A special federal court Monday ordered back into effect immediately all parts of the new federal campaign finance law, even though the three-judge panel had struck down several provisions earlier this month.
Splitting 2-1, as it had on most key parts of its constitutional ruling on May 2, the U.S. District Court in Washington blocked its own decision while the Supreme Court reviews the law, a process that could take until late this year, or early next year.
One reason the lower court restored the entire law, a majority of the panel said, was its own “divisions about the constitutionality” of various sections of a sweeping revision of federal campaign law.
The majority said it also imposed a delay to prevent candidates and interest groups “from facing potentially three different regulatory regimes in a very short time span.” Those three would have been the new law, which President Bush signed in March 2002 and took effect on Nov. 6; the different set of restrictions in the District Court’s ruling; and possibly a third approach that could emerge from the Supreme Court.
With its latest order, the District Court put off, perhaps until December, a requirement that interest groups avoid paying for any political advertisements that attack or promote a congressional candidate.
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The District Court, by reinstating the new law, eases some of the pressure on the Supreme Court to speed a review of its constitutionality.
Recent actions by the high court have indicated that it is in no hurry to rule on the campaign finance law, which contains a provision calling for an expedited review. The court’s signals point toward a hearing later this year, rather than within the next several weeks.