Today, Ethics Watch filed its final brief with the Colorado Court of Appeals in its challenge of an administrative law judge (ALJ) order that permitted two so-called 527 political organizations to avoid contribution limits and disclosure obligations applicable to political committees under Colorado law, simply by avoiding the use of words such as "vote for" and "elect" in their ads supporting state House and Senate candidates during the 2008 election.

In September 2008, Ethics Watch filed a campaign finance complaint against Senate Majority Fund, LLC ("SMF") and Colorado Leadership Fund, LLC ("CLF") alleging that SMF and CLF purchased ads for the purpose of expressly advocating for the election of certain candidates without registering as political committees, and for using contributions that exceeded the limits applicable to political committees.  Relying on state and federal law, Ethics Watch argued that the ads consituted express advocacy even though no "magic words" were used because the ads were susceptible to no other reasonable interpretation than an exhortation in support of the candidates identified.  In November 2008, the ALJ granted SMF's and CLF's motions to dismiss, ruling that under current state law SMF's and CLF's spending did not expressly advocate for the election of candidates. Ethics Watch submitted its opening brief on June 2, 2009 and SMF and CLF filed responses on August 11, 2009. Oral arguments will likely occur this winter.

Ethics Watch's opening brief, and the responses filed by SMF and CLF, are posted here.   Information about the original complaint is here.