Perry v. Bartlett (E.D.N.C.) & North Carolina Right to Life v. Bartlett (4th Cir.)
Perry v. Bartlett (E.D.N.C.) &
North Carolina Right to Life v. Bartlett (4th Cir.)
Campaign Finance Reform
In 1999, representing a North Carolina state legislator and a statewide campaign finance coalition, the Center entered as an amicus in two federal lawsuits in defense of the state’s campaign finance laws.
In North Carolina Right to Life v. Bartlett, the Brennan Center asserted that the district court erred in reaching out and striking down as unconstitutional the following three key provisions of North Carolina’s campaign finance laws: (1) the definition of a “political committee;” (2) a ban on corporate contributions and expenditures in state elections; and (3) a ban on lobbyists’ contributions to legislative candidates during the legislative session. It argued that the political committee definitional question was non-justiciable and that the court should have abstained from reached the other two.
