011)Plaintiff's Memorandum of Points and Authorities in Opposition to Motion for More Definite Statement (05/17/2011)Defendant FEC's Motion for a More Definite Statement (05/03/2011)Plaintiff's Application for 3-Judge Court and Memorandum in Support (03/17/2011)Complaint (03/17/2011)


This information is not intended to replace the law or to change its meaning, nor does this information create or confer any rights for or on any person or bind the Federal Election Commission or the public. The reader is encouraged also to consult the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, as amended (52 U.S.C. 30101 et seq.), Commission regulations (Title 11 of the Code of Federal Regulations), Commission advisory opinions and applicable court decisions.


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