Manufacturers Group Loses Ethics Lawsuit

Associated Press
04.14.08


WASHINGTON - The National Association of Manufacturers lost its courtroom challenge to the part of the new lobbying and ethics law that requires trade groups to release names of certain members.

Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly handed down the 57-page decision on Friday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, rebuffing the trade group's argument that the law violates the First Amendment rights of its members.

The group had also sought a preliminary injunction to prevent enforcement of the provision in the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act, which requires trade associations to disclose the names of members, who contribute more than $5,000 in a quarterly period for lobbying activities, by April 21....(read more)

"It's difficult to understand how some of the conclusions she reached conform to the requirements of First Amendment law,"

said Quentin Riegel, the group's vice president for litigation.

"A number of the conclusions were weak and the law itself has many problems that remain."