Court denies Clean Election suspension
A federal appeals court has rejected a motion to suspend portions of Maine's Clean Election Act, citing the impending November election.
The 1st Circuit Court of Appeals in Bangor denied the emergency motion from plaintiffs Rep. Andre Cushing of Hampden, former state Rep. Harold Clough of Scarborough and the Respect Maine PAC, backed by the Maine Heritage Policy Center and Indiana-based James Madison Center for Free Speech, which sought to suspend parts of the act, according to the order released yesterday. The appeals court in its ruling said the plaintiffs did not prove that immediate injury would result unless an injunction were put in place, and cited the "considerable harm" changes to the Clean Election Act would cause in the final weeks before the November election.
MHPC and the plaintiffs filed a lawsuit on Aug. 5, which challenged the constitutionality of the provision that provides matching funds to candidates and the $750 private donations limit. A district court in September denied a motion for a temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction, a decision the plaintiffs appealed to the appeals court.
A final decision on the case from the District Court has not been made.
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