MONTGOMERY, Ala. (Legal Newsline) - A federal judge in Alabama upheld the state's PAC-to-PAC Transfer law that bans the transfer of funds between Political Action Committees is constitutional, said the state's Attorney General Luther Strange on Monday.
The laws prohibits a political action committee from transferring funds to another PAC. The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama ruled on Friday that the state had a “sufficiently important issue” in attempting to prevent corruption, or at least the appearance of corruption, in political races in Alabama. The court said the ban supported that interest.
The court also ruled that the law was written in a narrow fashion as to protect the anti-corruption interests of the state, and didn't intrude on the freedom of speech of the First Amendment, Strange said. The Alabama Democratic Conference sued Strange's office claiming it violated free speech rights.
“I am pleased that the court has upheld this important tool in Alabama’s ongoing fight against public corruption,” Strange said. “We will continue to defend the PAC-to-PAC transfer law whenever necessary.”
Strange commended Assistant Attorney General Will Parker, the constitutional defense division of his office, and the state solicitor general's office for working on the case.