Donations Capped for San Diego Politicians
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January 28th, 2012
California: U.S. District Judge Irma Gonzalez ruled that the city of San Diego cannot enforce a cap of more than a thousand dollars on the amount political parties donate to local election campaigns.[1]
"Political parties are unlike other individuals and entities because the candidates do expressly associate with them and vote on issues advocated/supported by them. In light of this, the court cannot say, for example, that a Republican politician is necessarily 'corrupt' - or that there is an appearance of corruption-just because that politician votes to pass issues supported by the Republican Party after he or she takes office. To the contrary, that is the exact purpose of our political party system," said Judge Gonzalez.[1]
Candidates are allowed to spend their own money on campaigning, but they are not to accept public or private donations more than a year before any election. Furthermore, Judge Gonzalez upheld a $500.00 cap on contributions from individuals, as well as provisions that prohibit corporations and labor unions from donating directly to candidates.[1]
The lawsuit on the San Diego campaign finance laws was brought to light in December of 2009 by former Republican city council candidate Phil Thalheimer, the Republican Party of San Diego, as well as the Lincoln Club of San Diego, which is a business political action committee. Certain provisions of the law, the lawsuit claimed, were intended to curb corruption, but instead violated their rights to free speech.[1]
Judge Gonzalez's ruling does not completely obscure San Diego's abject political history, but in citing the yellow cab scandal, in which the city of San Diego raised taxi rates in order to fund campaign contributions, Judge Gonzalez wrote "In this case, the record sufficiently demonstrates corruption in the San Diego municipal government."[1]
See also
Footnotes
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Federal courts:
Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: Central District of California, Eastern District of California, Northern District of California, Southern District of California • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: Central District of California, Eastern District of California, Northern District of California, Southern District of California
State courts:
California Supreme Court • California Courts of Appeal • California Superior Courts
State resources:
Courts in California • California judicial elections • Judicial selection in California
