§3-9-14 Unlawful acts by corporations; penalties.
§3-9-14. Unlawful acts by corporations; penalties.
(a) Except as provided in section eight, article eight of this chapter, any corporation which shall, by its officers, agents or otherwise, offer, give or use, or cause to be offered, given or used, or place or cause to be placed, in the possession, under the control or at the disposal of another, to be offered, given or used, directly or indirectly, money or other thing of value, for the purpose of expressly advocating the election or defeat of a clearly identified candidate for a state, district, county or municipal office, it shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not less than five thousand nor more than twenty thousand dollars for every such offense, at the discretion of the jury.
(b) As used in this section, the terms "clearly identified," and "expressly advocating" shall have the meaning ascribed thereto by the provisions of section one-a, article eight of this chapter.
(c) The amendments to this section enacted during the second extraordinary session of two thousand eight are intended to conform the existing proscription to constitutionally permissible limits and not to create a new offense or offenses.
(d) The effective date of the amendments to this section enacted during the second extraordinary legislative session of two thousand eight shall be the first day of October, two thousand eight.