Newsletter July 2003

Showdown on Campaign Finance

July 2003

On June 5, 2003, the U.S. Supreme Court indicated probable jurisdiction over the appeal of the constitutional challenge to the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 (BCRA). The appeal is from a decision of the statutorily-mandated three-judge panel of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. McConnell v. FEC, 251 F. Supp. 2d 948 (D.D.C. May 2, 2003); stay granted by 253 F. Supp. 2d 18 ( May 19, 2003); probable jurisdiction noted, No. 02-1674, et al. (U.S. June 5, 2003).

Now the consolidated case of 77 plaintiffs (including Senator McConnell and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce) and 17 defendants/intervenors (including the Federal Election Commission, the law's sponsors and the Department of Justice) heads to the Supreme Court. The Court has scheduled a summer-long briefing schedule and set an oral argument for Monday, September 8, 2003, at 10 a.m. The oral argument is scheduled to last four hours.

Wiley Rein & Fielding LLP represents Senator McConnell, as well as the Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of Manufacturers and the Associated Builders & Contractors in this case.

For more information, please contact Jan Witold Baran (202.719.7330 or ) or visit the Stanford Law School website to read any of the pleadings filed in the case.

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