Victory: U.S. District Court Grants NM Youth Organized and SWOP Summary Judgment in Nonprofit Suit

Note: Also see our later post which includes a statement about the decision issued by the Center for Civic Policy.

Today, the Honorable Judith C. Herrera of the U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico issued a Memorandum Opinion and Order that grants summary judgment to the plaintiffs New Mexico Youth Organized (as project of the Center for Civic Policy) and Southwest Organizing Project in their suit against Secretary of State Mary Herrera.

The lawsuit was a response to Herrera sending a letter to the nonprofits threatening to prosecute or otherwise sanction them for their failure to register and report as political committees. The plaintiffs sought a declaratory judgment stating that certain provisions of New Mexico's Campaign reporting Act are unconstitutional, either facially or as applied to them, and claimed Herrera's threatened action pursuant to the Act violated their First and Fourteenth Amendment rights. Click to read the entire 30-page ruling.

The Secretary of State had reportedly based her demand that the nonprofits file as PACs on the odd -- to say the least -- opinion of Attorney General Gary King. King said he thought the nonprofits had been acting politically when they sent out educational direct mail pieces months before a pending election to the districts of a handful of legislators. The pieces dealt with the legislators' votes on certain bills, and how the votes correlated with the interests of some of their large campaign donors. The only clear reason AG King cited to explain his view was that if something walks like a duck and acts like a duck, it's a duck. I guess he was wrong -- at least according to the judgment of the U.S. District Court.

Quack, quack!

After reviewing the motions, briefs, attachments, and affidavits, and being otherwise fully informed, the Court finds that Defendant has not met its burden to demonstrate the constitutionality of the challenged statute, and therefore finds that Plaintiffs’ motion for summary judgment is well taken and will be granted. Because the grant of summary judgment accords Plaintiffs all of the relief that they seek, their motion for preliminary injunction is denied as moot.

The original complaints to AG King about the mailings came from former State Senator Shannon Robinson, who ended up being defeated in the 2008 Democratic Primary election by now Sen. Tim Keller, and Dem Sen. Bernadette Sanchez, who was reelected to her seat in 2008.

For more background on this matter, see these previous DFNM blog posts:

• May 8, 2009: Monahan's NOT Number One: Den Mother Weighs in on Swampy Slurs from Alligator Man
• April 17, 2009: Attacks on Free Speech Rights of Nonprofits (and Others) Continue in New Mexico
• February 5, 2009: End of the Road for "Sour Grapes" Lawsuit by Losing Legislators
• December 17, 2008: Targeted Nonprofits File Federal Suit Against New Mexico Secretary of State
• November 18, 2008: Monahan Ignores Realities, Sticks to Spinning for Old Guard; AG King Now Issuing Threats in Blogosphere
• August 19, 2008: The Bad Guys Win (for Now): AG King & SOS Herrera Side with Shannon Robinson on NMYO; Shannon's Tirade on Senate Floor
• August 10, 2008: Nonprofits Respond to AG King's Odd Behavior, Threaten "Unnnecessary" Litigation
• August 6, 2008: Griego and Keller Release Statements on Lawsuit by Incumbent Primary Losers; Robinson Talks Melodrama
• August 3, 2008: More Details Revealed on Lawsuit by Defeated Dem Incumbents Robinson, Taylor & Silva
• August 2, 2008: Robinson, Taylor, Silva: Fallen Dem Incumbents File Sour Grapes Lawsuit Alleging Campaign Finance Fraud
• July 30, 2008: Backlash Erupts Against Victories in NM by Ethical Progressives and the Growing Power of Reform Group
• June 3, 2008: 2008 New Mexico Primary Winners; Upset Victories for Griego, Keller, Chavez
• May 30, 2008 SD 17: Shannon Robinson Hits New Low with Campaign Mailers; Gets Contributions from Vested Interests
• May 30, 2008: SD 14: What is James Taylor Hiding? Fails to Submit Campaign Donation Report
• May 29, 2008 SD 17: Tim Keller Earning Unprecedented Dem Support
• May 20, 2008: SD 17: "Alligators" Uninterested in Shannon Robinson Scandals?
• May 13, 2008: Strong Local Support: Griego Raises Nearly $60,000 for Dist. 14 State Senate Race
• May 7, 2008: Todos Para Tim! Launches to Support Tim Keller for State Senate
• April 3, 2008: NM House District 13: Guest Blog by Dem Challenger Eleanor Chávez
• April 1, 2008: Fooling Around: Hey Joe, Where's That Ethics Contest Winner?
• February 27, 2008: More Crocodile Tears Over "Failures" of Ethics Advocates
• February 11, 2008: Ethics: Aren't You Sick of the Unnamed Alligators?