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Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 437', '§ 437', '§ 441', '§ 441', '§ 431', '§ 441', '§ 441', '§ 437', '§ 437', '§ 437', '§ 437', '§ 437', '§ 437', '§ 437', '§ 437', '§ 437', '§ 437', '§ 437', '§ 437', '§ 437', '§ 437', '§ 437', '§ 437', '§ 437', '§ 437', '§ 437', '§ 437', '§ 437', '§ 437', '§ 437', '§ 437', '§ 441', '§ 441', '§ 441', '§ 441', '§ 441', '§ 441', '§ 441', '§ 441', '§ 441', '§ 441', '§ 437', '§ 437', '§ 437', '§ 437', '§ 437', '§ 437', '§ 441', '§ 437', '§ 437', '§ 437', '§ 437', '§ 437', '§ 437', '§ 437', '§ 437', '§ 437', '§ 437', '§ 437', '§ 437', '§ 437', '§ 437', '§ 437']

CALIFORNIA MED. ASSN. V. FEC, 453 U. S. 182 (1981) - US SUPREME COURT DECISIONS ON-LINE
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CALIFORNIA MED. ASSN. V. FEC, 453 U. S. 182 (1981)
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1. This Court has jurisdiction over the appeal. There is no merit to the FEC's contention that, in view of the overlapping provisions of the Act for judicial review of declaratory judgment actions, § 437h(a), and enforcement proceedings, § 437g(a)(10), and because Congress chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
JUSTICE MARSHALL, joined by JUSTICE BRENNAN, JUSTICE WHITE, and JUSTICE STEVENS, concluded in Part III that § 441a(a)(1)(C) does not violate the First Amendment. Nothing in § 441a(a)(1)(C) limits the amount CMA or any of its members may independently expend in order to advocate political views; rather, the provision restrains only the amount CMA may contribute to CALPAC. The "speech by proxy" that CMA seeks to achieve through its contributions to CALPAC is not the sort of political advocacy that this Court, in Buckley v. Valeo, 424 U. S. 1, found entitled to full First Amendment protection. Since CALPAC receives contributions from more than 50 persons a year, appellants' claim that CALPAC is merely the mouthpiece of CMA is untenable. CALPAC instead is a separate legal entity that receives funds from multiple sources and engages in independent political advocacy. If the First Amendment rights of a contributor are not infringed by limitations on the amount he may contribute to a campaign organization which advocates the views and candidacy of a particular candidate, Buckley v. Valeo, supra, the rights of a contributor are similarly not impaired by limits on the amount he may give to a multicandidate political committee, such as CALPAC, which advocates the chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
MARSHALL, J., announced the Court's judgment and delivered the opinion of the Court with respect to Parts I, II, and IV, in which BRENNAN, WHITE, BLACKMUN, and STEVENS, JJ., joined, and an opinion with respect to Part III, in which BRENNAN, WHITE, and STEVENS, JJ., joined. BLACKMUN, J., filed an opinion concurring in part and concurring in the judgment, post, p. 453 U. S. 201. STEWART, J., filed a dissenting opinion, in which BURGER, C.J.,and POWELL and REHNQUIST, JJ., joined, post, p. 453 U. S. 204.
In this case, we consider whether provisions of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, 86 Stat. 11, as amended, 2 U.S.C. § 431 et seq. (1976 ed. and Supp. III), limiting the amount an unincorporated association may contribute to a multicandidate political committee violate the First Amendment or the equal protection component of the Fifth Amendment. Concluding that these contribution limits are constitutional, chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
The California Medical Association(CMA) is a not-for-profit unincorporated association of approximately 25,000 doctors residing in California. In 1976, CMA formed the California Medical Political Action Committee(CALPAC). CALPAC is registered as a political committee with the Federal Election Commission, and is subject to the provisions of the Federal Election Campaign Act relating to multicandidate political committees. [Footnote 1] One such provision, 2 U.S.C. § 441a(a)(1)(C), prohibits individuals and unincorporated associations such as CMA from contributing more than $5,000 per calendar year to any multicandidate political committee such as CALPAC. [Footnote 2] A related provision of the Act, 2 U.S.C. § 441a(f), makes it unlawful for political committees such as CALPAC knowingly to accept contributions exceeding this limit. [Footnote 3] chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
On May 17, 1979, pursuant to the special expedited review provisions of the Act set forth in 2 U.S.C. § 437h (1976 ed. and Supp. III), [Footnote 4] the District Court certified the constitutional questions raised in appellants' declaratory judgment action to the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. In the meantime, pretrial discovery and preparation in the Commission's enforcement action continued in the District Court. In May, 1980, a divided Court of Appeals, sitting en banc, rejected appellants' constitutional claims and upheld the $5,000 limit on annual contributions by unincorporated associations to multicandidate political committees. 641 F.2d 619. Appellants sought review of that determination in this Court, again pursuant to the special jurisdictional provisions of 2 U.S.C. chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
Because the Commission vigorously contends that this Court does not have jurisdiction over this appeal, we first consider the complex judicial review provisions of the Federal Election Campaign Act. [Footnote 6] The Act provides two routes by which questions involving its constitutionality may reach this Court. First, such questions may arise in the course of an enforcement proceeding brought by the Commission under 2 U.S.C. § 437g (1976 ed. and Supp. III). Such actions are filed by the Commission in the federal district courts, where they are to be accorded expedited treatment. §§ 437g(a)(6)(A) chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
§ 437h(a) chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
Although Congress thus established two avenues for judicial review of constitutional questions arising under the Act, it failed to provide any mechanism for coordinating cases in which the same constitutional issues are raised by the same parties in both a § 437h declaratory judgment action and a § 437g enforcement proceeding. The Commission contends that this legislative oversight has allowed litigants, like appellants here, to disrupt and delay enforcement proceedings brought by the Commission under § 437g by instituting separate § 437h declaratory judgment actions in which the constitutional defenses to enforcement are asserted as affirmative claims. The Commission further argues that § 437h declaratory judgment actions may seriously undermine the functioning of the federal courts because of the special treatment that these courts are required to accord such cases. To alleviate these potential problems, the Commission urges this Court to construe the overlapping judicial review provisions of the Act narrowly, so as to preclude the use of § 437h actions to litigate constitutional challenges to the Act that have been or might be raised as defenses to ongoing or contemplated Commission enforcement proceedings. [Footnote 8] Under this proposed reading of § 437g and § 437h, the District Court in chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
Although we agree with the Commission that the judicial review provisions of the Act are scarcely a blueprint for efficient litigation, we decline to construe § 437h in the manner suggested by the Commission. [Footnote 9] There is no suggestion in the language or legislative history of § 437h indicating that Congress intended to limit the use of this provision to situations in which no § 437g enforcement proceedings are contemplated or underway. [Footnote 10] Section 437h expressly requires a district court to "immediately . . . certify all questions of the constitutionality of this Act" to the court of appeals. (Emphasis supplied.) We do not believe that Congress would have used such all-encompassing language had it intended to restrict § 437h in the manner proposed by the Commission. [Footnote 11] Indeed, the cramped construction of the chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
In addition, the language of § 437g itself undercuts the Commission's contention that § 437h actions must be held in abeyance if the same parties are or may be involved in § 437g enforcement actions brought by the Commission. The statute expressly provides that § 437g enforcement actions chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
filed by the Commission in the district court are to be "put ahead of all other actions (other than other actions brought under this subsection or under section 437h of this title)." 437g(a)(10) (emphasis added). If Congress had intended to coordinate § 437g and § 437h in the manner now proposed by the Commission, it is inconceivable that it would have chosen the above language. Instead, the wording of the statute plainly implies that actions brought under both sections may proceed in the district court at the same time. See Bread Political Action Committee v. Federal Election Comm'n, 591 F.2d 29, 33 (CA7 1979), appeal pending, No. 80-1481. In sum, although Congress might have been wiser to orchestrate § 437g and § 437h in the manner proposed by the Commission, the statutory language and history belie any such intention. [Footnote 13] We therefore conclude that we have jurisdiction over this appeal. [Footnote 14] chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
Appellants' First Amendment claim is based largely on this Court's decision in Buckley v. Valeo, 424 U. S. 1 (1976) (per chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
curiam). That case involved a broad challenge to the constitutionality of the 1974 Amendments to the Federal Election Campaign Act. We held, inter alia, that the limitations placed by the Act on campaign expenditures violated the First Amendment in that they directly restrained the rights of citizens, candidates, and associations to engage in protected political speech. Id. at 424 U. S. 39-59. Nonetheless, we upheld the various ceilings the Act placed on the contributions individuals and multicandidate political committees could make to candidates and their political committees, and the maximum aggregate amount any individual could contribute in any calendar year. [Footnote 15] We reasoned that such contribution chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
While these contentions have some surface appeal, they are, in the end, unpersuasive. The type of expenditures that this Court in Buckley considered constitutionally protected were those made independently by a candidate, individual, or group in order to engage directly in political speech. Id. at 424 U. S. 44-48. Nothing in § 441a(a)(1)(C) limits the amount CMA or any of its members may independently expend in order to advocate political views; rather, the statute restrains only the amount that CMA may contribute to CALPAC. Appellants nonetheless insist that CMA's contributions to CALPAC should receive the same constitutional protection as independent expenditures because, according to appellants, chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
We would naturally be hesitant to conclude that CMA's determination to fund CALPAC rather than to engage directly in political advocacy is entirely unprotected by the First Amendment. [Footnote 16] Nonetheless, the "speech by proxy" that CMA seeks to achieve through its contributions to CALPAC is not the sort of political advocacy that this Court in Buckley found entitled to full First Amendment protection. CALPAC, as a multicandidate political committee, receives contributions from more than 50 persons during a calendar year. 2 U.S.C. § 441a(a)(4). Thus, appellants' claim that CALPAC is merely the mouthpiece of CMA is untenable. CALPAC, instead, is a separate legal entity that receives funds from multiple sources and that engages in independent political advocacy. Of course, CMA would probably not contribute to CALPAC unless it agreed with the views espoused by CALPAC, but this sympathy of interests alone does not convert CALPAC's speech into that of CMA. chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
We also disagree with appellants' claim that the contribution restriction challenged here does not further the governmental interest in preventing the actual or apparent corruption of the political process. Congress enacted § 441a(a)(1)(C) in part to prevent circumvention of the very limitations chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
on contributions that this Court upheld in Buckley. [Footnote 18] Under the Act, individuals and unincorporated associations such as CMA may not contribute more than $1,000 to any single candidate in any calendar year. 2 U.S.C. § 441a(a)(1)(A). Moreover, individuals may not make more than $25,000 in aggregate annual political contributions. 2 U.S.C. § 441a(a)(3). If appellants' position -- that Congress cannot prohibit individuals and unincorporated associations from making unlimited contributions to multicandidate political committees -- is accepted, then both these contribution limitations could be easily evaded. Since multicandidate political committees may contribute up to $5,000 per year to any candidate, 2 U.S.C. § 441a(a)(2)(A), an individual or association seeking to evade the $1,000 limit on contributions to candidates could do so by channelling funds through a multicandidate political committee. Similarly, individuals could evade the $25,000 limit on aggregate annual contributions to candidates if they were allowed to give unlimited sums to multicandidate political committees, since such committees are not limited in the aggregate amount they may contribute in any year. [Footnote 19] These concerns prompted chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
Congress to enact § 441a(a)(1)(C), and it is clear that this provision is an appropriate means by which Congress could seek to protect the integrity of the contribution restrictions upheld by this Court in Buckley. [Footnote 20] chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
We have already concluded that § 441a(a)(1)(C) does not offend the First Amendment. In order to conclude that it nonetheless violates the equal protection component of the Fifth Amendment, we would have to find that, because of this provision the Act burdens the First Amendment rights of persons subject to § 441a(a)(1)(C) to a greater extent than it burdens the same rights of corporations and unions, and that such differential treatment is not justified. We need not consider this second question -- whether the discrimination alleged by appellants is justified -- because we find no such discrimination. Appellants' claim of unfair treatment ignores the plain fact that the statute as a whole imposes far fewer restrictions on individuals and unincorporated associations than it does on corporations and unions. Persons subject to the restrictions of § 441a(a)(1)(C) may make unlimited expenditures on political speech; corporations chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
While we thus decline to adopt the Commission's view, we believe that its concerns about the potential abuse of § 437h are, in large part, answered by the other restrictions on the use of that section. The unusual procedures embodied in this section are, at the very least, circumscribed by the constitutional limitations on the jurisdiction of the federal courts. Buckley v. Valeo, 424 U.S. at 424 U. S. 11. A party seeking to invoke § 437h must have standing to raise the constitutional claim. Ibid. Furthermore, § 437h cannot properly be used to compel federal courts to decide constitutional challenges in cases where the resolution of unsettled questions of statutory interpretation may remove the need for constitutional adjudication. Federal Election Comm'n v. Central Long Island Tax Reform Immediately Committee, supra, at 51-53. See Nixon v. Administrator of General Services, 433 U. S. 425, 433 U. S. 438 (1977); Thorpe v. Housing Authority, 393 U. S. 268, 393 U. S. 283-284 (1969); Crowell v. Benson, 285 U. S. 22, 285 U. S. 62 (1932). Moreover, we do not construe § 437h to require certification of constitutional claims that are frivolous, see, e.g., Gifford v. Congress, 452 F.Supp. 802(ED Cal.1978), cf. California Water Service Co. v. City of Redding, 304 U. S. 252, 304 U. S. 254-255 (1938)(per curiam), or that involve purely hypothetical applications of the statute. See, e.g., Clark v. Valeo, supra; Martin Tractor Co. v. Federal Election Comm'n, supra, 627 F.2d 384-386, 388-390. Finally, as a practical matter, immediate adjudication of constitutional claims through a § 437h proceeding would be improper in cases where the resolution of such questions required a fully developed factual record. See, e.g., Anderson v. Federal Election Comm'n, supra; Martin Tractor Co. v. Federal Election Comm'n, supra, at 325, 627 F.2d 378; Mott v. Federal Election Comm'n, 494 F.Supp. 131, 135(DC 1980). These restrictions, in our view, enable a district court to prevent the abuses of § 437h envisioned by the Commission.
I write separately, however, to note my view of appellants' First Amendment claims. 453 U. S. 290 (1976), I am willing to accept as binding the Court's judgment in that case that the contribution limitations challenged there were constitutional. Id. at 424 U. S. 23-38. But it does not follow that I must concur in the plurality conclusion today, ante at 453 U. S. 196, that political contributions are not entitled to full First Amendment protection. It is true that there is language in Buckley that might suggest that conclusion, see, e.g., 424 U.S. at 424 U. S. 223, and it was to such language that I referred when I suggested in my dissent that the Court had failed to make a principled constitutional distinction between expenditure and contribution limitations. Id. at 424 U. S. 290. At the same time, however, Buckley states that "contribution and expenditure limitations both implicate fundamental First Amendment interests," id. at 424 U. S. 23, and that "governmental action which may have the effect of curtailing the freedom to associate is subject to the closest scrutiny,'" id. at 424 U. S. 25, quoting NAACP v. Alabama, 357 U. S. 449, 357 U. S. 460-461( 1958). Thus, contribution limitations can be upheld only
Unlike the plurality, I would apply this "rigorous standard of review," 424 U.S. at 424 U. S. 29, to the instant case, rather than relying on what I believe to be a mistaken view that contributions are "not the sort of political advocacy . . . entitled to full First Amendment protection." Ante at 453 U. S. 196. Appellees claim that 2 U.S. C. § 441a(a)(1)(C) is justified by the governmental chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
NAACP v. Alabama, 357 U.S. at 357 U. S. 460. By pooling their resources, adherents of an association amplify their own voices, see Buckley v. Valeo, 424 U.S. at 424 U. S. 22; the association "is but the medium through which its individual members seek to make more effective the expression of their own views." NAACP v. Alabama, 357 U.S. at 357 U. S. 459. Accordingly, I believe that contributions to political committees can be limited only if those contributions implicate the governmental interest in preventing actual or potential corruption, and if the limitation is no broader than necessary to achieve that interest. Because this narrow test chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
Although neither the language of the Act nor its legislative history directly addresses the issue resolved by the Court's holding, the structure of the Act itself expresses Congress' intent that § 437h is not to be available as a means of thwarting a § 437g enforcement proceeding. The Act provides for two separate kinds of proceedings with two separate purposes. chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
Under the Court's holding today, Congress' assessment of each of the cautiously limited rights contained in § 437g can easily be upset, to the detriment of the strong interest in a prompt resolution of a § 437g proceeding. First, Congress' requirement of a timely resolution of an enforcement proceeding can be disrupted by a respondent's decision to engraft a § 437h proceeding onto a § 437g action. If, in response to such a graft, the § 437g action is stayed pending the outcome of the § 437h proceeding, delay will obviously result. If the § 437g action is not stayed, delay may often be caused by the necessity of redoing work in light of the decision reached by the § 437h courts. Nor will the fact that an appeal has already been had on the abstract constitutional principle make up for some of that lost time, since an appeal on the question of whether the constitutional principle was correctly applied will still be available under § 437g. chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
Not only will Congress' careful balancing of interests thus be undone by today's holding, but what Representative Hays referred to as the Act's "comprehensive system of civil enforcement," 120 Cong. Rec. 35134 (1974), is likely to be impaired by the strain placed on the Federal Election Commission by the necessity of carrying on two lines of litigation where the Act envisions but one. I see no indication that, by adopting § 437h -- which its author, Senator Buckley, said "merely provides for the expeditious review of the constitutional questions I have raised," 120 Cong.Rec. 10562 (1974) -- Congress intended either to expand the rights of § 437g respondents or to contract the Government's ability to stop violations of the Act promptly. * chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
641 F.2d 619, 632. I would hold that, where a respondent has been formally notified of a § 437g enforcement proceeding, the respondent may not use the issues raised in that enforcement proceeding as a basis for an action under § 437h. I would also hold that the individual members of the respondent associations in the instant case fall within the same bar, given the identity of the interests of the associations and their chanroblesvirtualawlibrary