Compliance Notes - Vol. 6, Issue 1

RECENT LOBBYING, ETHICS & CAMPAIGN FINANCE UPDATES

Campaign Finance & Lobbying Compliance

California: The City of Oxnard, California's 2020 campaign finance limitations violate the First Amendment because the provisions—which appear to target a political outsider—are not narrowly tailored to further a legitimate government interest, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled on December 20, 2024. Such limits are allowed when they are "closely drawn" to advance the legitimate government interest of preventing the appearance of corruption, the Ninth Circuit said. In this case, however, there was evidence that Oxnard's limitations take aim at Aaron Starr, the president of the plaintiff nonprofit Moving Oxnard Forward Inc. Starr had orchestrated an unsuccessful recall effort against a majority of the city council the year before the city proposed the new restrictions, the court said in a divided ruling. The heightened review was warranted considering the