By Jay Lindsay, Associated Press, 09/01/00
BOSTON -- A federal judge on Friday rejected Green Party presidential candidate Ralph Nader's claim that corporate sponsorships of the presidential debates are illegal.
U.S. District Court Judge Patti Saris ruled the debates are nonpartisan, and encourage people to vote, and thus meet an exception to federal rules prohibiting corporate contributions in federal elections.
Saris added that in the 23-year history of the Federal Election Commission regulations, nothing "suggests a legislative disapproval -- or even queasiness with -- corporate funding of non-profit, nonpartisan corporations which sponsor debates."
Nader has filed the lawsuit, pinning his argument on federal prohibitions against corporate donations to political campaigns.
Nader's attorney John Bonifaz, director of the National Voting Rights Institute, declined immediate comment on the ruling.
He said his clients -- which also included celebrities Phil Donahue and Susan Sarandon -- were considering their options for further legal action.
This year, AT&T, Anheuser-Busch and Sun Microsystems, are among companies making tax-deductible contributions to the nonprofit Commission on Presidential Debates.
The commission has scheduled three presidential debates, including an Oct. 3 debate at the John F. Kennedy Library in Boston, and debates in St. Louis and Winston-Salem, N.C.
One vice presidential debate is scheduled in Danville, Ky.
Texas Gov. George W. Bush, the Republican nominee, and Vice President Al Gore, the Democratic nominee, have yet to agree to the schedule.
In the suit filed Aug. 23, Nader argued that the debates were essentially advertisements for the candidates paid for by corporations and said they violated the Federal Election Commission rules against corporate contributions.
But Saris noted the rules provide an exception for expenditures on "non-partisan activity designed to encourage individuals to vote, or to register to vote."
Saris included the debates as one of those activities, and quoted a Nader piece in Aug. 25 edition of The Wall Street Journal in which he wrote, "Televised presidential debates shouldn't be a cure for insomniacs. They should stimulate study, reflection, talk and voting among Americans."
Nader may end up excluded from the debates, regardless of any court rulings.
In January, the commission ruled that only candidates with at least 15 percent support in national polls could participate. Nader remains in single digits in the most recent national surveys.
Commission on Presidential Debates site: http://www.debates.org
Nader: http://www.votenader.org
