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      Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington v. FEC (04-2145 / 06-5014)

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington v. FEC (04-2145 / 06-5014) 
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            Documents
 Summary

  
  
    On January 12, 2007, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia upheld the district court’s summary judgment in favor of the FEC, finding that Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) lacked standing to challenge the Commission’s dismissal of its administrative complaint.BackgroundAccording to the administrative complaint, CREW filed during the 2004 campaign, Grover Norquist, head of Americans for Tax Reform, provided Kenneth Mehlman, campaign manager for Bush-Cheney ’04, with a master list of conservative activists. CREW alleged that the list represented either a prohibited in-kind corporate contribution, if made by ATR, or an excessive contribution, if made personally by Mr. Norquist. In either case, CREW stated that the contribution was also illegal because it was not reported to the FEC. 2 U.S.C. §§441b(a), 441a(a)(1)(A), 441a(f), 434(a) and 434(b).On October 19, 2004, the Commission determined to take no further action in this matter and to close the file. According to the Commission’s First General Counsel’s Report, the contribution appeared to be “limited in size and impact,” and the Office of General Counsel recommended that the Commission “exercise its prosecutorial discretion and take no further action” in the matter.Court complaintOn December 13, 2004, CREW filed a complaint with the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia asking the court to find that the Commission acted contrary to law when it dismissed the plaintiff’s administrative complaint (MUR 5409) dated February 4, 2004. The administrative complaint alleged that Grover Norquist, Americans for Tax Reform (ATR), Ken Mehlman and Bush-Cheney ’04 (BC ’04) violated the limits, prohibitions and reporting requirements of the Federal Election Campaign Act (the Act).CREW asked the court to find that the Commission’s dismissal of the allegations in its administrative complaint was based on an impermissible interpretation of the Act and was arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion and contrary to law. 2 U.S.C. §437g(a)(8)(A). CREW asked that the court:Declare contrary to law the FEC’s failure to require disclosure of the value of the master contact list and its failure to find that ATR made and BC ’04 accepted a corporate contribution; andRemand the matter to the FEC with an order to conform to the court’s declaration within 30 days.The FEC filed a motion for summary judgment on April 15, 2005, arguing that CREW lacked standing to pursue the action.In order to have standing, the plaintiff must satisfy three requirements: injury, causation and redressability. The injury standard is met when the plaintiff suffers an actual, not abstract, invasion of a concrete, legally protected interest. Causation is proved when the injury is fairly traceable to the defendant’s action in question. Lastly, it must be likely, not merely speculative, that a favorable court decision will redress the injury.CREW argued that the FEC should assign a monetary value to the master list and publicly disclose that figure, to facilitate CREW in its mission of “empowering citizens.” In order to have standing, however, the plaintiff must prove it has suffered an injury in fact to its own interests, not simply assert that it would be unable to help others achieve abstract goals. CREW cannot vote, nor does it have any members who participate in the political process. Therefore, the court held that CREW could not have suffered from a lack of information in the voting process.Court decisionOn November 15, 2005, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia granted the FEC’s motion for summary judgment finding that CREW lacked standing to challenge the Commission’s dismissal of its administrative complaint.On December 13, 2004, CREW filed suit to challenge the FEC’s decision not to pursue further investigation. The FEC filed a motion for summary judgment on April 15, 2005, arguing that CREW lacked standing to pursue the action. The motion was granted by the district court on November 14, 2005.In order to have standing, the plaintiff must satisfy three requirements: injury, redressability and causation. The injury standard is met when the plaintiff suffers an actual, not abstract, invasion of a concrete, legally protected interest. Redressability is proved when it is likely, not merely speculative, that a favorable court decision will redress the injury. Lastly, when the injury is fairly traceable to the defendant’s action in question, the causation standard is satisfied.CREW argued that the FEC should have required Bush-Cheney ’04 to assign a precise monetary value to the master list and publicly disclose that figure to help CREW in its mission of “empowering citizens.” In order to have standing, however, the plaintiff must prove it has suffered an injury in fact to its own interests, not simply assert that it would be unable to help others achieve abstract goals. CREW cannot vote, nor does it have any members who participate in the political process. As a result, the appeals court upheld the district court’s conclusion that CREW could not have suffered from a lack of information in the voting process.Like the district court, the court of appeals also found that CREW was unable to prove standing based on the standards of redressability and causation. CREW complained that the FEC’s failure to require Bush-Cheney ’04 to publicly disclose and report the monetary value of the master list was a violation of the Act. However, the court noted that while the Act requires the FEC to negotiate a conciliation agreement after a “reason to believe” determination and “probable cause,” the Act does not require that disclosure of information be part of the conciliation agreement. Therefore, the Commission is not legally bound to requiring, or the court granting, the disclosure of the information to redress the situation.To prove causation, the alleged harm must be fairly traceable to the defendant’s action. The court inferred that the alleged harm suffered by CREW was based on the FEC’s decision to dismiss the complaint in order to focus its resources on more pertinent matters. The court did not find that the FEC violated any legal principle when it dismissed the administrative complaint because the FEC retains prosecutorial discretion and is not expected to bring every administrative complaint to court. In support of its ruling, the court cited Common Cause v. FEC, 108 F.3d 413 (D.C. Cir. 1997). Under circumstances similar to those in CREW’s case, Common Cause was held not to have standing.Source:   FEC Record—February 2007; January 2006; February 2005
 Documents

  
  
    Appeals Court (DC)Court decisions:Memorandum Opinion Affirming CREW's Lack of Standing to Challenge the FEC's Decision to Dismiss CREW's Administrative Complaint (01/12/2007)Related documents:Brief for the Federal Election Commission (07/31/2006)


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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