Group critical of California governor must identify financial backers

By The Associated Press

09.18.01

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SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A Washington, D.C.-based taxpayer group that ran television advertisements attacking Gov. Gray Davis must identify its financial backers and register as a political committee in California, a judge has ordered.

The American Taxpayers Alliance must reveal its contributors and expenses for the first six months of the year, according to the ruling yesterday by San Francisco County Superior Court Judge David Garcia.

"Basically American Taxpayers Alliance has to play by the same rules that everybody else has to play by," said James Harrison, a San Francisco-based attorney representing Davis' re-election committee.

James Bopp, an Indiana-based attorney for the taxpayer group, said yesterday it would appeal the ruling. The group is not a political committee, he said, but a nonprofit corporation and lobbying group that advocates conservative positions.

"The First Amendment fully protects the right of citizens to praise or criticize the conduct of public officials while in office," Bopp said. "This ruling strikes at the heart of that right."

The group began airing the ads June 18. The ads, which ran for about three weeks, criticized Davis' handling of the statewide energy crisis and ended with the phrase "Grayouts from Gray Davis."

The alliance is headed by Scott Reed, a Washington, D.C.-based Republican strategist, and the commercials were produced by consultants tied to the Bush administration.

Davis and other Democrats contend the contributors include electric power generators whom he's accused of overcharging the state for electricity.

Davis sued in July, claiming the group violated the state's Political Reform Act by failing to register with the California secretary of state. He argued that any group advocating for or against candidates must register.

Garry South, Davis' chief political adviser, said in a statement yesterday that the ruling would prevent "other shell entities from being used to launder anonymous big money into the California political process."

Bopp, however, accused Davis of intending to "punish, harass or intimidate people who criticize him."

Davis is up for re-election in November 2002. His popularity slipped to its lowest point in the spring. But mild weather, long-term contracts with energy suppliers and other conditions led to a blackout-free summer and Davis' approval rating is rebounding.

Still, the energy crisis — which forced the state's largest utility into bankruptcy proceedings, six days of rolling blackouts earlier in the year, and an electricity rate increase — is likely to be a key issue in next year's race.

Update

California appeals court: Group trashing governor doesn't have to list backers
Panel finds American Taxpayers Alliance needn't register as political committee, ads criticizing Gray Davis are protected speech.  09.27.02

Related

Texas appeals court abolishes ban on anonymous political ads
'Freedom of speech includes the right to engage in the dissemination of ideas without being publicly identified,' judges rule.  10.24.01