SpeechNow.org Goes to Court

David Weigel | February 14, 2008

SpeechNow.org, the anti-campaign finance restriction group spotlighted by Jacob Sullum two months ago, has been denied permission to organize as a 527 group—a distinction that would have let the group raise more money for the cause. The next step:

Represented by the Institute for Justice and the Center for Competitive Politics, SpeechNow.org, along with members and supporters, will file a federal lawsuit today challenging the campaign finance law that requires SpeechNow.org to become a “political committee” in order to advocate for or against candidates. So that SpeechNow.org can begin its advocacy as soon as possible, IJ and CCP will request a preliminary injunction and ask that an expedited hearing on that request be scheduled within 20 days.

It's a good fight, and the incredibly broken FEC—which is basically shut down right now since it's short a member—would need awfully tortured legal reasoning to come out unscathed. Obviously, I'm betting on the FEC.