19:44A-22.1 - Summary action by candidate, injunctive relief
19:44A-22.1. Summary action by candidate, injunctive relief
24. If a political committee or continuing political committee, having been established or consisting of members or having received contributions in violation of this act, shall have made any contribution or expenditure in opposition to, or in furtherance of the defeat of, a candidate, that candidate may, in a summary action in the Superior Court, apply for an order directing that political committee or continuing political committee to show cause why the court should not grant such injunctive relief as the candidate may seek. The court shall decide the application within 48 hours of the filing thereof and, upon a proper demonstration of the candidate's entitlement thereto, shall grant appropriate injunctive relief against that political committee or continuing political committee.
In addition, the court may order that contributions previously received by the committee shall be deemed to be contributions to the candidate committee or joint candidates committee, as appropriate, of the candidate's opponent in the election for all purposes of section 18 of P.L.1993, c.65 (C.19:44A-11.3), and shall so advise the Election Law Enforcement Commission. The court may also order that, to the extent that the amounts of such contributions so attributed are, together with other amounts contributed by the same contributors directly to the candidate committee or joint candidates committee, in excess of the amounts of contributions which that candidate committee or joint candidates committee could legally have received directly from those contributors under that section 18, the candidate committee or joint candidates committee of the aggrieved candidate may receive contributions in excess of the amounts of contributions which that candidate committee or joint candidates committee could legally receive under section 18 of that P.L.1993, c.65 (C.19:44A-11.3).
If the court determines that an application for injunctive relief under this section is frivolous, the court may award costs, including any attorney's fees, to the political committee or continuing committee against which such relief was sought.
L.1993,c.65,s.24.
19:44A-22.2.Findings, declarations relative to campaign advertisements
1.The Legislature finds and declares that:
a. in McIntyre v. Ohio, 63 U.S.L.W. 4279 (U.S. April 19, 1995) (No. 93-986), the United States Supreme Court invalidated, on First Amendment grounds, an Ohio statute prohibiting the distribution of campaign materials which did not bear the issuer's name and address;
b. nevertheless, this decision recognized that there may be circumstances in which a state's enforcement interest justifies a more limited identification requirement;
c. the court noted that in the area of campaign finance, in particular, a more narrowly drawn statute may be permitted;
d. prior decisions of the United States Supreme Court have established that regulation of campaign finance may be justified by a state's interest in preventing actual or perceived corruption; and
e. because the McIntyre decision calls into question the validity of certain New Jersey statutes requiring disclosures on campaign advertising, there is a need to revise the law so that it is narrowly-tailored to help effectuate the State's compelling interest in preventing corruption in connection with the financing of campaigns for public office.
L.1995,c.391,s.1.