40
Relatedly, the concurrence disputes our reading of CalMed. See Concurring Op. at 24. But our analysis of that case,
including our reliance on Justice Blackmun’s opinion, tracks
the persuasive reasoning of the Fourth Circuit in North
Carolina Right to Life, of several other courts, and of
numerous commentators. See, e.g., N.C. Right to Life, 525
F.3d at 292; see also, e.g., Comm. on Jobs Candidate
Advocacy Fund v. Herrera, No. C 07-03199, 2007 WL
2790351, *4 (N.D. Cal. Sept. 20, 2007); Wash. State
Republican Party v. Wash. State Pub. Disclosure Comm’n, 4
P.3d 808, 825 (Wash. 2000); Richard Briffault, The 527
Problem and the Buckley Problem, 73 GEO. WASH. L. REV.
949, 982-85 (2005); John C. Eastman, Strictly Scrutinizing
Campaign Finance Restrictions (and the Courts that Judge
Them), 50 CATH. U. L. REV. 13, 37 (2000); Gregg D. Polsky
& Guy-Uriel E. Charles, Regulating Section 527
Organizations, 73 GEO. WASH. L. REV. 1000, 1031 (2005).
Moreover, the concurrence does not substantively address the
several post-Cal-Med cases that similarly recognize the right
of non-profits to raise and spend money to support their
agendas and preferred candidates. See, e.g., FEC v. Mass.
Citizens for Life, Inc. (MCFL), 479 U.S. 238, 259-65 (1986);
FEC v. Nat’l Conservative PAC (NCPAC), 470 U.S. 480, 501
(1985); Citizens Against Rent Control v. City of Berkeley, 454
U.S. 290, 296-99 (1981).
The concurrence further contends that we have not
received on-point briefing on the constitutional issue. We
again respectfully disagree. The briefs and oral argument
focused first and most extensively on the First Amendment
and McConnell – and debated the key question in this case:
For First Amendment purposes, are non-profits more like
individual citizens (who under Buckley have the right to spend
unlimited money to support their preferred candidates) or
more like political parties (which under McConnell do not)?