Litigation of Interest
December 10, 2024: United States v. Richard Zeitlin
On December 10, 2024, Richard Zeitlin, the owner of a telemarketing call center, was sentenced to 121 months’ imprisonment to be followed by five years of supervised release and must pay $8,906,760.00 in restitution. From 2017 to 2020, Zeitlin used his company to defraud various donors while soliciting money for Political Action Committees. Zeitlin changed call scripts in order to mislead donors into believing they were contributing money to charities instead of political organizations in order to receive higher contributions, which Zeitlin would retain approximately 90%.
December 20, 2024: Moving Oxnard Forward v. Ascension
The city of Oxnard, California adopted new campaign finance limitations through a local ballot measure which created new limitations on contributions local candidates could receive. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the lower court’s decision and remanded with instructions to grant summary judgment to Moving Oxnard Forward because the per-candidate aggregate contribution limitations violated the First Amendment.
January 3, 2025: Election Integrity Project California, Inc. v. Lunn
Election Integrity Project California, Inc. (EIPC) brought an action against Mark Lunn, the Ventura County Clerk-Recorder, Registrar of Voters for declaratory relief. EIPC claimed that Lunn restricted election observers from observing the vote by mail processing and counting. The trial court found the County’s process allowed observers the access required under the law. The appellate court affirmed the trial court’s decision, determining “sufficiently close” does not mean breathing down the necks of the election workers.
February 10, 2025: Jennifer Virden v. City of Austin Texas
Jennifer Virden challenged the city of Austin, Texas’ campaign finance rules which prohibited political contributions outside the designated campaign period leading up to the general election. Virden claimed that this rule was unconstitutional under the First Amendment. The District Court decided in favor of Virden, the city appealed. On February 10, 2025, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the District Court’s decision that the one-year fundraising blackout in the city was unconstitutional under the First Amendment.