Howard Fischer
Capitol Media Services
Two groups involved in Arizona politics are making a new bid to hide the names of their donors, with one saying that “government officials” may threaten or intimidate them.
Attorney Scott Freeman acknowledges that Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Scott McCoy rejected his bid to void Proposition 211. The judge ruled in June that there is nothing unconstitutional about the voter-approved measure designed to prohibit “dark money” in political races.
But Freeman now says that even if that is the case, a point he is not conceding, McCoy should say that his clients have shown that, at least in their case, the law “restricts plaintiffs’ ability to freely speak and disturbs their private affairs.” So, he wants the judge to exempt the Arizona Free Enterprise Club and the Center for Arizona Policy — and their donors — from having to live under the terms of the law.
McCoy is likely to consider the pleas, as he essentially told Freeman in June, when he refused to void the law, the groups could seek an exemption. The judge noted, however, that would require either group to show “reasonable probability that disclosure of its contributors’ names will subject them to threats, harassment, or reprisals from either government officials or private parties.”
