United States Ninth Circuit

In an action challenging the Long Beach Campaign Reform Act (LBCRA), which prohibited "persons" from making any independent expenditures if they received contributions above certain amounts, as applied to the Long Beach Area Chamber of Commerce (Chamber) and its affiliated political action committees (PACs), summary judgment for plaintiff Chamber is reversed where the Chamber failed to demonstrate that it suffered or faced a real and immediate threat of suffering an injury that was fairly traceable to the LBCRA. However, summary judgment against the PACs is reversed where, though the City identified several governmental interests that purportedly were served by the LBCRA, it did not show that any was "sufficiently important" to support the LBCRA's application to the PACs.

Appellate Information

• Argued 10/28/2009
• Decided 04/30/2010
• Published 04/30/2010

Judges

• Before ALEX KOZINSKI, Chief Judge, DOROTHY W. NELSON and KIM McLANE WARDLAW, Circuit Judges.

Court

• United States Ninth Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellant:
  
• Robert E. Shannon and Monte H. Machit of the City Attorney's Office, Long Beach, CA, for the appellant., Reid Alan Cox and Stephen M. Hoersting of the Center for Competitive Politics, Alexandria, VA, for amicus curiae Center for Competitive Politics., Richard Doyle, George Rios and Lisa Herrick of the Office of the City Attorney, San Jose, CA, for amicus curiae League of California Cities.


• For Appellees:
  
• Charles H. Bell, Jr. and Jimmie E. Johnson of Bell, McAndrews, & Hiltachk, LLP, Sacramento, CA; John C. Eastman of Chapman University Law School, Orange, CA, for the appellees.