Donna Patrick, et al. v. The Alaska Public Offices Commission

Petitioners are Alaskan citizens who challenged the Alaska Public Offices Commission’s (“APOC’s”) refusal to enforce Alaskan law regulating contributions to independent political action committees. APOC had defended its refusal on the basis of federal circuit court rulings that held such regulations violate the First Amendment. Petitioners had asked the Alaska courts to consider the original meaning of the First Amendment, to conclude that a majority of this Court would not affirm those circuit court decisions. The Alaska Supreme Court rejected the relevance of any argument from originalism and upheld APOC’s refusal. The question presented in this petition is whether this Court should grant certiorari, vacate the judgment below, and remand (“GVR”) with instructions to weigh the arguments from originalism in determining whether the First Amendment permits the regulation of contributions to independent political action committees.