Anti-Prop 30 Group May Have to Cough Up Information

A conservative Arizona political group is likely going to have to turn over confidential documents about its donors, under a tentative ruling issued late Tuesday by a Sacramento judge.  At issue is the $11 million contribution by Americans for Responsible Leadership to a California political action committee trying to help pass Proposition 32 (paycheck protection) and kill Proposition 30 (Gov. Brown's tax initiative).  State officials have called the cash "the largest known anonymous donation in the history of California politics," and want to audit the group's books to see whether the identities of the donors must be made public.  The tentative ruling by Judge Shellyanne W.L. Chang rejected all of the arguments made by the Arizona group -- organized as a 501 (c)(4) and thus exempt from most donor disclosure laws -- in its attempt to block the investigation of the California Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC).

The group's own court filing on Monday invoked the 2010 Citizens United ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court and the freedom of groups like theirs "to exercise their constitutional rights."  Judge Chang's tentative ruling says, in effect, that the landmark case doesn't apply.  "The FPPC is not seeking to restrict, and this court is not limiting, expenditures by ARL," wrote Chang.  "Nothing in Citizens United prohibits this state-mandated disclosure."…

Full article at http://www.news10.net/capitol/article/215226/525/Arizona-groups-California-political-cash-needs-audit-says-judge