A major premise of the Supreme Court's Citizens United ruling is that prompt disclosure of campaign contributions can allow voters to judge whether candidates are " "in the pocket' of so-called money interests." But the huge amount of cash funneled through "super PACs" by corporations, unions and wealthy individuals -- whose identities are often hidden behind shell entities -- makes a mockery of this notion. Now many lawsuits across the country are seeking to gut even limited disclosure laws in states like Maine, Florida and West Virginia. James Bopp Jr., who initiated the Citizens United case, is a prime mover behind cases attacking disclosure.
Last week, the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit in Boston rightly upheld the disclosure requirement of Maine's campaign finance law against a challenge by Mr. Bopp and others... |