Public financing foes face U.S. Supreme Court

PHOENIX — Foes of public financing of elections are asking the nation's high court to let a court ruling declaring a key part of the law unconstitutional to take effect immediately.

In pleadings Thursday before the U.S. Supreme Court, attorney Nick Dranias of the Goldwater Institute noted that U.S. District Court Judge Roslyn Silver already has concluded that a provision providing additional funds for publicly financed candidates to match spending by privately funded foes is unconstitutional. But the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals agreed earlier this week to "stay'' her decision while the state appeals, effectively leaving the matching funds in place.

Dranias argued that every day Silver's ruling is prevented from taking effect essentially "immediately punishes, deters and chills the exercise of First Amendment rights'' by those who want to use their own money or that of donors to run for office.

"That is because the mere threat of matching funds makes supporters of traditional candidates less likely to contribute as much money to their preferred campaign, and it makes traditional candidates themselves more hesitant to spend money in support of their campaign message,'' he wrote.

Attorneys for the state have not responded to Thursday's filing.

Aside from believing Silver is wrong — and wanting their chance to prove that to the 9th Circuit — the argument by lawyers for the state and supporters of public financing is likely to be that dozens of candidates already have started their campaigns for this year's August primary. More to the point, many of them already have decided to accept public funding on the premise that they will get additional if their privately financed foes spend more than their allocations.

But Dranias, anticipating that argument, told the high court those concerns are legally irrelevant.

"The state's interests in seeing its laws enforced is (ITALICS) not (ROMAN) enough to delay vindication of the First Amendment,'' he wrote.

Anyway, Dranias noted, the Citizens Clean Elections Commission will not disperse any matching funds before June. And early voting for the primary does not start until July 29.