Phoenix AZ (March 22, 2012) – The State of Arizona Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Mark H. Brain has dismissed a lawsuit (CV2011-020916) filed against the Citizens Clean Elections Commission. In his ruling, Judge Brain struck down every point raised by the plaintiffs and concluded: “[M]any of the plaintiffs’ requests are contrary to the statutory scheme and First Amendment principles.”
“This is a complete victory for the Citizens Clean Elections Commission and the People of Arizona,” said Executive Director Todd Lang. “The Court recognized that communicating with citizens promotes First Amendment values and rejected the Plaintiffs’ attempt to muzzle a state agency.”
Commissioner Louis Hoffman added, “The judge saw through the meritless claims made by attorneys for the Goldwater Institute while recognizing the Commission is doing everything according to the law.”
In one of their arguments, the plaintiffs asked the Court to prohibit the Citizens Clean Elections Commission from communicating with “special interest groups” who favor Clean Elections. In his ruling, Judge Brain stated “The Court is unaware of any other situation in which a person or entity has sought to preclude a government commission from communicating with the citizenry—that’s not how government works. Indeed, the criticism generally leveled at government is that it is not responsive to members of the public, not that it responds to them.”
The Citizens Clean Elections Act passed by voters in 1998 created a new campaign financing system that provides full public funding to qualified candidates who agree to abide by the Citizens Clean Elections Commission guidelines. Candidates for statewide and legislative offices are eligible to participate in the public funding program.
To qualify for funding, participating candidates gather $5 qualifying contributions from constituents who are registered voters. Participating candidates must adhere to strict spending and contribution limits and agree to attend required workshops and debates. Visit the Citizens Clean Elections Commission website AzCleanElections.gov for more information or to participate.
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16 Judges Arrested in Italian Mafia Raids (story reposted from bbc.co.uk)
Italian police have arrested 16 judges in what they say is a big anti-mafia operation centered on Naples.
They are alleged to have taken bribes to issue financial rulings in favor of the Camorra, the crime syndicate active around the southern city. Altogether about 60 people are being held on suspicion of money laundering and corruption.
Buildings, cars and property worth 1bn euros (£829m; $1.3bn) were seized around Naples and in northern Italy.
The names of the detained 16 judges have not been revealed.
The police said the focus of the operation was the Fabroccino clan, which is believed to have bribed officials to obtain favorable court judgements. The clan has become notorious for extortion and drug trafficking, but the police say they are also investigating its involvement in buying and selling property, hotel management and the food industry.
The authorities clearly believe that the corruption has spread far beyond the members of the clan itself, and that in this case even judges may have been working with the Camorra, the BBC’s Alan Johnston in Rome reports.