On February 20, a Washington state superior court in Pierce County ruled that pro bono legal assistance to a committee that is trying to recall a public official is not a campaign contribution to the recall.
In 2012, Robin Farris decided to launch a recall of the Pierce County Assessor-Treasurer, Dale Washam. Washington state recall petitions cannot begin to circulate until the recall proponents first go to court to establish that they have a good basis for recall. But Washington state law also set an $800 contribution limit to a recall committee. Farris went to federal court to overcome that limit, and she won injunctive relief that the limit can’t be applied to her committee. The Ninth Circuit agreed, although the Ninth Circuit declined to rule the limit unconstitutional for future recall campaigns.
Then, the Washington Public Disclosure Commission tried to take punitive action against Farris, on the grounds that the free legal help she received in her lawsuit against the limit constituted a campaign contribution. Since she hadn’t reported it as a campaign contribution, the Commission threatened her with a fine. But in the new lawsuit, called Institute for Justice v State of Washington, the state court ruled that free legal help to a recall committee for a constitutional challenge, is not a “campaign contribution.” Thanks to Rick Hasen for this news.