Law Firm Serving Denver and Colorado

The United States Supreme Court, in a 5-4 decision, overturned the Federal Election Commission's "Millionaires' Amendment" on Thursday. The Amendment was passed in 2002 as part of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (BRCA), also known as the McCain-Feingold law, to "level electoral opportunities." It stipulated that if a United States House candidate spends more then $350,000 of his or her own money, his or her opponent may accept triple the FEC-mandated $2,300-per-donor limit per election. In the case of U.S. Senate candidates, the donor-limit may be increased based on their state's population.

The Amendment was challenged by a New York Democrat Jack Davis, who has run and lost the previous two election cycles for a U.S. House seat in that state. Between his races in 2004 and 2006, Davis spent $4 million of his own finances, triggering the Amendment's provisions. Davis is running again this year and expects to spend $3 million of his own money on this campaign.

During his 2006 run, Davis filed suit to overturn the Amendment. Davis argued that by allowing his opponents to raise money above the usual contribution limits, the Amendment diminished his First Amendment right to unfettered political speech.

The Court agreed, stating that "while the BCRA does not impose a cap on a candidate's expenditure of personal funds, it imposes an unprecedented penalty on any candidate who robustly exercises that First Amendment right, requiring him to choose between the right to engage in unfettered political speech and subjection to discriminatory fundraising limits." The Court concluded that it would be an unfair advantage to place limitations on a self-financed candidate but extend limits for his or her opponent.

Led by Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, this is the third time that this court has considered campaign finance law and the third time that the law in question has been struck down or found to be unconstitutional as applied to a particular group of people.

These significant decisions signal the strong conservative leaning of the court as it has limited Congress's ability to limit campaign contributions to prevent "corruption or the appearance of corruption."

View the Federal Elections Commission's definition of the Millionaires' Amendment here.
View the NPR article here.

WRITTEN BY KATIE KENNEDY- Law Clerk Zakhem/Atherton, LLC.

The big question looming in the air now has changed from who will the Democratic presidential nominee be, to who will become the 44th President of the United States?? Campaigning has already begun and Presidential polls have started popping up across the country. If you haven't already, now is the time to start researching all candidates.

Now that we have two presumptive nominees for the 2008 Presidential election, it is time to dive deep into the major issues to see who you best feel is fit to run our nation. How do Republican candidate John McCain and Democratic candidate Barack Obama compare with your own beliefs on major issues?

From concerns about the economy and the war in Iraq to topics of Social Security and the health care system, to debates over gun ownership guidelines and housing distress, there is a broad range of issues guiding this year's presidential race. Both candidates made their intentions and opinions quite clear over the past several months. Follow the links below for a side by side comparison of the two candidates.

See the Denver Post/Associated Press outline of McCain and Obama.
See CNN Politics outline of McCain and Obama.

This past Saturday was a very successful, smooth event at the Republican State Convention in Broomfield. Over 4,000 delegates, alternate delegates, media, press members, guests and staff turned up to partake in the event. The delegates of the assembly successfully designated Bob Schaffer to the Primary election ballot for the office of United States Senator, representing both the Republican Party as well as the state of Colorado.

Mark Hillman and Lilly Nunez were elected as National Committeeman and National Committeewoman to represent Colorado as voting members of the Republican National Committee. The Assembly also elected 22 at-large delegates and 22 at-large alternate delegates that will join the Colorado delegation previously elected at the Congressional district assemblies to attend the 2008 Republican National Convention in Minneapolis-St. Paul Minnesota on September 1st-4th. The assembly considered important declarations of Republican Party policy and platform as Resolutions.

Click here to see the results from the State Assembly
Click here to see the results form the Congressional Assemblies

Zakhem Atherton and the Colorado State legislators co-hosted the John McCain Suite/Republican Unity Reception with the co-sponsorships of Richard Sapkin, the Lincoln Club of Colorado, Mark Hillman, Colorado Chiropractors Association, Colorado Natural Land Trust, the Colorado Federation of College Republicans, and Freedom Task Force.

The assembly ran very smoothly with the legal help of John Zakhem and Ryan R. Call, senior and deputy legal counsel for the Colorado Republican Party and even ran ahead of schedule! The keynote speaker Governor Mitt Romney addressed the differences and contrasts between Barack Obama and John McCain. He left the stage with a standing ovation and a loudly cheering crowd.

Now preparation begins for the fall. August and November will turn out anxiously anticipated results. Anything can happen.