Bid Denied to Reinstate Fund Limits
In another potential boost to underdog candidates, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor on Saturday denied an emergency request by two California legislators to reinstate a state law limiting campaign contributions.
O’Connor refused to set aside the ruling of U.S. District Judge Lawrence Karlton, who declared last week that the election financing law voters passed in 1988 as Proposition 73 is unconstitutional.
O’Connor, who oversees cases stemming from California and several other Western states, denied the petition without comment, a Supreme Court spokeswoman said.
“We feel election reform is unraveling with every passing hour,†said Otis Turner, press secretary to Assembly Republican Leader Ross Johnson of La Habra. Johnson, the author of Prop. 73, had made the request along with Sen. Quentin Kopp (I-San Francisco). “What we’re trying to do is put the genie back in the bottle.â€
Although the legislators may petition other Supreme Court justices, Turner said they probably would plead their case Tuesday before the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Pasadena.
Karlton’s ruling last Tuesday set off a burst of campaign fund raising in California as candidates for statewide office were allowed to scramble for bigger donations before the Nov. 6 election.
After Karlton threw out the limits, which ranged from $1,000 to $5,000, gubernatorial candidate Dianne Feinstein received $150,000 from the California Assn. of Highway Patrolmen and $50,000 from the California Teachers Assn., her spokeswoman said.
In an effort to minimize “confusion†over California’s financing laws, Karlton on Friday agreed to reinstate limits on legislative races, but held that restrictions on statewide and local offices were still unconstitutional.
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