Jimmy Yamada v. William Snipes

This appeál concerns the constitutionality of four provisions of Hawaii’s campaign finance laws under Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, 558.U.S. 310, 130 S.Ct. 876 , 175 L.Ed.2d 753 (2010), and related authority. A-1 A-Lectrician, Inc. (A-1), a for-profit corporation, appeals the district court’s summary judgment in favor of members of Hawaii’s Campaign Spending Commission (“the Commission”). Relying on Human Life of Washington Inc. v. Brumsickle, 624 F.3d 990 (9th Cir.2010), we hold that the challenged laws satisfy the First and Fourteenth Amendments.

I. Background

The plaintiffs are Jimmy Yamada, Russell Stewart and A-l. Before the 2010 general election, Yamada and Stewart each sought to contribute $2,500 to the Aloha Family Alliance-Political Action Committee (AFA-PAC), a registered “noncandi-date committee” that makes independent campaign expenditures in Hawaii elections. They were forbidden from doing so, however, by Hawaii Revised Statute • (HRS) § 11-358, which prohibits any person from “mak[ing] contributions to a noncandidate committee in an aggregate amount greater than $1,000 in an election.”

Plaintiff A-l is a Hawaii electrical-construction…