News Release

For immediate release    For more information
Monday, June 8, 2009    Rick Bielke, 202-293-0222

Public Campaign Statement on Caperton v. Massey Supreme Court Decision

Washington, D.C. – Public Campaign, a national nonprofit group working to advance public financing of elections, issued the following statement today from Nick Nyhart, its President and CEO, in response to the Caperton v. Massey U.S. Supreme Court decision:

“At its core, the Caperton case was about the inherent conflict of interest when our elected officials depend on or are aided by large campaign contributions and excessive spending in the electoral process. Americans know that campaign contributions from wealthy special interests impact the policy decisions made by Congress on matters that affect the life and well being of all of us.

“There is a distinction but not a difference between the facts of this case, in which a coal company executive spent significant amounts of money to elect a preferred judge, and the $2.2 billion donated by the financial and insurance sector over the past two decades to elect a more pliant Congress on financial regulatory matters, or the millions poured in by the health industry. If we carry the logic of the Caperton decision forward, virtually every member of the U.S. Congress would need to recuse themselves from casting votes on health care, energy, and banking regulation.

“This decision underscores the impossible place our elected officials find themselves when they’re required to raise significant amounts of money from those who have a vested interest in legislation. It’s time for Congress to adopt comprehensive public financing in the form of the Fair Elections Now Act.”

Public Campaign is a national nonpartisan nonprofit organization dedicated to enacting sweeping public financing of elections at the local, state, and federal levels.

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