Update: ILP v Madigan
Back in September, in a partnership with the Campaign Legal Center and the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform, Chicago Appleseed filed an amicus brief in support of Illinois’ campaign contribution limits in the Northern District of Illinois case, ILP v Madigan. ILP (the Illinois Liberty PAC) and an individual who contributes both to individual candidates and to ILP have challenged Illinois’ campaign disclosure and donation regulation laws which impose per election cycle dollar limits on contributions.
In October, a judge for the Northern District of Illinois denied Illinois Liberty PAC’s motion for a preliminary injunction against Illinois’ campaign donation limits in ILP v. Madigan. The court issued a 22-page opinion (.pdf download) along with the order denying the injunction.
ILP has appealed that order to the Seventh Circuit and the Campaign Legal Center has filed an filed an amicus brief on behalf of the Legal Center Chicago Appleseed and the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform. The brief argues, again, that the contribution limits are clearly constitutional and that ILP has not satisfied the requirement for obtaining the extraordinary relief of an injunction, pending their appeal. In this case, the serious threat to the public interest of enjoining the contribution limits in the last weeks before the election far outweighs the harm likely to the plaintiffs from Illinois’ generous contribution limits.