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Federal Honest Leadership and Open Government Act of 2007 ruled Constitutional

Federal Honest Leadership and Open Government Act of 2007 ruled Constitutional
National Association of Manufacturers v Jeffrey Allen Taylor, et al
United States Court of Appeals, for the District of Columbia Circuit, Decided September 8, 2009, No. 08-5085

The Circuit Court of Appeals, DC Circuit, upheld the constitutionality of the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act of 2007, rejecting a challenge alleging that 2 U.S.C. § 1603(b)(3), as amended by HLOGA §207, violates the First Amendment both facially and as applied to National Association of Manufacturers [NAM] and similar membership organizations.

NAM maintains that the section will chill NAM members from participating in public policy initiatives for fear of the consequences of public disclosure of the names and amounts of monies contributed in support of lobbying activities. The NAM also argued that the disclosure requirements of amended §1603(b)(3) are impermissibly vague.

The Circuit Court said that §1603(b)(3) ?does not prohibit lobbyists from saying anything. It, said the court, requires only disclosure, rejecting the NAM?s claim that ?the disclosures mandated by [amended § 1603(b)(3)] will discourage and deter speech, petitioning, and expressive association.?

The court explained that ?For more than sixty years, Congress has sought to expose the lobbying of government officials to public scrutiny. Acronyms and intricacies aside, the progression from the FRLA to the LDA to the HLOGA marks the legislature?s attempt to shine increasing light on the efforts of paid lobbyists to influence the public decision-making process."

Finding nothing unconstitutional in the mannor in which Congress went about that task, the court sustained the district court's decision rejecting the NAM's challenge to the constitutionality of Section 207 of the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act of 2007.

The decision is posted on the Internet at:
http://pacer.cadc.uscourts.gov/common/opinions/200909/08-5085-1204885.pdf

Full post as published by New York Public Personnel Law on September 09, 2009 (boomark / email).