STOP Hillary PAC v. Federal Election Commission

166 F. Supp. 3d 643, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 177928, 2015 WL 10786860
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Virginia
DecidedDecember 21, 2015
DocketCase No. 1:15-cv-1208-GBL-IDD
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 166 F. Supp. 3d 643 (STOP Hillary PAC v. Federal Election Commission) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Virginia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
STOP Hillary PAC v. Federal Election Commission, 166 F. Supp. 3d 643, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 177928, 2015 WL 10786860 (E.D. Va. 2015).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

Gerald Bruce Lee, United States District Judge

THIS MATTER is before the Court on Plaintiffs STOP Hillary PAC’s and Dan Backer’s Motion for Preliminary Injunction (Doc. 3). Plaintiffs’ have launched a facial constitutional challenge to Federal Election Commission regulation 52 U.S.C. § 30102(e)(4), contending that it restricts Plaintiffs’ free speech, in violation of the First Amendment. Id. Plaintiffs’ seek a preliminary injunction prohibiting Defendant Federal Election Commission (“FEC”) from enforcing 52 U.S.C. § 30102(e)(4) — a statutory disclosure requirement which prohibits political committees from using a candidate’s name in its title. In support of its motion, Plaintiffs’ seek an order enjoining the FEC from pursuing any adverse administrative, civil, or criminal action against Stop Hillary PAC or Dan Backer, based on Stop Hillary PAC’s name, throughout the duration of this lawsuit. Id. The FEC responds that 52 U.S.C. § 30102(e)(4), as a disclosure regulation, is not a content based restriction on free speech and does not violate the First Amendment because the regulation is intended to avoid voter confusion about whether a PAC is authorized by a political candidate. (Doc. 25). Additionally, the FEC contends that even an oppositional PAC, like Plaintiffs are prohibited from using a political candidate’s name because some voters may be misled into confusion that an oppositional PAC is really in support of former Senator and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton’s opponent, thus still creating voter contusion. Id.

The issue presented is whether Plaintiffs STOP Hilary PAC and Dan Backer have shown likelihood of success in showing that 52 U.S.C. § 30102(e)(4), is a restraint on speech and thus violates the First Amendment. A party “seeking a preliminary injunction must establish that (1) he is likely to succeed on the merits, (2) he is likely to suffer irreparable harm in the absence of preliminary relief, (3) the balance of equities tips in his favor, and (4) an injunction is in the public interest.” Dewhurst v. Century Aluminum Co., 649 F.3d 287, 290 (4th Cir.2011).

The Court holds that Plaintiff has not shown the first prong required to obtain a preliminary injunction, that is, likelihood of success on the merits. Plaintiffs’ have not shown that 52. U.S.C. § 30102(e)(4), is a restraint on speech or was enacted because of the content of speech. Plaintiffs’ have not shown that the existing regulations prohibit Plaintiffs from running their “Stop Hillary” PAC website, social media, electronic and print oppositional materials. The only FEC restriction in place is that the regulations prohibit the PAC from using a political candidate’s name in the name of the PAC. The regulation supporting 52 U.S.C. § 30102(e)(4) allows precisely the type of oppositional speech Stop Hillary PAC and Backer seek. Additionally, 52 U.S.C. § 30102(e)(4) is sufficiently tailored to allow Stop Hillary, an unauthorized PAC, to include the name of a candidate in the title of a special project name or other communication if the title clearly and unambiguously shows opposition to the named candidate.

Thus, having reviewed the pleadings, heard oral arguments, and considered the relevant case law, the Court holds that, based on the facts available at this stage, [646]*646Plaintiffs have not met all four prongs required to warrant granting the extraordinary remedy of ordering a preliminary injunction. The Court denies Plaintiffs’ Motion for Preliminary Injunction.

I.BACKGROUND

Plaintiffs STOP Hilary PAC and Dan Backer (“Plaintiffs”) brings this civil action against Defendant Federal Election Commission (“Defendant”) contesting the constitutionality of § 30102(e)(4), which prohibits a Political Action Committee (“PAC”) from using a political candidate’s name in its title. 52 U.S.C. § 30102(e)(4). Specifically, Plaintiffs’ claims assert that § 30102(e)(4), both on its face and as applied to political committees with names that unambiguously oppose a federal candidate, violates the First Amendment and the Equal Protection Component of the Due Process Clause.

Stop Hillary PAC is a unauthorized and non-connected hybrid political committee that its Treasurer, Dan Backer, and others formed on May 16, 2013, by filing a Statement of Organization with Defendant Federal Election Commission (“FEC”). See Declaration of Dan Backer in Support- of Plaintiffs’ Motion for Preliminary Injunction (hereafter, Backer Decl.); see also Compl., Ex. 1. The Statement of Organization listed “Stop Hillary PAC” as the PAC’s name, and Dan Backer as its Treasurer and custodian of records. Backer Deck, Ex. 1.

Stop Hillary PAC has operated continuously for the past two years and four months, since its founding, in pursuit of its mission: to ensure that Hillary Clinton, former United States Senator and Secretary of State, “never becomes President of the United States.” Backer Deck, Ex. 2. At the time Backer registered the committee with the FEC, he “was aware” of the Act’s “prohibition on including candidate names in the names of PACs,” but believed Hillary Clinton would not seek the 2016 Democratic Party nomination for the office of President. (Compl. ¶ 13.). When Backer formed Stop Hillary PAC, Hillary Clinton was not a candidate for federal office. Mtn. for Prelim. Injun, at 2.

II.STANDARD OF REVIEW

To obtain a preliminary injunction, the plaintiff must establish that (1) he is likely to succeed on the merits; (2) he is likely to suffer irreparable harm in the absence of preliminary relief; (3) the balance of equities tips in his favor; and (4) an injunction is in the public interest. Winter v. Natural Res. Def. Council Inc., 555 U.S. 7, 129 S.Ct. 365, 374-76, 172 L.Ed.2d 249 (2008); The Real Truth About Obama, Inc. v. F.E.C., 607 F.3d 355, 355 (4th Cir.2010) (reissuing Real Truth About Obama, 575 F.3d 342, 345-47 (4th Cir.2009)).

III.DISCUSSION

a) Section 30102(e) (b) of Title 52 of the U.S.Code is a WelT-Established Law, Used to Help the Voting Public Decipher Between Authorized and Unauthorized Political Action Committees for the Last 35 Years.

A party “seeking a preliminary injunction must establish that (1) he is likely to succeed on the merits, (2) he is likely to suffer irreparable harm in the absence of preliminary relief, (3) the balance of equities tips in his favor, and (4) an injunction is in the public interest.” Dewhurst v.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
166 F. Supp. 3d 643, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 177928, 2015 WL 10786860, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/stop-hillary-pac-v-federal-election-commission-vaed-2015.