Gavel Grab

Michigan’s Chamber of Commerce has asked Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land for a declaratory ruling on existing state law in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling.

The Chamber requested a ruling that it can pay from its treasury for advertising that urges the election or defeat of candidates, according to a column in the Detroit Free Press.

Brian Dickerson’s column quotes Rich Robinson, of Justice at Stake’s partner group Michigan Campaign Finance Network, as sounding a warning. Robinson said a sympathetic ruling  “would give the Chamber and other front organizations legal license to conceal the identity of the private interests for whom they launder money.”

Robert LaBrant, the Chamber’s vice president for political affairs, said the organization wants assurance it can exercise its expanded political influence without meeting new disclosure requirements, the column reported.

Justice at Stake declared Michigan’s 2008 campaign the “nation’s dirtiest” fall Supreme Court election. TV ads depicted former Chief Justice Clifford Taylor as sleeping during a case and others asserted that opponent Judge Diane Hathaway was soft on sex offenders and terrorism suspects.

Dickerson points to this history and makes an argument that strong disclosure is needed in Michigan. His column is headlined, “And now a word from my totally anonymous sponsors.”

The Chamber’s letter requesting a declaratory ruling is available here. The letter notes that the U.S. Supreme Court overruled  a 1990 decision in which the Chamber was involved, Austin v. Michigan Chamber of Commerce. In that case, the high court upheld restrictions on corporate spending to support or oppose political candidates. You can read about the Citizens United decision in Gavel Grab.