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Second Circuit Ruling Reverses Lower Court's Decision in ACORN

Fri, 08/20/2010 - 09:17 — Dave Culver
Section(s): 
Law & Justice

A deeply conservative panel of the Second Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously reversed the multiple victories we had in the lower court.

Bill Quigley, Center for Constitutional Rights

We have gotten some of our best feedback from friends and allies this year on our work defending ACORN, so I am sorry to have to pass along the news that a deeply conservative panel of the Second Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously reversed the multiple victories we had in the lower court.

The panel somehow found that ACORN was not being punished when Congress cut off its funding based on rightwing grandstanding, FOX news rants and a video that turned out to be a lie. The court did find that ACORN had standing to sue, just not on Bill of Attainder grounds, and they sent the case back to the District Court to look at possible First Amendment and due process violations.

The Bill of Attainder provision in the U.S. Constitution says that no person or organization may be singled out for punishment by the government without benefit of a trial. The appeals court turned our argument on its head and declared that since hundreds of unspecified allied organizations might be affected by the de-funding it was perfectly legitimate since Congress did not just single out ACORN!   

Though ACORN has obviously been seriously damaged by this campaign, they continue to struggle on and make the best of their situation, while government and independent investigations clear them of wrongdoing again and again. But because we cannot stand by and let this ruling empower the targeting of other politically vulnerable groups like ACORN, we will fight this deeply flawed decision. We will be seeking en banc review by the entire Second Circuit, and will keep you posted on our progress.

For more information visit our case page. Thank you for standing with us and our allies at ACORN. The fight continues!

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