2009 | The Future of Election Law: The Changing Roles of Campaign Finance and Lobbyist Contributions
Panel One: McCain-Feingold, Past and Future
Start Date
23-1-2009 2:00 PM
End Date
23-1-2009 3:15 PM
Description
The first of two afternoon panels was moderated by CUA law professor Marshall Breger and featured Laura MacCleery, deputy director of the Brennan Center for Justice at the New York University School of Law, and William McGinley, a specialist is political law issues with Patton Boggs LLP. MacCleery said that although not perfect, McCain-Feingold has largely succeeded in what it set out to do. It has invited what she called "micro-donors," citizens who contribute less than $200 to campaigns, back into the election process in large numbers, and added transparency to the whole political funding process. McGinley took a very different view. The federalizing of campaign contribution rules at every level down to state and local races has made the process of participating so complicated and fraught with legal danger that volunteers stay away in droves, he said. It also discourages young politicians from launching their careers, he believes.
Panel One: McCain-Feingold, Past and Future
The first of two afternoon panels was moderated by CUA law professor Marshall Breger and featured Laura MacCleery, deputy director of the Brennan Center for Justice at the New York University School of Law, and William McGinley, a specialist is political law issues with Patton Boggs LLP. MacCleery said that although not perfect, McCain-Feingold has largely succeeded in what it set out to do. It has invited what she called "micro-donors," citizens who contribute less than $200 to campaigns, back into the election process in large numbers, and added transparency to the whole political funding process. McGinley took a very different view. The federalizing of campaign contribution rules at every level down to state and local races has made the process of participating so complicated and fraught with legal danger that volunteers stay away in droves, he said. It also discourages young politicians from launching their careers, he believes.