by Pillar of Law | May 16, 2017 | Political Speech
ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Pillar of Law Institute attorneys Benjamin Barr and Stephen Klein joined a team of attorneys to defend Dennis Fusaro and Stephen Waters against charges from the Maryland State Prosecutor that they produced an illegal “robocall,” an automatic phone...
by Stephen Klein | May 15, 2017 | Political Speech
I have written an article for the recent edition of the Washburn Law Journal, entitled “‘“The Centre Cannot Hold’”: Campaign Finance Disclosure Beyond 2016.” I lay out the current legal landscape surrounding campaign finance disclosure, with criticism of the campaign...
by Pillar of Law | Mar 24, 2017 | Political Speech
CHICAGO, IL – The Pillar of Law Institute won summary judgment today in the case Ball v. Madigan, striking down an Illinois state law that prohibits medical marijuana cultivation centers and dispensaries from making campaign contributions. Judge John Z. Lee of the...
by Pillar of Law | Mar 18, 2017 | Political Speech
DENVER, CO. – Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper signed House Bill 1014 yesterday, amending the state’s election law to allow voters to take and share photographs of their own marked ballots, an activity known as taking a “ballot selfie.” The bill followed a...
by Stephen Klein | Mar 15, 2017 | Political Speech
A bill that passed the Colorado legislature two weeks ago would make displaying one’s own marked ballot legal, and also allow for the display of photographs of them, or “ballot selfies.” As the bill awaits signature from Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, some pundits...
by Stephen Klein | Mar 1, 2017 | Political Speech
This afternoon, in a speech at the Center for American Progress, Commissioner Ann Ravel, formerly of the Federal Election Commission (as of yesterday), gave her first speech as a private citizen since leaving the agency. Promising she will continue to speak out in...
by Stephen Klein | Feb 15, 2017 | Political Speech
Karen Hobert Flynn, president of Common Cause, joins the chorus of campaign finance “reformers” who are concerned about the nomination of Judge Neil Gorsuch to the United States Supreme Court, claiming that his “record on money in politics . . . raises significant...
by Stephen Klein | Feb 9, 2017 | Political Speech
Less than a year ago, Norm Eisen, in his capacity as a fellow at the Brookings Institution, convened a campaign finance “Solutions Summit” that brought together a meeting of regulation advocates whose supposed solutions differ about as much as Oxford blue and Midnight...
by Stephen Klein | Jan 26, 2017 | Political Speech
Proponents of campaign finance regulation often base their quest on a nebulous term, “our democracy.” Though undefined, it is meant to serve as a pleasant-sounding, self-evident justification for any and all forms of political speech regulation. But the latest...
