We have a right to know who is trying to influence our votes!

On February 18, 2011, Judge Hornby of the U.S. District Court of Maine ruled on a an important case for the people of Maine captioned NOM (National Organization for Marriage) v. McKee. Judge Hornby's ruling is important because it upholds our right, as Mainers, to know who is trying to influence our votes on ballot measures. We at Parson & Drum are particularly excited about this ruling because we had a hand in shaping it. Parson & Drum represented Maine Citizens for Clean Elections as amicus curiae (Latin for friend-of-the-court).

This case stemmed from a complaint made in the summer of 2009 which asked the Maine Ethics Commission to look into potential violations of Maine law by the National Organization for Marriage and its allies ( the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland, Knights of Columbus of Washington, DC, James Dobson’s Focus on the Family) which requested donations and then in turn gave the money to the "Stand for Marriage Maine" in order to hide the identity of the donors. Based in Virginia, NOM is the spear head of the national fight against marriage equality. In 2009, NOM provided about $1.9 million to defeating Maine's marriage equality law. Since then, the organization has been battling in court to prevent the Maine Ethics Commission, which administers the state’s campaign finance laws, from forcing NOM to disclose the identities of its donors.

A few days after receiving the complaint, the Maine Ethics Commission sent an information request to Stand for Marriage Maine PAC (SFMMP) and the National Organization for Marriage (NOM), seeking more information on the charges of ‘money laundering’ against them in their campaign to repeal Maine’s same-sex marriage law.”

The Maine Ethics Commission ordered NOM to comply with state law and turn over the names of its donors. NOM refused, and filed suit against the state, in National Organization for Marriage v. Walter F. McKee, a.k.a. NOM v. McKee. This case was unabashedly an effort to overturn Maine’s election spending disclosure laws under the theory that it violated NOM's First Amendment free speech rights. Their argument was, and continues to be, that "Free Speech" = "Anonymous Speech." NOM was seeking to overturn a law that 70% of Mainers support!

NOM argued, with a wink and a nod, that they were not covered by Maine's disclosure laws because they were not "specifically" collecting money for Maine's 2009 Ballot Measure known as Question 1.

The case sat in the U.S. District court for almost a year. Then, in July of 2010, NOM requested an expedited decision under the theory that they wanted to collect even more money to spend on the 2010 election and that they did not want to, again, disclose their donors. They were essentially looking to tar-and-feather politicians who had supported Maine's marriage equality law.

This is where Parson & Drum came in. We had discussed with Maine Citizens for Clean Elections (MCCE), whether they would like us to represent them in this case. MCCE is a nonpartisan coalition of groups and individuals that works in the public interest to advocate for, increase public support for, defend and improve the Maine Clean Election Act and related campaign finance laws. They are worthy of your support if you appreciate having politicians who are beholden to average Maine citizens instead of corporations and the ultra wealthy. You can learn more and donate here.

MCCE had, with the help of another attorney, gained amicus curiae status in NOM v. McKee. Both Patrick and I were excited to work on such an important matter for the people of Maine, but it seemed like the case was quiet. We then received a call on July 29, 2010 at 4:45pm. The call came from MCCE and they needed our help.

This is the conversation as I remember it:

MCCE: "Hi Peter. Remember how we had discussed having Parson & Drum represent us in NOM v. McKee?"

Peter: "Of course. We are interested in working on the case. Are you still interested in having us sign on?"

MCCE: "Yes, we are. In fact, something has come up. The court ordered us to submit our amicus brief and we are calling to see if you could do it for us."

Peter: "We could take that on. There is a fair amount we'll have to do to get briefed up on the case and submit the brief, but we will jump into the case. Why don't we come pick up the file later next week."

MCCE: "Well, that is the thing. The we just found out when the amicus brief is due."

Peter: "When is it due?"

MCCE: "Tuesday."

Peter: "Tuesday, the what?"

MCCE: "Tuesday, as in next Tuesday."

Peter: "It is already Thursday evening. You are saying that it is due in five days?"

MCCE: "Can you help us?"

Peter: After a few seconds of consideration, "Well, someone has to do it and we will take it on."

What ensued next was a marathon of four days of working 18 hours a day along with much of Thursday night and all of Tuesday until the submission deadline at 5:00pm. In addition to serving our other clients on work that had been previously scheduled, Patrick and I had to read and digest all of the case and statutory law surrounding the issues presented, review all of the documents that had been submitted, extensively interview our new clients, outline, draft, and perfect a brief going to the U.S. District Court on an issue of legal, political, and Constitutional importance. Just another day at the office!

The Court ruled on NOM's motion in August. In the ruling, which was highly favorable to MCCE’s interests, U.S. District Court Judge, the Honorable D. Brock Hornby held that the registration and reporting requirements imposed on political action committees were not unconstitutionally burdensome, as the National Organization for Marriage contended.

Judge Hornby struck down two minor provisions of the law. Specifically, Judge Hornby struck down what he described as an "unconstitutionally vague” section and ordered the state to stop requiring 24-hour disclosure of expenditures over $250. The Maine Ethics Commission acted quickly to alter their rules to fit Judge Hornby's opinion.

State officials and our client MCCE viewed Judge Hornby's ruling very positively and primarily, as a victory. In an interview with the Bangor Daily News, Ann Luther, co-chairwoman of Maine Citizens for Clean Elections, said “By and large, our PAC reporting law is left standing. We think Maine voters have been well-served here.”

Maine law requires NOM to file as a political action committee if it spent $5,000 or more for the purpose of promoting, defeating or influencing in any way the nomination or election of any candidate to political office.

NOM argued that Maine’s definition of a PAC (political action committee) and expenditure reporting requirements were “vague, overbroad and burdensome.” As such, the PAC laws infringed on the organization’s First Amendment rights by discouraging NOM from getting involved in Maine elections, the group’s attorneys argued. Yet, involved they were spending $1.9 million on a single ballot measure.

Hornby disagreed holding that the registration, disclosure and record-keeping requirements for PACs were not overly burdensome. “NOM does not have to set up a separate corporation or separate bank accounts,” Hornby wrote. “It is not unusual to require a corporation doing business in a state to identify its organizational form, provide a name and address, and identify a treasurer and principal officers.”

“Here, in addition, NOM must identify its primary fundraisers and decision-makers and state which Maine candidates or committees it supports or opposes, hardly a huge burden. Reporting, too, is not onerous.”

Hornby did find the state’s requirement that an organization file as a PAC if its activities were intended to “influence” or “influence in any way” an election. Hornby removed the redundant reference to “influencing” elections from the law.

Hornby also ruled that requiring organizations to report independent expenditures of $250 or more within 24 hours was “unconstitutionally burdensome.”

Judge Hornby upheld 90% of Maine's campaign finance laws.

An unhappy NOM continued to fight on toward the final judgment. That judgment was provided to the parties, including Parson & Drum, on Friday, February 18, 2011. In the judgment, Judge Hornby upheld Maine's clean election and disclosure laws and found against NOM. This is truly a victory for the people of Maine and we are proud that we were part of it.

Of course, this is all part of the national effort by conservatives and large power brokers to end public financing of elections and campaign disclosure laws. Some conservatives erroneously believe that public financing leads to more liberal politicians when, as can be seen in Arizona, that is not the case. Instead, Public Financing leads to a political class that is actually responsive and beholden to the people they represent. And that is why major power donors (like the billionaire Koch Brothers) don’t like the law. They want to spend any amount, anywhere, at any time and not have to disclose that their hand, wrist and whole arm is in the cookie jar.

We are lucky that organizations like MCCE are there to stand up for our interests. They continue to fight on with other organizations like Demos and the Brennan Center to ensure that our Democracy is not ruled by ultra wealthy contributors, political power brokers, and corporations. Please consider giving to this great organization. Just click here.

Maine Real Estate Today

Parson & Drum is starting to see more real estate transactions occurring. With 30-year mortgage rates below 5% again, home sellers who are being realistic about the value of their homes, and a warming economy are pointing to some serious values in Midcoast Maine. While we are not real estate experts, some of the folks that we know at Drum & Drum Real Estate have seen a similar movement. Several of their brokers noted brisk sales last year including several in the million dollar plus category. While sales in the "middle" of the market were more tepid than those in the sub $200,000 and $650,000+ categories, all sales were up.

The fundamentals of the Damariscotta region are still strong. With a vibrant local economy that supports local organic farmers, and numerous independently owned small businesses, thoughtful preservation, and excellent schools (http://www.greatschools.org/maine/damariscotta/141-Great-Salt-Bay-Community-School/, http://www.greatschools.org/maine/nobleboro/826-Damariscotta-Montessori-School/, http://www.greatschools.org/maine/nobleboro/207-Nobleboro-Central-School/, http://www.greatschools.org/maine/edgecomb/117-Edgecomb-Eddy-School/, http://www.greatschools.org/maine/south-bristol/492-South-Bristol-Elementary-School/, http://www.greatschools.org/maine/newcastle/746-Lincoln-Academy/) the Damariscotta region offers a spectacular quality of life!

Think about contacting a Realtor at Drum & Drum Real Estate to check out what is available in this special area!

A small step for Maine Feed-In-Tariff!

This is the first post for the Parson & Drum Attorneys, LLC blog! Thanks for stopping by.

As our first post, we are pleased to announce that a piece of legislation, partly authored by me, has been signed into law by Governor Baldacci! Here is the news story:

http://www.mpbn.net/News/MaineHeadlineNews/tabid/968/ctl/ViewItem/mid/2905/ItemId/11084/Default.aspx
From MPBN: "Baldacci Signs Bill Encouraging Locally-Produced Green Power - 6/24/09 4:27 PM EST
Gov. John Baldacci today ceremonially signed legislation aimed at encouraging more Maine-generated renewable power projects. LD 1075 establishes a six-year pilot program to test incentives for individuals and communities to generate renewable power.
"This bill expands our commitment to end our dependency on fossil fuels," Baldacci said at the signing ceremony in his State House office. He said the program would help the state assess the potential of small-scale, renewable power generation that can be fed into the grid.
Under the new law, homeowners and businesses can opt to buy all of their energy from Maine-generated renewable power sources. It also encourages the state to purchase power from such sources. The pilot project will be administered by Maine's Public Utilities Commission."

While today's signing was a happy occassion, our efforts toward renewable energy must be expanded. We will continue to press this matter in Augusta until Maine can declare that it is a 100% renewable electricity state.

This is also an opportunity to thank the people that worked so hard on this bill. Representatives Herb Adams and Bruce MacDonald (the sponsors of two bills that were merged into 1075), Senator Hobbins, Speaker Pingree, Representative Sean Flaherty, Representatieve Ken Fletcher, Representative Piotti, Representative David Van Wie, Representative Seth Berry, Paul Kando (Midcoast Green Collaborative), Diane Messer, Sue Johnson, Dick Davies, Eleanor Kinney, Topher Belknap, Kale Inoue, Naoto Inoue, Bob Hardina, Norman Reef, Jed Rathband, Stacy Mitchell, Dylan Voorhees, the other Members of the Midcoast Green Collaborative, and all of the folks that I forgot!

This is also a proud day since this was both our firm's first legislative effort and first legislative success! We are batting 1,000!