Source: https://www.scribd.com/document/32069864/Arizona-Intervenor-Stay
Timestamp: 2016-09-28 13:45:21
Document Index: 241700300

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 434', '§ 441', '§ 9001', '§ 1651', '§ 2101', '§ 16', '§ 16', '§ 16', '§ 16', '§ 16', '§ 1651', '§ 16', '§ 16', '§ 16', '§ 16', '§ 16', '§ 16', '§ 1651', '§ 1651', '§ 2101', '§ 2101', '§ 2101', '§ 1651', '§ 16', '§ 16', '§ 16', '§ 441', '§ 434', '§ 441', '§ 9001', '§ 16', '§ 319']

Arizona Intervenor Stay
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JOHN MCCOMISH, NANCY MCLAIN, and TONY BOUIE,
KEN BENNETT, in his official capacity as Secretary of State of the State of
Arizona, and GARY SCARAMAZZO, ROYANN J. PARKER, JEFFREY L.
FAIRMAN, LOUIS HOFFMAN and LORI DANIELS, in their official capacity
as members of the ARIZONA CLEAN ELECTIONS COMMISSION,
CLEAN ELECTIONS INSTITUTE, INC.,
Defendant Intervenor-Appellant,
On Renewed Emergency Application to Vacate Appellate Stay Entered by the
DEFENDANT-INTERVENOR-APPELLANT'S RESPONSE
TO PLAINTIFFS' RENEWED EMERGENCY APPLICATION TO
VACATE APPELLATE STAY AND TO STAY MANDATE
BEFORE THE HON. JUSTICE ANTHONY M. KENNEDY
BRADLEY S. PHILLIPS*
ELISABETH J. NEUBAUER
355 S. Grand Ave., Suite 3500
(213) 683-9100; facsimile: (213) 687-3702
Counsel for Defendant-Intervenor
Telephone: (212) 992-8158
Facsimile: (212) 995-4550
202 E. McDowell Road, Suite 153
Telephone: (602) 258-8850
CORPORATE DISCLOSURE STATEMENT .iv
INTRODUCTORY STATEMENT 1
1. TO OBTAIN THE RELIEF THEY SEEK, PLAINTIFFS MUST
SATISFY THE STRINGENT STANDARDS BOTH FOR STAYING
THE MANDATE UNDER THE ALL WRITS ACT AND FOR
VACATEUR OF AN APPELLATE STAY 9
II. THE COURT SHOULD DENY PLAINTIFFS' APPLICATION
TO STAY THE MANDATE 10
A. Plaintiffs' Application Fails To Comply With Supreme
Court Rule 23 10
B. Plaintiffs Have Not Satisfied The All Writs Act Standard
For Staying The Court Of Appeals' Mandate 10
1. Plaintiffs Fail To Show That A Stay Of The Mandate
Is Necessary Or Appropriate In Aid Of This Court's
2. Plaintiffs Have Not Shown That The Merits Of The
Case Are Indisputably Clear In Their Favor 13
III. THIS COURT SHOULD DENY PLAINTIFFS' MOTION TO
VACATE THE APPELLATE STAY OF THE DISTRICT
COURT'S INJUNCTION 23
A. Defendants Had A Likelihood Of Success On The Merits 24
B. The Balance Of The Hardships And The Public Interest
Tipped Decidedly In Favor OfDefendants 25
Barnes v. E-Systems, Inc. Group Hosp. Medical & Surgical Ins. Plan,
501 U.S. 1301 (1991) 11
Daggett v. Comm'n on Governmental Ethics and Election Practices,
205 F.3d 445 (1st Cir. 2000) 19
Brown v. Gilmore,
533 U.S. 1301 (2001) 23
424 U.S. 1 (1976) passim
130 S.Ct. 876 (2010) passim
Colenwn V. Paccar, Inc.,
424 U.S. 1301 (1976) 24, 25
Communist Party of Indiana v. 409 U.S. 1235 (1972) 2, 11
Davis v. FEC,
128 S. Ct. 2759 (2008) passim
Day v. Holahan"
34 F.3d 1356 (8th Cir. 1994) 22, 23
FEC v. Wisconsin Right to Life, Inc.,
551 U.S. 449 (2007) 15
481 U.S. 770 (1987) 24
McConnell V. FEC,
540 U.S. 93 (2003) 16-17
Ohio Citizens for Responsible Energy, Inc. v. Nuclear
Regulatory Comm'n,
479 U.S. 1312 (1986) 11, 12
Pacific Gas & Elec. Co. v. Public Utils. Comm'n,
475 U.S. 1 (1986) 23
377 U.S. 533 (1964) 27
Turner Broadcasting Sys., Inc. v. FC.C.,
507 U.S. 1301 (1993) 2, 11, 12-13
Western Airlines, Inc. v. Int'l Brotherhood of Teamsters,
480 U.S. 1301 (1987) 3, 24
Sup. Ct. Rule 23 1, 10, 12
2 U.S.C. § 434 19
2 U.S.C. § 441a 19
26 U.S.C. § 9001 et seq 19
28 U.S.C. § 1651(a) 2, 11, 12
28 U.S.C. § 2101(f) 11
Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 16-940 4, 16
Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 16-941 4
Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 16-951 19
Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 16-952 5, 19
Ariz. Rev. State § 16-956 4
Fed. R. App. P. 8(a) 24
Fed. R. App. P. 41 1, 10
Clean Elections Institute, Inc. has no parent corporations and no
publicly held company owns more than 10% of its stock.
In seeking two forms of extraordinary relief -a stay of the Court of
Appeals' mandate and a lifting of that court's stay of the district court's injunction-
Plaintiffs effectively ask this Court to enjoin a decade-old law that the panel below
unanimously held does not violate the First Amendment. To achieve this
extraordinary result, Plaintiffs would have this Court disregard Arizona's history of
quid pro quo corruption; ignore evidence that neither Plaintiffs' nor others' speech
has been chilled by matching funds; upset the settled expectations of candidates
who accepted public funding on the assumption that matching funds would be
available; deprive Arizona voters of campaign speech; and risk influencing the
outcome of Arizona's elections.
This Court should deny the extraordinary relief Plaintiffs seek for four
First, Plaintiffs' application violates Supreme Court Rule 23.3. That
rule requires that a stay applicant first seek the relief requested in the court below
"[e]xcept in the most extraordinary circumstances." Plaintiffs did not ask the Court
of Appeals to stay its mandate, despite the settled procedures for doing so under
Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 41(d). Moreover, Plaintiffs suggest no
"extraordinary circumstances" that would excuse their failure to present the request
to stay the mandate to the Court of Appeals.
Second, Plaintiffs have not argued, let alone established, that a stay of
the mandate is "necessary or appropriate in aid of [the Court's] jurisdictionO," a
requirement for seeking such a stay under the All Writs Act. 28 U.S.C. § 1651(a).
Third, Plaintiffs have not shown that "the legal rights at issue are
'indisputably clear'" in their favor, another requirement for an All Writs Act stay.
Turner Broadcasting Sys., Inc. v. FC.C., 507 U.s. 1301, 1301 (1993) (Rehnquist, J.,
in chambers) (quoting Communist Party of Indiana v. Whitcomb, 409 U.S. 1235
(1972». Plaintiffs do not and cannot show their right to an injunction against
matching funds is "indisputably clear" when an appellate panel unanimously
rejected, in a well-reasoned and carefully-written opinion and concurrence, the
exact same merits arguments Plaintiffs present in the instant application. In
rejecting Plaintiffs' arguments, the Court of Appeals relied on a developed factual
record that showed Plaintiffs had not been deterred from speaking by the
challenged law, which Arizona adopted in response to a record of caught-on-tape,
quid pro quo corruption. Far from being in conflict with this Court's decision in
Citizens United v. FEC, 130 S.Ct. 876 (2010), the Court of Appeals' opinion relies
directly on Citizens United in applying intermediate scrutiny to Arizona's matching
funds law, a fact that Plaintiffs' application simply ignores. And the Ninth Circuit
panel rightly recognized that this Court's decision in Davis v. FEC, 128 S.Ct. 2759
(2008), did not, contrary to Plaintiffs' contention, decide the constitutionality of
matching funds as part of a scheme of voluntary public financing but instead
addressed only the viability of a scheme of discriminatory contribution limits
applied to privately-financed candidates.
Fourth, Plaintiffs have not satisfied the stringent standard for
vacating the Court of Appeals' stay of the district court's injunction-i.e., that "the
court of appeals [was] demonstrably wrong in its application of accepted standards
in deciding the issue of the stay" and that Plaintiffs "may be seriously and
irreparably injured by the stay." Western Airlines, Inc. v. Int'l Brotherhood of
Teamsters, 480 U.S. 1301, 1305 (1987) (O'Connor, J., in chambers). The appellate
court's prediction that Defendants had a likelihood of success on the merits has now
been confirmed by a unanimous panel. Moreover, both the district court and the
Court of Appeals found no evidence that Plaintiffs' asserted hardship-a chilling
effect on speech-in fact results from the challenged law. Thus, vacating the stay of
the district court's injunction against matching funds was and is unnecessary to
avert any harm to Plaintiffs. On the flip side of the coin, there are now at least two
dozen candidates who may not opt out of the public funding system and who
undeniably would, along with their constituents, suffer irreparable harm if
matching funds were enjoined in the midst of the 2010 elections.
For all of these reasons, this Court should deny Plaintiffs' application.
Plaintiffs' application brushes over the history of quid pro quo
corruption that led to the passage of the Citizens Clean Elections Act, the carefully-
tailored approach of matching funds, and the relevant procedural background of
Five years after Arizona began its experiment with contribution limits
but no public funding, Arizona experienced AzScam, one of the worst state-level
corruption scandals in this nation's history. In AzScam, nearly 10 percent of the
Arizona legislature was indicted after being caught on tape taking campaign
contributions and bribes from an undercover informant as a quid pro quo for
supporting gambling legislation.
In 1998, after witnessing AzScam and other political corruption
scandals, Arizona voters passed the Citizens Clean Elections Act by initiative.
Consistent with the history of quid pro quo corruption in Arizona, the voters found
that the then-existing "election-financing system ... [u]ndermine[d] public
confidence in the integrity of public officials." Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 16-940(B)(5).
In order to "improve the integrity of Arizona state government ...,
encourage citizen participation in the political process, and ... promote freedom of
speech under the U.S. and Arizona Constitutions," the Act established a voluntary
public financing system for statewide and state legislative races in Arizona. Ariz.
Rev. Stat. § 16-940(A). Under the Act, candidates may opt into the public-financing
system and obtain public funding, conditioned on their refusal of most private
contributions, acceptance of campaign spending limits, participation in public
debates, and collection of a specified number of five-dollar qualifYing contributions
to demonstrate a base of support among voters. Ariz. Rev. Stat. §§ 16-941, 16-945,
16-946, 16-950, 16-956(A)(2). Because the actual cost of running a competitive
campaign depends on many factors that are difficult to assess prior to an election,
and in order to encourage sufficient participation by counteracting the fear that a
participating candidate will be unable to run a viable campaign in a race featuring
a high-spending opponent or an independent expenditure campaign, the Act
provides additional matching funds that are capped at twice the amount of the
initial grant. Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 16-952(E). Capped matching funds are given to
participating candidates when: (1) a traditionally-funded opponent's expenditures
(or, during the general election, a candidate's receipts, less expenditures made
during the primary campaign) exceed the participating candidate's initial
disbursement amount; (2) an independent expenditure committee makes an
expenditure opposed to the participating candidate; or (3) an independent
expenditure committee makes an expenditure in support of a participating
candidate's opponent. Id. § 16-952(A), (C)(1)-(2).
The Clean Elections Act had been in place for almost ten years before
Plaintiffs, ideological opponents of public financing of elections, filed the instant
litigation and sought a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction that
would have precluded their political opponents from receiving matching funds just a
few months before the 2008 general election. On August 29, 2008, the district court
rejected Plaintiffs' motion for a TRO. It likewise denied Plaintiffs' motion for a
preliminary injunction on October 14, 2008. (PI. App. Vol. I at 51, 61).
On January 20, 2010, the district court granted Plaintiffs' motions for
summary judgment, denied Defendants' motions for summary judgment, enjoined
enforcement of the Act's matching-funds provision, Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 16-952, and
stayed its injunction for ten days. (PI. App. Vol. I at 32-33). The court found that
Plaintiffs' evidence concerning the alleged burden of the Act was "somewhat
scattered" and "vague" and did not "definitively establish a chilling effect." (Id. at
16). The court further found that "the 'burden' created by the Act is that Plaintiffs'
speech will lead directly to more speech" and that "it seems illogical to conclude that
the Act creating more speech is a constitutionally prohibited 'burden' on Plaintiffs."
(Id. at 23). The court nevertheless concluded that this Court's decision in Davis,
although "it does not answer the precise question now before the [district court],"
(id. at 22), nevertheless "requires [the district court to] find Plaintiffs have
established a cognizable burden." (Id. at 24). Misconceiving of the way in which the
Act furthers the anti-corruption interest, the district court held that "Defendants
have not identified any anticorruption interest served by burdening self-financed
candidates' speech [with matching funds]." (Id. at 26). In light of its holding on
Plaintiffs' First Amendment claim, the district court found it unnecessary to
address Plaintiffs' equal protection claim. (Id. at 28).
Defendants moved for a stay in the Court of Appeals, while Plaintiffs
moved to lift the district court's interim stay. On January 29, 2010, a motions panel
denied Plaintiffs' motion, (Id. at 10), and on February 1, 2010 extended the stay
issued by the district court (thus allowing matching funds to remain in effect)
pending "further action" by the merits panel assigned to the case. (Id. at 2). In the
same order, the motions panel set the case for expedited briefing and argument.
(Id.). Judge Bea, a member of the motions panel but not the merits panel, dissented
from the granting of the stay. (Id. at 2-7).
Without first having asked the merits panel for relief, Plaintiffs filed
an emergency application to vacate the motion panel's temporary stay with this
Court. On February 16, 2010, this Court denied the application to lift the
temporary stay without prejudice to renewal on June 1,2010 or once the Court of
Appeals had issued its decision on the merits, whichever was earlier. (PI. App. Vol.
IV at 426).
On May 21,2010, a separate merits panel issued a thorough and
carefully-reasoned 31-page opinion, with a separate concurrence by Judge Kleinfeld,
unanimously holding that the matching funds provision does not violate the First
Amendment. The principal opinion found that the Act "imposes only a minimal
burden on First Amendment rights" and "survives intermediate scrutiny because it
bears a substantial relation to the State's important interest in reducing quid pro
quo political corruption." (Slip op. at 7325; PI. App. Vol. IV at 392). The Court of
Appeals "agree[d] with the district court's observation that 'Plaintiffs' testimony is
somewhat scattered and shows only a vague interpretation of the burden of the
Act'" (Slip op. at 7332, PI. App. Vol. IV at 399) and pointed to specific instances
where, for example, Plaintiffs had testified that they had been willing to trigger
matching funds in previous elections, could not recall whether they had triggered
matching funds, or had their testimony contradicted by their own campaign
consultants (Slip op. at 7333-34; PI. App. Vol. IV at 400-01). The Court of Appeals
held that the "burden created by the Act is most analogous to the burden of
disclosure and disclaimer requirements in Buckley and Citizens United" to which
this Court had applied intermediate scrutiny. (Slip op. at 7345; PI. App. Vol. IV at
412). The court also considered at length and rejected Plaintiffs' contention that
Davis, a case about discriminatory contribution limits, decided the fate of matching
funds. (Slip op. at 7337-42; PI. App. Vol. IV at 404-09). Applying heightened
scrutiny, the Court of Appeals found that matching funds bore a substantial
relation to Arizona's interest in combating its "long history of quid pro quo
corruption" and the "appearance of quid pro quo corruption to the electorate." (Slip
op. at 7346; PI. App. Vol. IV at 413). The principal opinion declined to reach the
equal protection claim in the first instance and remanded the case to the district
court for further proceedings. (Slip op. at 7349; PI. App. Vol. IV at 416)
Judge Kleinfeld concurred. He reasoned that the Act "imposes no
limitations whatsoever on a candidate's speech" and found that Davis was "easily
distinguished." (Slip op. at 7349, 7353; PI. App. Vol. IV at 416, 420). Thus, Judge
Kleinfeld concluded that it was unnecessary to apply even intermediate scrutiny to
the Act. (Slip op. at 7351; PI. App. Vol. IV at 418).
On May 25, 2010, Plaintiffs filed the instant application seeking a stay
of the Court of Appeals' mandate and a lifting of the Ninth Circuit motion panel's
stay of the district court's injunction pending further action by the merits panel.
Plaintiffs did not file a request with the Court of Appeals to stay its mandate and
did not explain in their application to this Court why they failed to do so.
I. TO OBTAIN THE RELIEF THEY SEEK, PLAINTIFFS MUST SATISFY
THE STRINGENT STANDARDS BOTH FOR STAYING THE
MANDATE UNDER THE ALL WRITS ACT AND FOR VACATEUR OF
AN APPELLATE STAY
This Court should deny Plaintiffs' application because they have not
demonstrated entitlement to the extraordinary relief they seek-effectively an
injunction halting, in the middle of an election cycle, the functional operation of a
public campaign finance system that has existed in the State of Arizona for over a
To obtain this relief, Plaintiffs must establish both (1) that this Court
should stay the Court of Appeals' mandate pursuant to the All Writs Act and (2)
that the Court of Appeals should not have stayed the district court's order enjoining
the matching funds provision. If this Court denies Plaintiffs' motion to stay the
mandate, Plaintiffs' motion to vacate the Court of Appeals' stay order is moot. This
is because once the mandate issues the district court's judgment enjoining matching
funds, which the Court of Appeals unanimously reversed, will cease to have any
effect, as will the stay of that judgment. Conversely, were this Court to stay the
mandate while leaving the appellate stay in place, matching funds would remain in
effect. In short, only if this Court both stays the mandate and vacates the stay will
Plaintiffs get the injunctive relief they seek.
That Plaintiffs must succeed in persuading this Court both to stay the
mandate and to lift the appellate stay is important because the standards for the
two forms of relief differ. As we explain below, Plaintiffs have not satisfied either
II. THE COURT SHOULD DENY PLAINTIFFS' APPLICATION TO STAY
A. Plaintiffs' Application Fails To Comply With Supreme Court
Plaintiffs' application for a stay of the Court of Appeals' mandate is
procedurally improper. Supreme Court Rule 23.3 mandates that, "[e]xcept in the
most extraordinary circumstances, an application for a stay will not be entertained
unless the relief requested was first sought in the appropriate court or courts below
or from a judge or judges thereof." Id. (emphasis added).
Plaintiffs have not sought a stay of the mandate from the Court of
Appeals, and they have not explained to this Court what "extraordinary
circumstances" justify their bypassing established procedural avenues for obtaining
relief. See Fed. R. App. P. 41 (setting forth the procedure governing motions
seeking to stay a mandate). Plaintiffs' failure to explain why their circumstances
are "extraordinary" is fatal to Plaintiffs' application. See Sup. Ct. R. 23.3 (requiring
that "[a]n application for a stay shall set out with particularity why the relief
sought is not available from any other court or judge"). In light of these procedural
defects alone, this Court should deny Plaintiffs' application.
B. Plaintiffs Have Not Satisfied The All Writs Act Standard For
Staying The Court Of Appeals' Mandate
Because Plaintiffs seek to stay a non-final judgment for the purpose of
enjoining an operative state statute, they must satisfY the stringent standard for
obtaining relief under the All Writs Act.1 See 28 U.s.C. § 1651(a); see also Ohio
Citizens for Responsible Energy, Inc. v. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 479 U.S.
1312, 1312 (1986) (Scalia, J., in chambers) (where a stay applicant challenges a non-
final judgment, and in so doing substantively seeks an injunction, the applicant
must satisfy the standard for relief under the All Writs Act).
To obtain relief under the All Writs Act, Plaintiffs would have to
establish that "(1) [the relief they seek] is 'necessary or appropriate in aid of [the
Supreme Court's] jurisdictio[n],' and (2) the legal rights at issue are 'indisputably
clear.'" Turner Broadcasting, 507 U.s. at 1301 (quoting 28 U.S.C. § 1651(a) and
Communist Party of Indiana v. Whitcomb, 409 U.S. 1235 (1972) (Rehnquist, J., in
chambers». By design, this standard is difficult to satisfy for "[t]he Circuit Justice's
injunctive power is to be used sparingly and only in the most critical and exigent
circumstances." Ohio Citizens, 479 U.s. at 1312 (internal citations and quotations
While Plaintiffs recognize that this Court could stay the mandate only
if it did so under the All Writs Act (PI. Applic. at 3), Plaintiffs have not addressed
1 The Ninth Circuit's order reversed the district court's erroneous judgment for Plaintiffs on their
First Amendment claims and remanded the action for further proceedings on Plaintiffs' equal
protection claim. Accordingly, the Ninth Circuit's order does not represent a "final judgment." If the
Ninth Circuit's decision were a final judgment, which it is not, this Court would review Plaintiffs'
application under 28 U.s.C. § 2101(f). Plaintiffs also fail, however, to meet the stringent standard
for a stay to issue under § 2101(f). They have not demonstrated a reasonable probability that
certiorari will be granted, and, as explained in subsection II below, they have not shown either a
significant possibility that the judgment below will be reversed or a likelihood of irreparable harm.
Barnes u. E·Systems, Inc. Group Hasp. Medical & Surgical Ins. Plan, 501 U.s. 1301, 1302 (1991)
("[B]efore issuance of a § 2101(f) stay is appropriate[, t]here must be a reasonable probability that
certiorari will be granted (or probable jurisdiction noted), a significant possibility that the judgment
below will be reversed, and a likelihood of irreparable harm (assuming the correctness of the
applicant's position) ifthe judgment is not stayed.") .
the particular requirements for the issuance of an All Writs Act stay. That alone
requires the denial of Plaintiffs' application. See Ohio Citizens, 479 U.S. at 1312 ("I
will not consider counsel to have asked for such extraordinary relief where, as here,
he has neither specifically requested it nor addressed the peculiar requirements for
its issuance. The application for stay is denied."); see also Sup. Ct. R. 23.3 (an
application for a stay "shall set out specific reasons why a stay is justified").
Independently, this Court should deny Plaintiffs' application to stay
the mandate because Plaintiffs have not demonstrated and cannot demonstrate that
their request meets either of the two requirements necessary to obtain relief under
the All Writs Act.
First, the stay Plaintiffs seek is not "necessary or appropriate in aid of
[this Court's] jurisdiction[ ]." 28 U.S.C. § 1651(a). The continued enforcement and
implementation of Arizona's matching funds provision will in no way strip this
Court of its jurisdiction to decide the issues presented by this case on appeal, if it
chooses to do so. For this reason alone, Plaintiffs' application should be denied. See
Turner Broadcasting, 507 U.S. at 1301 (denying an application to enjoin
enforcement of certain provisions of the Cable Television Consumer Protection and
Competition Act of 1992 under the All Writs Act because implementation of those
provisions of the Act would in no way strip the Supreme Court of its jurisdiction to
decide the merits of any appeal).
2. Plaintiffs Have Not Shown That The Merits Of
The Case Are Indisputably Clear In Their Favor
Second, because Plaintiffs have not and cannot show a likelihood of
success on the merits of their First Amendment claim, they cannot establish that
the purported legal rights they seek to vindicate through their application are
"indisputably clear" in their favor. Turner Broadcasting, 507 U.s. at 1301.
The Ninth Circuit's decision was unanimous and is consistent with this
Court's precedent, including Buckley, Citizens United, and Davis. Moreover, the
decision is based in large part on evidence with regard to Arizona's particular
circumstances, including both the state's experience of widespread political
corruption leading up to passage of the Act and the absence of evidence that the
matching funds provision has, over the 12 years since its enactment, had any
significant chilling effect on speech.
Plaintiffs make essentially two arguments with respect to the merits of
the Ninth Circuit's decision, both of which are wrong.
a. The Act Is Supported By The State's Compelling
Interest In Combating Actual and Apparent
Plaintiffs argue that "Citizens United forecloses the claim that the
matching funds trigger provision is supported by a compelling state interest." (PI.
Applic. at 10). As an initial matter, this argument is immaterial, because it wrongly
assumes that the Act is subject to strict, rather than intermediate, scrutiny and
that a compelling interest is therefore required. Notably, Plaintiffs nowhere even
mention, far less take issue with, the Ninth Circuit's conclusion that "the burden
created by the Act is most analogous to the burden of disclosure and disclaimer
requirements in Buckley and Citizens United" and the Act is therefore subject to
intermediate scrutiny. (Slip op. at 7345; PI. App. Vol. IV at 412 ("[T]he burden that
Plaintiffs allege is merely a theoretical chilling effect on donors who might dislike
the statutory result of making a contribution or candidates who may seek a tactical
advantage related to the release or timing of matching funds. The matching funds
provision does not actually prevent anyone from speaking in the first place or cap
campaign expenditures."».2
In any event, Citizens United in fact confirms that Arizona has a
compelling interest in combating corruption and its appearance, which, as the
Ninth Circuit held, is one of the principal purposes of the Act. (Slip op. at 7329; PI.
App. Vol. IV at 396; see also slip op. at 7347; PI. App. Vol. IV at 414 ("the Act is
aimed at reducing corruption among participating candidates"); Citizens United,
130 S.Ct. at 908-11 (discussing the government's interest in combating actual and
apparent corruption); Davis, 128 S. Ct. at 2773 (noting "the interests the Court has
recognized as compelling, i.e., the prevention of corruption or the appearance
2 Plaintiffs rely on Judge Bea's analogy, in his dissent from the Ninth Circuit motions panel's stay
order, to poker: "Strategically, it makes no more sense for Plaintiffs to spend money now than for a
poker player to make a bet if he knows the house is going to match his bet for the opponent." (PI.
Applic. at 5 (quoting PI. App. Vol. I at 4». In fact, of course, ifthe poker player believes that he has
the better hand, it absolutely makes sense for him to make that bet; it would not make sense only if
he believed he had the worse hand. Similarly, if a candidate believes that her message is more
appealing to voters than that of her opponent, it makes strategic sense for her to spend money
disseminating that message, even if it means that her opponent's less appealing message may also
get additional exposure; it would make strategic sense for her to stop speaking (and thereby prevent
her opponent from speaking further) only if she believes that more speech by both will benefit her
opponent-in other words, that her opponent's message is the more appealing one. The evidence, of
course, demonstrates that candidates do not in fact stop spending as a result of matching funds; that
is perhaps the unsurprising result of the belief by most, if not all, candidates that their message-
not their opponents'-is more appealing and that more speech rather than less will therefore benefit
thereof') (quoting Ran,dall v. Sorrell, 548 U.S. 230, 268 (2006) (Thomas, J.,
concurring in judgment»; FEe v. Wisconsin Right to Life, Inc., 551 U.s. 449, 486
(2007) (Scalia, J., concurring) ("The Court also recognized ... that the Government
has a compelling interest in prevention of corruption and the appearance of
corruption." (internal quotations and citations omitted».
The core purpose and effect of the Act is to provide public funding to
candidates to enable them to run election campaigns-to enhance speech and
political participation while combating the threat of potentially-corrupting private
contributions. Plaintiffs attempt to twist this into a purportedly impermissible
purpose to "level the playing field," because the Act seeks to give participating
candidates sufficient funds to compete against privately-funded candidates. But in
order to be a feasible alternative to private fundraising, voluntary public financing
systems-with or without matching funds-must always provide sufficient money
for participating candidates to compete; otherwise, the offer of public funding is an
empty gesture. Thus, if a purpose to provide sufficient funding to run a competitive
campaign rendered public funding unconstitutional, all meaningful public financing
laws would be invalid, including the Presidential public financing system that this
Court upheld because it "facilitate[s] and enlarge[s] public discussion and
participation in the electoral process" and "furthers, not abridges, pertinent First
Amendment values." Buckley v. Valeo, 424 U.S. 1, 92-93 (1976).
The Act was enacted expressly to combat actual and apparent
corruption. As the Ninth Circuit recounted, there is substantial evidence in the
record of extensive quid pro corruption in Arizona politics leading up to the passage
of the Act. (Slip op. at 7325-7327; PI. App. Vol. IV at 392-94 ("[Defendants]
introduced ample evidence indicating that when the Act was adopted, voters were
aware of, and concerned about, continuing and repeated political corruption in
Arizona."». The first stated purpose of the law is to "create a clean elections system
that will improve the integrity of Arizona state government by diminishing the
influence of special interest money." Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 16-940. The Act's first
finding is that existing law "[a]llows Arizona elected officials to accept large
campaign contributions from private interests over which they have governmental
jurisdiction." Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 16-940(B)(1). In Citizens United, this Court
reaffirmed that reducing direct private contributions protects against the reality or
appearance of corruption. 130 S.Ct. at 908. Moreover, the Act finds public funding
is needed because the then-existing private-funding system "[u]ndermines public
confidence in the integrity of public officials." Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 16-940(B)(5). This
echoes the Buckley Court's finding that "a system of private financing of elections"
can undermine "the integrity of our system of representative democracy" and that
"public financing [is] a means of eliminating the improper influence of large private
contributions." Buckley, 424 U.S. at 26-27, 96.
3 Contrary to Plaintiffs' suggestion, legislation need not expressly discuss previous political scandals,
use the words "quid pro quo," or recite specific examples of "cash-for-votes" to serve the compelling
anti-corruption interest. (See PI. Applic. at 12). Congress used no such words or examples when it
enacted FECA, upheld in Buchley, or BCRA, upheld in McConnell u. FEC, 540 U.S. 93 (2003).
Plaintiffs claim that the Act's identification of undue influence of "special interest money" as a
reason for enacting public funding somehow shows that the Legislature did not have an anti-
corruption purpose. The opposite is true. In McConnell, the Court upheld BCRA as "the most recent
Citizens United is not to the contrary. There, the Court addressed only
regulation of independent expenditures, not a regulation (such as public funding)
designed to address actual and apparent corruption created by private contributions
to candidates. Even in that limited context, the Court held only that "[a]n outright
ban on corporate political speech during the critical preelection period" was
"asymmetrical to preventing quid pro quo corruption." 130 S.Ct. at 911. The Court
recognized that "dispel[ling] either the appearance or the reality of [improper
influences from independent expenditures]" is a legitimate legislative goal. ld. But,
the Court held, a "categorical banD on speech" is "not a permissible remedy." ld.
Here, the Act addresses the corrupting influence of private contributions, and no
"categorical ban on speech" is at issue.
Plaintiffs argue, as the district court held, that the Act cannot have an
anti-corruption purpose because matching funds are provided based on campaign
expenditures by self-financed candidates and independent expenditure committees,
"which pose no threat of quid pro quo corruption under Citizens United and Davis."
(PI. Applic. at 12-13). The Ninth Circuit's answer to this argument is eloquent and
captures the fundamental way in which matching funds, as part of a public funding
program, are crucial to furthering the State's anti-corruption interest:
The district court [and Plaintiffs] misapprehended how
the Act functions to reduce corruption. It assumed that
the Act works by reducing nonparticipating candidates'
incentive to fundraise private contributions, thereby
reducing the appearance of corruption among
federal enactment designed 'to purge national politics of what was conceived to be the pernicious
influence of "big money" campaign contributions.'" 540 U.S. at 115. Indeed, Title I of BCRA, upheld
by the Court based on the anti-corruption rationale, is entitled, "Reduction of Special Interest
nonparticipating candidates. Thus, it concluded that the
Act did not further an anticorruption interest by
providing matching funds to participating candidates
triggered by non-participating candidates' making
contributions to their own campaigns from their own
private funds. In doing so, it relied on the Court's holding
that "discouraging use of personal funds 0 disserves the
anticorruption interest." Davis, 128 S.Ct.. at 2773.
The fact is, however that the Act is aimed at reducing
corruption among participating candidates. The relevant
inquiry thus is whether matching funds bear a
substantial relation to reducing corruption among
participating candidates....
Viewing the Act from this perspective, it is clear that the
Act's anticorruption interest is further promoted by high
participation in the program. The more candidates that
run with public funding, the smaller the appearance
among Arizona elected officials of being susceptible to
quid pro quo corruption ....
It is not relevant under this analysis what the source of a
nonparticipating candidate's campaign contributions is
when he or she triggers matching funds. In order to
promote participation in the program, and reduce the
appearance of quid pro quo corruption, the State must be
able to ensure that participating candidates will be able to
mount competitive campaigns, no matter what the source
of their opponent's funding.
(Slip op. at 7346-48; PI. App. Vol. IV at 413-15 (emphasis in original».
b. This Court's Decision In Davis Does Not Require
The Application of Strict Scrutiny To The Act
Plaintiffs argue that the Ninth Circuit's decision is inconsistent with
this Court's decision in Davis. In fact, for the reasons explained by the Ninth
Circuit, Davis does not in any way undermine that court's reasoning.
As the Ninth Circuit held, "[t]he regulatory framework the Supreme
Court examined in Davis is different from the one we confront under the Act." (Slip
op. at 7339; PI. App. Vol. IV at 406). Davis arose in the context of federal
congressional elections where, "[u]nder the usual circumstances, the same
restrictions apply to all the competitors for a seat." Davis, 128 S.Ct. at 2765. That
baseline is key and distinguishes the congressional system for regulating campaign
financing from the campaign-finance laws applicable in presidential races and
Arizona state-level campaigns. In congressional campaigns, all candidates are
subject to the same contribution limits, see 2 U.s.C. § 441a(a)(1), and the same
disclosure requirements, see 2 U.S.C. § 434. Congressional candidates are not
eligible to receive the public funding that is available to candidates for President,
see 2 U.S.C. § 441a(b), 26 U.S.C. § 9001 et seq, or for Arizona state office, see Ariz.
Rev. Stat. § 16-951, 952, and there is no alternative to the system of private
financing. In short, all congressional candidates are similarly situated from a
That is not the case under the Presidential public-funding system or
under the Clean Elections Act. Under public-funding systems, all candidates begin
their campaigns by choosing between one of two financing options, each with its
own particular set of benefits and burdens. Candidates who choose public funding
receive certain benefits, including a "release from the rigors of fundraising, the
assurance that contributors will not have an opportunity to seek special access, and
the avoidance of any appearance of corruption." Daggett v. Comm'n on
Governmental Ethics and Election Practices, 205 F.3d 445,471 (1st Cir. 2000). But
publicly-funded candidates also "suffer a countervailing denial [because] acceptance
of public financing entails voluntary acceptance of an expenditure ceiling." Buckley,
424 U.S. at 95.
The constitutionality of this voluntary choice between public and
private financing is well settled. See id. at 57 n.65. In Buckley, the Court held that
"Congress may engage in public financing of election campaigns and may condition
acceptance of public funds on an agreement by the candidate to abide by specified
expenditure limitations." Id. This holding followed naturally from the Court's
recognition that public funding "furthers, not abridges, pertinent First Amendment
values" by "facilitat[ing] and enlarg[ing] public discussion and participation in the
electoral process." Id. at 92-93. In short, it is a constitutionally-acceptable
approach to offer all candidates the alternatives of public and private funding
where, depending on the choices made by individual candidates in a particular race,
"the same restrictions" may not "apply to all the competitors for a seat." See Davis,
128 S.Ct. at 2765.
This critical difference between a system of purely private financing
and a system with optional public funding is essential to understanding the reach of
the Davis decision. In Davis, the challenged law, Section 319(a) of BCRA, replaced
the normal rule in congressional elections-that all candidates in privately-funded
congressional elections are subject to the same contribution limits-with "a new,
asymmetrical regulatory scheme." Id. at 2766. In particular, Section 319(a)
provided that, once one of two or more privately-funded candidates in a race spent
more than $350,000 of personal funds on his campaign (subject to certain
adjustments), the initial contribution limits were tripled and the limits on
coordinated party/candidate expenditures were eliminated entirely-but only for
that privately-financed candidate's privately-financed opponent. Because Section
319(a) thus subjected otherwise similarly-situated candidates to "asymmetrical" and
"discriminatory" fundraising limitations just because one candidate chose to spend
personal funds, the Court concluded that the law resulted in an "unprecedented
penalty" that was subject to strict scrutiny and unsupported by any compelling
interest. Id. at 2771. Indeed, as the Ninth Circuit noted, the Davis Court stated
that, had the federal law "simply raised the contribution limits for all candidates,
Davis' argument would plainly fai1." (Slip op. at 7339; P1. App. Vo1. IV at 406
(quoting Davis, 128 S.Ct.. at 2770»; see also Davis, 128 S.Ct. at 2771 ("[I]f § 319(a)'s
elevated contribution limits applied across the board, Davis would not have any
basis for challenging those limits.").
Unlike BCRA Section 319(a), Arizona's public-funding system does not
include a system of "discriminatory contribution limits" in which a self-financed
candidate is penalized vis-a-vis his similarly-situated, privately-financed opponent
for making personal expenditures. Instead, consistent with Buckley's affirmation of
the constitutionality of the Presidential public-funding system, the Act offers all
candidates a choice between two entirely different systems of financing, each with
its own particular set of regulatory benefits and burdens. Because Buckley makes
clear that the participants in the public-funded and private-financing alternatives
need not receive the same benefits, the Act is not "discriminatory" or
"asymmetrical" merely because only publicly-funded candidates receive matching
funds. See Buckley, 424 U.S. at 57 n.65. Indeed, the Davis Court expressly
distinguished the discriminatory regulatory burden of Section 319(a) from the
Presidential public-financing system it had upheld in Buckley, because under
Section 319(a), unlike the public-financing system, a candidate's personal
expenditures resulted in "the activation of a scheme of discriminatory contribution
limits." Davis, 128 S.Ct. at 2772 (emphasis added).
Plaintiffs rely heavily on the Davis Court's "see" citation to Day v.
Holahan, 34 F.3d 1356 (8th Cir. 1994). That citation immediately followed the
Court's statement that, under section 319(a), privately-funded candidates may
choose to rely on personal monies "but they must shoulder a special and potentially
significant burden." Davis, 128 S.Ct. at 2772. As the Ninth Circuit held, this "see"
citation cannot bear the weight of Plaintiffs' constitutional attack on the Act.
At most, this "see" citation to Day suggests that matching funds pose a
"potentially significant burden." Id. A burden of potential significance, however, is
certainly no more substantial than the burden that the Court assumed might
accompany compelled disclosure: "the potential for substantially infringing the
exercise of First Amendment rights." Buckley, 424 U.S. at 66. Because the Court
has repeatedly held that the potentially significant burden of compelled disclosure
requires intermediate, not strict, scrutiny, Plaintiffs' contention that Davis's brief
citation to Day calls for strict scrutiny of matching-funds provisions is meritless.
Davis did not rely on Day for the proposition that Section 319(a) is
subject to strict scrutiny. Nor did Davis suggest that Section 319(a) and matching
funds impose burdens of similar severity. To the contrary, the Davis Court, plainly
aware of the Minnesota matching-funds provision at issue in Day, labeled Section
319(a)'s "discriminatory" and "asymmetrical" contribution limits an "unprecedented
penalty." Davis, 128 S.Ct. at 2771 (emphasis added).
In short, nothing in Davis requires that Arizona's matching-funds
provision be subjected to strict scrutiny.4
While the unanimous Circuit Court panel was correct that matching
funds do not violate the First Amendment, even if there were room for
disagreement, that there could be differing opinions among the Justices on the
merits of Plaintiffs' case demonstrates that the law is not "indisputably clear" in
Plaintiffs' favor. See Brown v. Gilnwre, 533 U.S. 1301 (2001) (Rehnquist, C.J.)
(declining to enjoin a statute under the All Writs Act without "attempting to predict
the views of my colleagues as to the ultimate merit" of the applicants' First
Amendment claim because "the position is less than indisputable"). Thus, because
Plaintiffs have not and cannot show that the law is "indisputably clear" in their
favor, this Court should not stay the Court of Appeals' mandate.
III. THIS COURT SHOULD DENY PLAINTIFFS' MOTION TO VACATE
THE APPELLATE STAY OF THE DISTRICT COURT'S INJUNCTION
As explained above, if this Court denies Plaintiffs' motion to stay the
mandate (as it should), Plaintiffs' motion to vacate the Court of Appeals' stay order
should be denied as moot. If this Court does decide to reach the merits of Plaintiffs'
4 Plaintiffs rely also on the Davis Court's "cf," citation to Pacific Gas & Elec. Co. v. Public Utils.
Comm'n, 475 U.s. 1 (1986), in which the Court struck down a law that require[d] [the speaker] to use
its property ... to distribute the message of another"-i.e., a utility was required to include the views
of a consumer group in its billing envelopes. See id. at 17-18 (plurality opinion). Pacific Gas &
Electric might be relevant if the Act required non-participating candidates to include their
opponent's message in their own advertisements. But the Act requires no such thing.
motion to vacate the stay, it should deny that motion because Plaintiffs have failed
to show that the appellate court's application of the stay factors was "demonstrably
wrong" and that they will be "seriously and irreparably injured by the stay." See
Coleman v. Paccar, Inc., 424 U.S. 1301, 1304 (1976) ("[A] Circuit Justice has
jurisdiction to vacate a stay where it appears that the rights of the parties to a case
pending in the court of appeals, which case could and very likely would be reviewed
here upon final disposition in the court of appeals, may be seriously and irreparably
injured by the stay, and the Circuit Justice is of the opinion that the court of
appeals is demonstrably wrong in its application of accepted standards in deciding
to issue the stay."); Western Airlines, Inc., 480 U.S. at 1305 (same).
In deciding to stay the district court's order, the Court of Appeals was
governed by Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 8(a), under which courts consider
four factors in deciding whether to stay a lower-court's order: "(1) whether the stay
applicant has made a strong showing that he is likely to succeed on the merits; (2)
whether the applicant will be irreparably injured absent a stay; (3) whether
issuance of the stay will substantially injure the other parties interested in the
proceeding; and (4) where the public interest lies." Hilton v. Braunskill, 481 U.S.
770, 776 (1987).
In this case, there is no indication that the Court of Appeals ignored
these accepted standards or applied them in a "demonstrably wrong" manner.
A. Defendants Had A Likelihood Of Success On The Merits
First, not only did Defendants have a likelihood of success on the
merits, but we now know that Defendants in fact succeeded on the merits. Indeed,
all three members of the merits panel agreed with Defendants that matching funds
do not violate the First Amendment. Accordingly, there can be no question that the
Court of Appeals correctly determined that Defendants had a likelihood of success
on the merits when evaluating their stay application.
B. The Balance Of The Hardships And The Public Interest Tipped
Decidedly In Favor Of Defendants
Moreover, the balance of hardships and the public interest tipped
strongly in favor of a limited stay pending further action by the merits panel (and
coupled with expedited briefing and argument) for at least two reasons.
First, Plaintiffs faced no risk of suffering any harm from the stay that
was imposed. As both the district court and the Court of Appeals merits panel
found, Plaintiffs lacked any compelling evidence that their speech in fact had been
chilled by matching funds. Plaintiffs thus could not and cannot establish that they
will be "seriously and irreparably injured by the stay" or that the Court of Appeals
was "demonstrably wrong" in its analysis of the balance of hardship. See Coleman,
424 U.S. at 1304.
Second, and in stark contrast to the lack of harm to Plaintiffs,
candidates who had chosen to participate in the public funding system on the
expectation that matching funds would be available had and have a high likelihood
of suffering harm if the matching funds provision were enjoined just months before
early voting for the 2010 primary election begins.
At the time the district court stayed its own injunction and the motions
panel extended that stay, the evidence showed that, as a practical matter,
candidates could no longer opt out of the public funding system because it was too
late to begin raising the private funds that would be needed to mount a competitive
Today, it is not only practically impossible for publicly-funded
candidates to switch course, but it is legally impossible for over two dozen
candidates as well. To date, 26 candidates have received public funds and thus may
not opt out of the public funding program. (Defendants' App. at 4). An additional
129 candidates have filed paperwork with the Clean Elections Commission
indicating their intent to run with public funds and thus have not raised the private
funds that would be needed to mount a traditionally-financed campaign. (Id.).
If matching funds were enjoined, participating candidates could not
spend any more than the base level of funding that they have received. In other
words, they would lose the right to two-thirds of the funding they potentially could
have received under the status quo. As the district court found in staying its own
injunction four months ago, "[i]nvalidating matching funds changes the entire
election landscape." (PI. App. Vol. 1 at 31).
An injunction against matching funds not only would deprive
participating candidates of funds they expected when they agreed to forego private
fundraising and abide by voluntary spending limits, but also would reduce the
amount of information available to voters by leaving publicly-funded candidates
with less money to spend to communicate their message. Even worse, an injunction
against matching funds could alter the outcome of Arizona's 2010 elections.
Recognizing that their publicly-funded opponents were hamstrung by the
injunction, non-participating candidates and committees would undoubtedly
respond by flooding the airwaves and mailboxes with attack ads, which likely would
In short, the Court of Appeals was entirely justified in concluding that
a limited stay of the district court's injunction was warranted to avoid or lessen the
risk of judicial interference in the electoral process. See Reynolds v. Sims, 377 U.S.
533, 585 (1964) ("where an impending election is imminent and a State's election
machinery is already in progress, equitable considerations might justify a court in
withholding the granting of immediately effective relief. . . . In awarding or
withholding immediate relief, a court is entitled to and should consider the
proximity of a forthcoming election and the mechanics and complexities of state
election laws, and should act and rely upon general equitable principles.").
Accordingly, the balance of the hardships and the public interest
weighed decidedly in favor of the Court of Appeals' decision to extend the stay
pending further action by the merits panel. At the very least, Plaintiffs have failed
to show that the Court of Appeals' extension of the stay was "demonstrably wrong,"
a prerequisite to obtaining the relief they seek through their application.
For all the foregoing reasons, Defendant-Intervenor Clean Elections
Institute, Inc. respectfully submits that Plaintiffs' emergency application should be
CLEAN ELECTIONS INSTITUTE,
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