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No. 02-1755
IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED
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AMERICANFEDERATION
OFLABORAND
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;ONGRESS OF INDUSTRIAL ORGANIZATIONS, et al.,
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FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION,et al.,
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Appellees.
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Appellants,
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On Appeal from the United StatesDistrict Court
For the District of Columbia
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RESPONSEOF THE AFL-CIO PLAINTIFFS
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CONCERNINGCOORDINATEDBRIEFING
The AmericanFederationof Labor andCongressof Industrial Organizationsandthe
AFL-CIO Committeeon Political EducationPolitical ContributionsCommittee(collectively,the
"AFL-CIO plaintiffs"), appellantsin No. 02-1755and appelleesin Nos. 02-1676and 02-1702,
submitthis responseto the requestof the Court for the parties' positionsregardingthe lengthof
briefs on the merits. The AFL-CIO plaintiffs wish to submit separateargumenton the following
issuesraisedin their JurisdictionalStatementor on which they prevailedin the District Court: (1)
the constitutionalityof the primary andfallback definitions of "electioneeringcommunications"
in BCRA § 201, asappliedto broadcastcommunicationsof labor organizationsand corporations
1
by BCRA § 203; (2) the constitutionalityof BCRA's new coordinationprovisionsin BCRA §§
202 and 214; (3) the constitutionalityof the advancedisclosurerequirementfor electioneering
communicationsin BCRA § 201(a),adding2 V.S.C. § 434(f)(5); (4) the constitutionalityof the
advancepublic disclosurerequirementfor broadcastersin BCRA § 504. In orderto present
theseargumentsfully, we respectfullyrequestthe opportunityto file openingand reply briefs of
50 and20 pages,respectively,asprovidedin the Rulesof the Court.
1.
With respectto the definition of "electioneeringcommunication",our primary
focuswill be on the extentto which BCRA' s provisionswill unconstitutionallyinterferewith
importanceto working families, andcomparablespeechby other groups. The opinionsbelow
the
AFL-CIO'sability
to
carry
out
its
lobbying
aIidpublic
education
programs
on
issues
of
striking down the primary definition of "electioneeringcommunications",and relatedfmdingsof
fact, devotedsignificant attentionto the AFL-CIO's broadcastadvertisingprogram,see,e.g.,
Hendersonop. 116-128;Leon op. 78, 337-44,andJudgeLeon's analysisof the fallback
defmition similarly relied heavily on the AFL-CIO's ads. See,Leon op. 92, 344-346. None of
the otherbriefs on plaintiffs' sideareexpectedto addressthe AFL-CIO's programin detail, if at
all. Furthermore,aswe did in the District Court, the AFL-CIO plaintiffs will coordinatetheir
briefs with the McConnell plaintiffs, the Businessplaintiffs and otherschallengingTitle II of
BCRA in orderto minimize repetitionof legal argument.
2.
With respectto coordination,the AFL-CIO plaintiffs expectto focus on the
practicaleffectsof the unconstitutionalreachof BCRA' s provisions,asevidenced,again,by the
AFL-CIO's own uniqueexperience.
3.
With respectto the advancedisclosureargument,the AFL-CIO plaintiffs took the
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lead on this issuein the District Court andwe do not expectotherplaintiff groupsto devote
significant argumentto this issue. Otherplaintiff groupswill be making broaderchallengesto
BCRA's disclosurerequirementsissue.
4.
With respectto the advancepublic disclosureargumentfor broadcasters,
we
expectto focus on the impact of this provision on labor organizationsand other groupswhose
requestsfor broadcasttime must be disclosed,asdistinct from the impact on broadcasters,
which
will be addressedby plaintiff National Associationof Broadcasters.
5.
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The plaintiffs in this litigation representa broadrangeof political and social
interests,includingbothlaborandbusiness,
andincludemanyorganizations
andindividualswho
frequentlydisagreeon mattersof socialand economicpolicy and other issues.Although the
plaintiffs havecoordinatedtheir efforts throughoutthe litigation in orderto avoid burdeningthe
Court with unnecessaryandrepetitivefilings, it hasalsobeencritical that the disparate,andoften
traditionally adversarial,interestson plaintiffs' sidebe ableto presenttheir own experiencesin
their own voiceswithout relying on otherpartiesto advancetheir uniqueperspectivesor to
characterizeeachother's conductover the years. As wasthe casein the District Court, the AFLCIa, and other plaintiff groups,shouldbe allowedto file full briefs on the merits in accordance
with the Court's usualpractice.
Respectfullysubmitted,
L~~
Larry P. Weinberg
1101 17thStreet,N.W.
Suite900
Washington,D.C. 20036
(202) 775-5900
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LaurenceE. Gold
Counselof Record
AFL-CIO
815 SixteenthStreet,N.W.
Washington,D.C. 20006
(202) 637-5130
Of Counsel
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,
Michael B. Trister
Lichtman,Trister & Ross
1666ConnecticutAve., N. W.
Washington,D.C. 20009
(202) 328-1666
Counselfor Appellants
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CERTIFICATE
OF SERVICE
This is to certify that I caused a copy of the foregoing Response of the AFL-CIO
Plaintiffs Concerning Coordinated Briefing be served on all counsel required to be served, on
June 10, 2003, by the means indicated below:
B~ First Class Mail. PostagePre-Paid
KennethW. Starr
Kirkland& Ellis
655 15thStreet,NW
Suite1200
Washington,
DC 20005
ValleSimmsDutcher
Southeastern
LegalFoundation,
Inc.
3340Peachtree
Road,N.E.
Suite3515
Atlanta,GA 30326
JamesBopp,Jr.
JamesMadisonCenterfor Free
Speech
1 SouthSixthStreet
TerreHaute,IN 47807
MarkJ. Lopez
AmericanCivil LibertiesUnion
G. HunterBates
1215CliffwoodDrive
CharlesJ. Cooper
Cooper& Kirk, PLLC
125Broad Street
New York, NY 10004
Goshen,KY 40026- ~
JamesMatthew Henderson,Sr.
The American Centerfor Law
and Justice
205 Third Street,SE
Washington,DC 2003
JanWitold Baran
ThomasW. Kirby
Wiley, Rein & Fielding
1776K Street,NW
Washington,DC 20006
Floyd Abrams
Cahill, Gordon& Reindel
80 Pine Street
Room 1914
New York, NY 10005-1702
William J. Olson
William J. Olson, PC
8180 GreensboroDrive
Suite 1070
McLean,VA 22102-3860
JosephE. Sandler
Sandler,Reiff & Young, PC
50 E Street,S.E.
Suite300
Washington,DC 20003
John C. Bonifaz
National Voting Rights Institute
27 SchoolStreet
Suite 500
Boston,MA 02108
SherriL. Wyatt
SherriL. Wyatt, PLLC
1017 12th Street,N. W.
Suite300
Washington,DC 20005-4061
Bobby R. Burchfield
Covington& Burling
1201PennsylvaniaAve., NW
Washington,DC 20004
JamesJ. Gilligan
Trial Attorney
U.S. Departmentof Justice
Civil Division
901 E Street,NW
Room 816
Washington,DC 20004
RandolphD. Moss
Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering
2445 M Street,NW
Washington,DC 20037-1420
StevenHershkowitz
BenjaminStreeter
FederalElection Commission
999 E Street,NW
Washington,DC 20463
Laura Moulton
BrennanCenterfor Justice
161Avenue of the Americas
12thFloor
New York, NY 10013
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1500K Street,NW
Suite200
Washington,DC 20005
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By E-Mail
On all counselwho haveenteredappearances
or who haverequestedsuchservice.
L-.MAA--t.--Cc;.rJ
Laurence E. Gold
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