Daggett, et al. v. Comm'n on Gov't Ethics, s. 99-2243

Page 445

205 F.3d 445 (1st Cir. 2000)

BEVERLY C. DAGGETT, ELAINE FULLER, CHRISTOPHER M. HARTE, MARK T. CENCI, JEFFREY I. WEINSTEIN, SHAWN LEVASSEUR, AND LIBERTARIAN PARTY OF MAINE, Plaintiffs, Appellants, ROLLIN STEARNS, NATIONAL RIGHT TO LIFE POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE STATE FUND, AND MAINE RIGHT TO LIFE COMMITTEE POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE STATE CANDIDATE FUND, Plaintiffs, v. COMMISSION ON GOVERNMENTAL ETHICS AND ELECTION PRACTICES PETER B. WEBSTER, LINDA W. CRONKITE, HARRIET P. HENRY G. CALVIN MACKENZIE, MERLE R. NELSON, IN THEIR OFFICIAL CAPACITIES AS MEMBERS OF THE COMMISSION ON GOVERNMENTAL ETHICS AND ELECTIONS PRACTICES OF THE STATE OF MAINE SECRETARY OF STATE OF MAINE, AND ATTORNEY GENERAL OF MAINE, Defendants, Appellees.

BEVERLY C. DAGGETT, ELAINE FULLER, CHRISTOPHER M. HARTE, MARK T. CENCI, JEFFREY I. WEINSTEIN, SHAWN LEVASSEUR, AND LIBERTARIAN PARTY OF MAINE, Plaintiffs, ROLLIN STEARNS, MAINE RIGHT TO LIFE COMMITTEE POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE STATE FUND, AND NATIONAL RIGHT TO LIFE POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE STATE FUND, Plaintiffs, Appellants, v. COMMISSION ON GOVERNMENTAL ETHICS AND ELECTION PRACTICES, PETER B. WEBSTER, LINDA W. CRONKITE, HARRIET P. HENRY, G. CALVIN MACKENZIE, MERLE R. NELSON, IN THEIR OFFICIAL CAPACITIES AS MEMBERS OF THE COMMISSION ON GOVERNMENTAL ETHICS AND ELECTIONS PRACTICES OF THE STATE OF MAINE, SECRETARY OF STATE OF MAINE, AND ATTORNEY GENERAL OF MAINE, Defendants, Appellees.

BEVERLY C. DAGGETT, ELAINE FULLER, CHRISTOPHER M. HARTE, MARK T. CENCI, JEFFREY I. WEINSTEIN, SHAWN LEVASSEUR, AND LIBERTARIAN PARTY OF MAINE, Plaintiffs, Appellants, ROLLIN STEARNS, NATIONAL RIGHT TO LIFE POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE STATE FUND, AND MAINE RIGHT TO LIFE COMMITTEE POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE STATE CANDIDATE FUND, Plaintiffs, v. COMMISSION ON GOVERNMENTAL ETHICS AND ELECTION PRACTICES, PETER B. WEBSTER, LINDA W. CRONKITE, HARRIET P. HENRY, G. CALVIN MACKENZIE, MERLE R. NELSON, IN THEIR OFFICIAL CAPACITIES AS MEMBERS OF THE COMMISSION ON GOVERNMENTAL ETHICS AND ELECTIONS PRACTICES OF THE STATE OF MAINE, SECRETARY OF STATE OF MAINE, AND ATTORNEY GENERAL OF MAINE, Defendants, Appellees.

BEVERLY C. DAGGETT, ELAINE FULLER, CHRISTOPHER M. HARTE, MARK T. CENCI,

JEFFREY I. WEINSTEIN, SHAWN LEVASSEUR, AND LIBERTARIAN PARTY OF MAINE, Plaintiffs,

ROLLIN STEARNS, MAINE RIGHT TO LIFE COMMITTEE POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE STATE CANDIDATE FUND, AND NATIONAL RIGHT TO LIFE POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE STATE FUND, Plaintiffs, Appellants,

v. COMMISSION ON GOVERNMENTAL ETHICS AND ELECTION PRACTICES, PETER B. WEBSTER, LINDA W. CRONKITE, HARRIET P. HENRY, G. CALVIN MACKENZIE, MERLE R. NELSON, IN THEIR OFFICIAL CAPACITIES AS MEMBERS OF THE COMMISSION ON GOVERNMENTAL ETHICS AND ELECTIONS PRACTICES OF THE STATE OF MAINE, SECRETARY OF STATE OF MAINE, AND ATTORNEY GENERAL OF MAINE, Defendants, Appellees.

Nos. 99-2243, 99-2274, 00-1061 and 00-1066

United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit

Heard January 5, 2000

Order Reheard February 15, 2000

Decided February 18, 2000

Opinion Decided March 7, 2000

[Copyrighted Material Omitted]

[Copyrighted Material Omitted]

Mark Lopez with whom Nat Rosenblatt was on brief for appellant Daggett.

James Bopp, Jr., with whom Eric C. Bohnet, Daniel M. Snow, and James R. Mason, III, were on brief for appellants Stearns, Maine Right to Life Committee Political Action Committee State Candidate Fund, and National Right to Life Political Action Committee State Fund.

Phyllis Gardner and Andrew Hagler, Assistant Attorney Generals, with whom Andrew Ketterer, Attorney General, and Paul Stern, Deputy Attorney General, were on brief for appellees.

Glenn J. Moramarco and John R. Brautigam, with whom Arn Pearson and Gillian E. Metzger, were on brief for amici curiae Betheda Edmonds, Kathleen McGee, Linda McKee, Peggy Pendleton, and Elizabeth Watson.

Brenda Wright and John Bonifaz on brief for amicus curiae Maine People's Alliance.

Before Selya, Circuit Judge, Coffin and Campbell, Senior Circuit Judges.

ORDER OF COURT

Mindful of the imminent March 16, 2000, deadline for candidates for the Maine legislature who wish to seek qualification for public campaign funding, having made our best efforts to expedite these consolidated appeals, and having had the benefit of multiple briefings and two sets of oral presentations, we believe, in fairness to the litigants and others similarly situated, that we should announce our ultimate conclusions immediately, a full opinion setting forth our reasoning to follow in the near future.

We therefore announce our determination to affirm the judgments of the district court. We have concluded that the limits on contributions to candidates for Maine's legislature, 21-A M.R.S.A. 1015(1) & (2), 1056(1), are constitutional and that the Maine Clean Election Act, 21-A M.R.S.A. 1121-1128, to the extent challenged in these appeals, also passes constitutional muster. Further, we conclude that the challenge to the limits on contributions to gubernatorial candidates was appropriately dismissed.

To avoid any confusion as to the dates for seeking rehearing or certiorari, we announce this determination now but will not enter judgment until the opinion is issued.

It is so ordered.

OPINION

March 7, 2000

COFFIN, Senior Circuit Judge.

This case involves a challenge to Maine's attempt to reconcile the state's interest in curbing the power of money in politics with the sweeping strictures of the First Amendment. In 1996, Maine voters passed via referendum An Act to Reform Campaign Finance, creating the Maine Clean Election Act, 21-A M.R.S.A. §§ 1121-1128, which introduced a public funding alternative to private fundraising for candidates for elective offices, and lowering the ceiling on campaign contributions, see id. §§ 1015(1) & (2), 1056(1).

Plaintiffs-appellants - legislative candidates, campaign contributors, political action committees (PACs), and the Maine Libertarian Party - challenged both the Act, asserting that the public funding mechanism unconstitutionally coerced candidates to participate, and the contribution limits, arguing that they infringed on the First Amendment rights of candidates as well as donors. The district court upheld the constitutionality of the public funding system and the contribution limits. Under the principles set forth by the United States Supreme Court in Buckley v. Valeo, 424 U.S. 1 (1976) (per curiam), as recently applied in Nixon v. Shrink Missouri Government PAC, 120 S. Ct. 897 (2000), we conclude that the statutes are constitutionally sound. We therefore affirm.

I. Factual Background

Maine voters, pursuant to their authority under Part First, § 1, and Part Third, § 18, of Article IV of the Maine Constitution enacted the Maine Clean Election Act (MCEA) in November 1996 to take effect on January 1, 1999.¹ The Act creates a system of optional public funding for qualifying candidates in state legislative and gubernatorial campaigns, both in primaries and the general election. See 21-A M.R.S.A. §§ 1121-1128.² It establishes public funding beginning with the 2000 elections, see id. § 1123, and requires candidates to complete qualifying actions by March 16, 2000, see id. § 1122(8).

In order to qualify for public funding, a candidate must fulfill several requirements during the qualifying period. The candidate must file a declaration of intent that he is seeking certification. See id. § 1125(1). The candidate must seek "seed money contributions" in amounts not greater than $100, limited to an aggregate amount that varies depending on the office sought: gubernatorial candidates are limited to $50,000, Senate candidates to $1,500, and House of Representatives candidates to $500. See id. §§ 1122(9) & 1125(2). With that seed money, candidates seek out "qualifying contributions," $5 donations in the form of a check or money order payable to the Maine Clean Election Fund ("Fund") in support of their candidacy from registered voters in their district. See id. §§ 1122(7) & 1125(3). Again, the requisite number of qualifying contributions depends on the type of seat sought: gubernatorial candidates must collect 2,500 contributions, Senate candidates 150 contributions, and House candidates 50 contributions. See id. § 1125(3).

Once certified as a "participating candidate" by the Maine Commission on Governmental Ethics and Election Practices, a candidate must agree not to accept any private contributions and not to make expenditures except from disbursements made to him from the Fund. See id. § 1125(6). The candidate transfers all unspent seed money to the Fund and receives an initial disbursement from the Fund. See id. § 1125(5) & (7).

The amount of the initial distribution is the average amount of campaign expenditures in the prior two election cycles for the particular office, although for the 2000 elections that amount has been discounted by 25% in order to ensure the availability of adequate funds. See id. § 1125(8); State of Maine Commission on Governmental Ethics and Election Practices, A Candidate's Guide to the Maine Clean Election Act (1999) [hereinafter Candidate's Guide].³ For the 2000 elections, participating Senate candidates will receive an initial distribution of $4,334 for the primary ($1,785 if uncontested) and $12,910 for the general election; House candidates will receive $1,141 for the primary ($511 if uncontested) and $3,252 for the general election. See Candidate's Guide (Table: Maine Clean Election Fund Distributions for State Senators and Representatives).⁴ Participating candidates face both civil and criminal penalties for violation of the participation rules. See 21-A M.R.S.A. § 1127.

In addition to the initial disbursement, a participating candidate receives a dollar-for-dollar match of any monies raised by a non-participating opponent after the opponent raises more than the initial disbursement allotted to the participating candidate. See id. § 1125(9). Matching funds are also provided to...